Peanut Butter-Chocolate Pancakes and a Guinness Night!

We wrapped up the weekend by just vegging out at home on Sunday until I headed out to the USO to volunteer for the afternoon. Andrew knows I have a strange urge to try every pancakes recipe I can find. Even when I find one I love, I always feel the need to try another. I think it's because at their basic ingredients, pancakes are super simple, but there is so much you can do with them! Since Andrew and I both love peanut butter and chocolate I thought I would try a recipe I found for Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Pancakes I found on Foodgawker and adapted a bit. I loved the swirl in the pancakes!

Peanut Butter-Chocolate Swirl Pancakes

Chocolate Batter

1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon butter melted

Peanut Butter Batter

1/2 cup unbleached all purposed flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons natural smooth peanut butter

Banana Topping

2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup milk

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients for chocolate batter. Stir in milk, egg, and melted butter until batter comes together. If batter is still a little thick (should be easily pourable) add in a little more milk. Set aside and repeat with peanut butter batter in a separate bowl.

Heat a skillet over medium heat. Scoop about a fourth of the chocolate batter and smooth out to a circle. Take the peanut butter batter and drizzle two lines across the chocolate pancake. With a knife, swirl the peanut butter into the chocolate part of the pancake. Continue, reversing every other pancake (so you will also have peanut butter pancakes with a chocolate swirl.) Cook on one side until little bubbles form on the surface. Flip the pancake and continue to cook until pancake is done.

If you are making a lot of pancakes, turn your oven on to 200˚ to keep pancakes warm until you are ready to serve.

To make banana topping, combine the three ingredients in a bowl and mash with a fork until banana is slightly chunky.

 

Since Andrew is a diehard Guinness lover, I thought I would do a Guinness themed dinner for him since he's been under a lot of stress lately with his Army classes and Masters classes going simultaneously.

I started by making the custard base for Guinness-Malt Ice Cream which I sadly don't have a photo of. Although in the end this ice cream was delicious, it would NOT come together in the ice cream maker. It ran for well over an hour without even getting a yogurt like consistency. I finally just poped it in the freezer in a plastic container and it came together well. Andrew said it was great!

I also made Guinness Battered Onion Rings which were KILLER!

 

Guinness Battered Onion Rings

3 onions sliced in 1/2 inch slices
About 1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups flour
12 ounces Guinness Extra Stout beer
1 extra large egg, separated
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups canola oil

Put the onion slices in a medium bowl and pour the milk over them. (I had some leftover Guinness from the ice cream so I dumped this in as well. I honestly, don't think it made a difference.) Let them sit about an hour (I let them sit for the afternoon), tossing occasionally. In another medium bowl, mix the Guinness into the flour while stirring. Stir in the egg yolk and salt. Let sit for about one hour. Just before deep frying, beat the egg whites until stiff. Gently fold the egg white into the beer batter. ( I really think the egg white made all the difference!)
Over medium high heat, heat the oil in a medium size pot or deep fryer to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with several layers of paper towels. Drain the milk from the onions and put them into the batter. Carefully drop onion slices in the hot oil, one at a time without overcrowding. Add only as many as you can so they do not overlap. You'll need to make several batches, but since they cook so quickly it will go fast. Using 2 forks or tongs, turn the onions when they are brown on one side. Remove from the oil when both sides are a golden brown and put on the paper towel lined baking sheet. They brown within a few minutes, so keep an eye on them. Keep frying the onion slices until all are fried.

Sprinkle with salt and serve hot.

The main event were the Guinness Burgers which I personally thought were a bit disappointing. Andrew thought they were good, but I didn't think they were anything special.

Guinness Burgers

Ingredients:
1 pound locally raised, grass fed ground beef
2/3 cup Guinness Stout
1 red onion, finely diced
4 bacon slices, finely diced
1 teaspoon creamed horseradish
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour

1.The night before you want to make these, lay the ground beef out is a shallow dish and cover with the Guinness. Using your hands, massage the Guinness into the meat, cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the fridge for at least 12 hours. ( I only refrigerated it for about 8 hours.)

2.When ready to form the burgers, saute the onion and bacon in a skillet until the onion is lightly browned and the bacon is crisped to your liking. Pour the mix into a fine mesh seive to drain away any excess bacon fat and set aside to cool.

3.Lift the beef out of the marinade and gently squeeze any excess Guinness from the meat. Place the meat in a large bowl, add the onion bacon mixture, the horseradish, egg and paprika. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the flour over. Using your hands, mix together well. Divide the mix into 4 equal portions and form into round patties, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Carefully lay the patties on a non-stick baking sheet and top with plastic film. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 6 hours to firm up.

5.When ready to cook the burgers, lightly oil a cast iron (or non-stick) frying pan. Heat over a medium-high flame until just beginning to smoke, add the burgers and cook for a bout 5 minutes on each side, until well browned on the outside. Because the Guinness stains the meat, a medium-rare burger will not be rosy pink inside, so you will need to go by feel to know when they are done. The burgers should resist slightly in the center (and not be too mushy), when cooked to medium rare.

We served these just like regular burgers on a bun with all the condiments. I really felt that the horseradish was overpowering, and I couldn't really taste the Guinness.