Take Advantage of Late-season Corn

It’s late summer here in Upstate NY, and the end-of-season sweet corn is just coming into its own. Typically, the best corn of the year is the last to ripen, and that is what we have right now.  It’s amazing no matter how you prepare it. We love Fresh Corn Fritters which are a more savory dish than these Sweet Corn Pancakes.

My husband is particularly fond of pancakes with corn in them, maybe because sweet corn was a big crop when he was growing up on his family’s farm. We still live right next door.  His family ate a LOT of corn!

How to use fresh sweet corn in this recipe

To use sweet corn in a recipe, you first have to get it off the cob. One way to do that is to cook extra when you’re making dinner, cut the corn from the extra ears, and store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.

If you didn’t have it for dinner though, you can peel the corn, cook it in boiling, salted water for about 5 minutes. Dunk the ears in cold water to cool them off. This stops the corn from overcooking and makes them easier to handle. Once cool, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels from the cob. Then, using the dull side of the same knife, scrape down all around ear each to get all the milky juice out.

You can use frozen or canned corn if you happen to find this recipe when the summer months have gone by, but if you can get fresh corn, it’s definitely worth the extra effort.

Sweet Corn Pancakes

Donalyn Ketchum

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Dish

Cuisine American

Diet Vegetarian

Meal Breakfast

Servings 3

Equipment USED

• Misen Chef's Knife
• Non-stick Skillet

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons stone ground cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1& 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 ounces melted butter
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup corn kernels

Instructions

 

• In a medium bowl, combine the milks, egg, butter, vanilla and corn
• In another medium bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients and whisk together.
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients
• And using as few strokes as possible, combine the two. The batter will be lumpy which is just fine. If you mix it too much, your pancakes will not be nearly as fluffy and light.
• Heat a griddle or frying pan till a drop of water sizzles and lightly grease with vegetable oil. I use a 1/2 cup ladle to pour the batter in and then use the back of the ladle to spread the batter into a roughly circular shape.
• Cook over medium heat until there are bubbles all over the surface and the edges have turned somewhat dry.
• Carefully flip the pancakes and cook another 3 or 4 minutes until they are puffed up, and a peek at the underside shows that they are nicely browned.
• Serve hot with plenty of butter and real maple syrup.

Notes

The cooked pancakes can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple days and re-heated in a warm skillet.  The batter will also keep in the fridge for a few days and can then cooked as indicated in the recipe.  The pancakes likely won't be as fluffy.  If you want to get some prior prep out of the way, so that this is a quick breakfast, you can combine the wet and dry ingredients in separate bowls [refrigerating the wet ingredients until you're ready to use them] and then, just combine them when you're ready to cook the pancakes.

Keyword breakfast, corn, pancakes

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

A lovely summer breakfast or brunch

You absolutely want real Maple Syrup and butter to go with them, and some people might enjoy them with Blueberry Preserves or warm Applesauce.

Delicious for any meal

These pancakes would make a great meal any time of day, really.  Great for a brunch, lunch, or a wonderful breakfast-for-dinner situation.