I'm always surprised....

It's so funny! I'm always surprised by what the cooking classes choose to be their favorite dish of the night. This month it was the Sunrise Pancakes, both nights. Who would have thought that pancakes would come in ahead of fresh cinnamon rolls, bagels, crazy good bread, biscuits..... need I go on?

Well, I can only say that this is my favorite pancake recipe. It fact, it's the only recipe I use. If you want blueberry pancakes, you could easily add blueberries, just remember to toss your fresh berries in a little flour first, it keeps them from sinking to the bottom and from sticking to each other.

After all the time I spent trying to make sure you had all the recipes, don't you know that I forgot Suzy's Cinnamon Rolls and, you got it, Sunrise Pancakes. As promised, here are the recipes.

Sunrise Pancakes - yields 8

1 C. all purpose flour 2 Tbl. sugar 1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten 1/2 C. yogurt 1/2 C. water

2 Tbl. butter, melted 1 tsp. vanilla

Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix all wet ingredients together and combine. Making sure not to beat the batter. Combine batter just till the dry ingredients are incorporated. This is best done by "folding" the dry and liquid ingredients together. If you want a lighter batter, which was how the pancakes were prepared for the class, separate the egg whites and whip to stiff peaks then fold the whites into your batter. Cook on a griddle till golden on both sides and not raw in the middle. DO NOT mash your pancakes! After turning the first time and after the bottom has browned, poke a small hole in the top of the pancake with the spatula to see if there is any raw batter. If there is, allow to cook a little longer.

*I usually 3X this recipe, even for my family. This is one of Fred's favorite recipes and he'd eat it 24/7. I always have leftovers, but they're gone by the end of the day.

On Wednesday night, I used "Key Lime Pie" yogurt in the batter and on Thursday night I used "Pina Colada" yogurt in the batter. This is a great way to use up the yogurt that no one seems to want to eat. If I purchase yogurt for the pancakes, I usually buy Vanilla flavor.

Suzy's Cinnamon Rolls

1 Tbl. yeast 1/2 C. warm water 1 Tbl. sugar

Mix all above in a bowl or measure cup and allow to "proof"

1 C. sugar 2/3 C. shortening

Cream sugar and shortening together, then add:

6 beaten eggs 1 C. mashed potatoes 2 c. milk (or powdered milk)

Mix well. Add:

4 C. flour yeast mixture

Mix well & add:

4 C. flour 1 1/2 tsp. salt

Beat till dough is smooth. This dough will be very sticky! Pour into a well greased bowl, turning dough to coat on all sides, cover with a towel and let rise till doubled (At this point you can place the dough in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and make rolls as desired). Punch dough down and scrape onto a well floured surface (you want enough flour to keep dough from sticking, but not enough to reduce the soft, sticky texture of the dough. Do not knead flour into the dough, just coat the dough so you can roll it. You'll want to treat this dough gently). Roll the dough to a rectangle that's about 1/4 inch thick (you'll probably need to divide the dough in half and roll each half separately). Brush melted butter on dough, sprinkle with (I used brown sugar and cinnamon) sugar and cinnamon. You can add raisins, chocolate chips, nuts (on the Thursday night class, we used lemon drops that had been ground to a fine sugar, in the food processor). If you roll the dough on the "long" side, you'll have smaller rolls, but more; if you roll the dough on the "short" side, you'll have less rolls, but much larger ones - you choose. Slice the rolls about 1/2-1 inch thick (I used my "bench tool", which I recommend to everyone. You should be able to get one from WalMart or from a kitchen store)and place on a well greased cookie sheet. Cover with a towel and let rise till double, about 20-30 min. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 12-15 minutes, turning once half way through. The rolls should be beautifully golden brown. Spread with glaze when slightly cooled, or frosting when nearly room temperature.

Note: I prefer to place the rolls far enough apart on the cookie sheet so all sides of the roll are baking. This dough is so soft that it may not bake all the way if it's over crowded in a pan.

I prepared 1/2 the recipe for the cooking classes (I actually used 5 C. of flour when I made the 1/2 recipe, you may need a little more for the whole recipe, but be careful not to make the dough too stiff. It is a very sticky dough). This makes A LOT of rolls, although, they don't last long.

Tip: Remove the rolls from the pan, or at least loosen them while they're still warm. As the rolls and the pan cools the sugar will set up and the rolls will be difficult to remove from the pan. If this happens, place the pan back in the oven for a few minutes to soften the sugar, then remove the rolls.

Enjoy!