My Zucchini Troubles Turned Zucchini Bread Pancakes #Recipe

They never travel alone. Like little green armies descending upon their unsuspecting gardeners.

The trouble with Tribbles, for all you classic Trekkies, was never as bad as this! And every person who plants a zucchini plant swears they won't have any trouble. "Not my plants!" or "What's the harm in planting just one?"

Well, I tell ya, I had dreams of all the wonderful uses I could put my little squash to, and delighted when my "miniature container" variety yielded up it's first squash. We served it lightly pan seared and loved it.

Then the truth came out. Hiding deep within my plants were several gigantic squash. I was horrified to think of throwing them out. I would not accept defeat so soon! I would eat my plants and enjoy them.

But, big zucchini can be tough.

So out came the box grater. I had cooking to get done.

A google search and quick glance at my recipe book collection yielded up a bunch of tasty sounding dishes. More to come on some of those, soon. But, the one that jumped out at me was a recipe for Zucchini Bread Pancakes from Smitten Kitchen.

A deliciously simple solution to my hearty problem.

A dash of this, a whisking of that and breakfast was a little piece of heaven today. I threw in a few more things, switched up some amounts and came out with a recipe I will be making again for this weekend.

Hearty, yet light and fluffy. The pronounced spice and flavor of the classic quick bread was a brilliant addition to a rather plain pancake.

Cooked up in my cast iron griddle and skillet, 3 medium pancakes was enough to tide me over till lunch.

Zucchini Bread Pancakes
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

You Will Need:

• 2 lrg. eggs
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. packed zucchini, shredded & drained
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed
• 1/4 tsp. table salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 lemon, zested

Make sure your zucchini has drained a bit before using it in this recipe. If your squash is fresh, it will give off a lot of excess water as it sits. I grate my zucchini first and then assembled the ingredients and started making it.

Preheat a cast-iron skillet ahead of time. If your pan is well seasoned, a small spray or wipe of oil will be enough to prevent sticking.

In a medium bowl combine the eggs, oil, brown sugar, Greek yogurt and vanilla extract. Whisk well and then stir in the drained zucchini.

In a small bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients, minus the lemon zest. Add the dry mix to the wet, add the zest and fold everything in till all ingredients are moistened.

Pour 1/4 cup of pancake batter in your pre-heated pan. Cook till golden on one side and steam bubbles start to form on the top. Flip and wait till the other side turns golden brown.

Makes about 9 pancakes