Cranberry Walnut Pancakes: Why didn't I think of that?

I hope everyone had a happy and healthy holiday! I had hoped to get a little blogging done over the holidays, but we were away from home and it just didn't happen.

I am always running across recipes that make me want to smack myself and say, "Why didn't I think of that?" They are humbling moments that make me realize that while I might be a decent cook, I'm really not a chef.

I've made blueberry-pecan pancakes many times, so it's a bit befuddling that cranberry-walnut pancakes would never even cross my mind. Fortunately, I stumbled on Joe's blog where he recently posted a recipe for cranberry-walnut pancakes (though he skipped the walnuts). We used to get cranberry-walnut bagels from Panera, but we no longer live near one, so I miss this seasonal treat. We did manage to snag 4 - yes, only 4 - from Panera this weekend on our way back from Virginia. Fortunately for me, Wegmans made an organic, whole grain cranberry-walnut bread this year and it's quite good. But back to the pancakes.....

Cranberry-Orange Pancakes with Toasted Walnuts

Instead of trying the recipe Joe posted, I decided to go back to our favorite homemade whole grain pancake mix from King Arthur. I did boil the cranberries for a bit and then chopped them, as instructed in Joe's recipe. At the last minute, I decided to add the zest of one orange - orange is a classic pairing with cranberry and walnuts and it worked really well for this recipe. I did not measure the cranberries or walnuts - I just sprinkled them on the pancakes as I cooked them, rather than mixing them into the batter. They turned out fantastically! This recipe will allow me to satisfy that cranberry-walnut craving pretty easily here at home.

I hope to have quite a bit of time to get more posts up this coming weekend. I really need to get posting - the pictures are piling up!