There’s a restaurant here in Baltimore that Brian and I pretty much regard as an annex of our own home: Golden West Cafe. Considering the frequency with which we dine there, you’d think I’d have tried everything on their rather extensive menu, but I am a child of habit and pretty much restrict myself to two (super awesomely satisfying) dishes.
There used to be a third.
At some point, however, my beloved lemony pancakes, the ones flecked with zucchini and onion and stuffed miraculously with a slice of brie cheese in the middle, disappeared from the menu. I don’t know where they went or why they left; they didn’t leave a note.
They did make enough of an impression on me, however, to set my hands to some recipe forensics. After just a few tries and tweaks, I had my own version of those flapjacks back on my plate.
Lemon Zucchini Pancakes with a Heart of Brie
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1T olive oil
1 small zucchini
2 scallions, finely sliced
1 tsp. lemon zest
6 thin slices of brie
In a medium-sized bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Set aside.
Shred zucchini and blot well with paper towels to remove as much excess moisture as possible.
Beat egg into the buttermilk and add this mixture, the oil, zucchini, scallions, and lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Whisk together until just incorporated. Allow to rest while bringing your skillet or griddle up to medium heat.
When hot, grease lightly with a little butter (I keep a paper towel nearby to spread the grease around and keep it from getting excessive). Drop batter by the scant 1/3 cup onto your cooking surface of choice; it’s somewhat thick, so you may need to spread it just a bit with your ladle, but don’t thin it out too much. You want some fluff.
The delicious, cheesy heart of the pancake.
When dry around the edges and ready to flip, place a slice of the cheese on top of the uncooked side and turn in over in the pan. If you have a problem with the cheese melting to the skillet instead of browning and crisping, lightly re-grease the pan before you set the uncooked side down on it again.
Continue in this manner until all pancakes are made. I got six 5-inch cakes.
Serve hot topped with a pat of butter and a drizzle of honey.
I make zucchini burger patties but this will be the first time I will make pancakes. Excited to try!
What a fun recipe. It would totally throw my husband off to see pancakes and taste that savory deliciousness!
Thanks! I’m not usually a fan of sweet treats, but I love the almost half-and-half nature of these flavors together. Very spring fresh sweet/savory, if that makes any sense. I think the topping could push it further into either camp to suit yr preferences, honey taking towards the sweet and something like a spicy tomato jam taking it to the more savory side.
Total amazingness! Bookmarking this one. :D
Thanks so much, everyone! I was tempted to make yet *another* batch this morning, so really hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Oh. My. Word. I must try these.. they look amazing! Thanks for sharing :-)
Andi
I hope you enjoy them, Andi! Let me know how it goes for you if you get the chance.
I made these for a lazy working-the-evening-shift brunch today. They turned out great! Thank you so much for creating and sharing this recipe :) I think I’ll use it to surprise my family next time I host brunch.
Fantastic to hear. Thanks for stopping back and letting me know it went well and that you enjoyed the results!
I ate the original Golden West pancake in my trip to the East Coast and I loved it! I’m so happy to find the same recipe here. Thank you so much! I will update you if it works :)
Made these for my whole family in AZ this morning. Big hit with everybody. Thanks Molly!
Thanks so much for reporting back, Dave, and best wishes for the New Year!
Thank you so much for the recipe. Will be trying it within the next few days. I ate at Golden West Cafe a few days ago while visiting Baltimore and had the Zucchini-Brie pancakes and cannot get them and the pumpkin curry soup out of my mind. Obviously, the pancakes are back on the menu!
Oh, I love that soup too, Donna. We should hack that next! :)
The soup was sooo… good. I found a recipe for a soup that looks prety similar at http://naturallyella.com/2012/10/08/curried-pumpkin-and-coconut-soup/. I will be trying that too!
Nice! And so simple.