Lisa's Swedish Pancakes

My favorite thing, after dessert, is stealth dessert: things that technically sort of qualify as a real meal, but are just as delicious as dessert.  In some cases these meals can involve some actual nutrition.  This is...sort of one of those cases, as long as you're convinced of the healthfulness of eggs and butter in large quantities.  You could think of these pancakes as being just like scrambled eggs, with a little milk and flour added, except that that makes them sound really disgusting.  And instead of disgusting, these pancakes are delicious.

The magic of Swedish Pancakes is that they are super-thin, and a little crispy around the edges, and very tender.  They're sort of like crepes, but much more eggy.  They're not particularly sweet, but they are an excellent vehicle for sweet things.

I once found the perfect swedish pancake recipe online, but then could never find it again. As a result I've tried several recipes over the years, with varying amounts of success.  This time I think I've finally figured it out!  This is sort of a combination of the my grandma's recipe (which was her mom's next-door-neighbor's recipe) and some other random recipes from the internet, based on several rounds of trial and error.

Lisa's Swedish Pancakes

4 eggs, beaten well

2 c milk

4 T butter, melted

1 T sugar

1 1/2 c flour

Combine all of the ingredients and stir well--don't worry about overmixing.  Stir vigorously while you add the melted butter to the milk/eggs, to avoid any premature egg-cooking.  The butter will sort of congeal and tend to float on top, so give the batter a good stir before ladling out each pancake.

Cook the pancakes in a non-stick pan, on medium-low.  I used about 1/3 cup batter in a 10" pan.  The secret of Swedish Pancakes is to make them very thin--after ladling in the batter, immediately pick up the pan and tilt it around to spread the batter across the entire bottom of the pan as evenly as possible.

Cook until the pancake starts to set and the edges start to look a little crispy, probably not more than a minute or two, then flip and cook for another minute or so.  Both sides should be sort of unevenly golden brown.  Roll the pancake around something delicious and serve immediately!

Swedish pancakes are good with a combination of sweet and tart flavors.  Lingonberry jelly with whipped cream (or canned cranberry sauce with whipped cream) is delicious.  We've also had them with black currant jelly.  As always, I also recommend replacing the whipped cream with greek yogurt.  Dust with powdered sugar, and enjoy!

3 Awesome Cookies

One of my favorite things about christmas is the cookies.  This year we made an old favorite and tried a couple of new recipes, which I'll share here.  On the left, Mint Crinkles.  On the right, Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting.  In the back, Citrus Slices (AKA the best cookies ever).

Citrus Slices

First up, Citrus Slices.  Probably my favorite cookies ever.  Everyone who doesn't hate citrus in general loves these cookies.  Plus they don't have eggs, which is good for people who are allergic.  You can decorate them to make them actually look like slices of citrus fruit, or you can pile on the delicious icing. I like to err on the side of deliciousness and laziness.  In fact I probably wasn't even the one to ice these cookies.

Cookies:

mix together until creamy:
    3/4 butter, softened
    1/2 c granulated sugar
    1/2 confectioner's sugar

add:
    1 t grated peel each from a lemon, lime, and orange
    2 T lime juice
    1 t vanilla

gradually mix in:
    2 c flour
    1/4 t baking soda
    1/4 t salt

just until blended.  Divide the dough in half and shape into 8-inch logs, about two inches in diameter.   Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or as long as you can stand to wait--basically it just has to chill so that it's firm enough to slice).  Cut into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-12 minutes (until slightly golden brown on just the edges) at 350 degrees.  Be careful: overcooking the cookies makes them too dry.

Icing:

1 T butter, melted
2 c confectioner's sugar
1/2 t vanilla
1 T lemon juice
2 T orange juice

You can make the cookies fancy by sprinkling citrus-colored sugar onto the cookies before baking. Then pipe the icing on in lines on the sprinkled side, to make the cookies look like sliced oranges and limes and lemons.  You can even put little frosting "seeds" on.  Or you can just put large quantities of icing on each cookie, because it's delicious.

Mint Crinkles

Mint crinkles were an experiment this year.  I ended up liking them a lot, because my love for mint is second only to my love of lemon.  Basically we made them because Anthony and I saw packages of pre-crushed Andes mints at the grocery store.

3/4 c andes mints

1/3 c shortening

1 c sugar

1/2 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

1 1/2 c flour

plus some mints to sprinkle on top

Melt the 3/4 cup of Andes mints (I recommend using the microwave, heating for short amounts of time and stirring between heatings) and then let the melted deliciousness cool for a few minutes.  Meanwhile combine the wet ingredients. Then stir in the cooled chocolate, beat in the remaining ingredients, and finally stir in the flour.  Chill 3 hours. 

After the dough has chilled, place 1 Tablespoon-sized balls of dough 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Be sure to leave enough room between cookies, they spread out a lot. Bake 10 minutes at 350, or until edges are done and the tops are crinkly.  Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with mints, then bake for another minute to melt them.

Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting

Actually my mom made these cookies and I didn't help at all.  But they were so delicious that I will share the recipe anyways, and maybe you can find someone else to bake them for you, too!

Cookies:

2 c butter, softened

2 c sugar

2 t baking soda

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

1 15 oz can of pumpkin

4 c flour

Drop heaping teaspoons 2" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet,and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

frosting:

1/2 c butter

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c milk

1 t vanilla

2 3/4 c powdered sugar

Heat and melt the butter and brown sugar, stir in the milk and vanilla, and beat in the powdered sugar.  Frost cooled cookies.

All of these cookies are wonderful, and relatively easy to make.