Apple Oat Muffins

These healthy apple oat muffins are made with a warm blend of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, offering a perfect balance of spice and sweetness. A delicious breakfast treat packed with wholesome ingredients.

These healthy apple oat muffins are made with a warm blend of ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, offering a perfect balance of spice and sweetness. A delicious breakfast treat packed with wholesome ingredients.

Baked Pasta

This baked pasta is a cold-weather crowd-pleaser made of alternating layers of broken farro pasta, sliced potatoes, two cheeses, and mustardy shredded cabbage. It’s the sort of thing you can prep a day or two ahead of time, and bake when convenient.

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This is a hearty, rustic, warm-you-from-the-inside baked pasta casserole. It’s what to make when the weather report icons are snowflakes or thunderclouds. Mustard notes cut into the starchy goodness of potatoes and pasta. Dueling cheeses bridge all the components, and shredded cabbage and leeks deliver winter green. It’s the sort of thing you can prep a day or two ahead of time, then bake when convenient. The sort of food that pairs well with a stormy night.
Baked Pasta in a Casserole Dish After Baking

Why I Love This Recipe

Let’s break it down a bit. The thing that makes this recipe special is arguably the play between the starchiness of the pasta and potatoes and the more intense bite of the mustard. You can, of course, adjust the amount of mustard to your liking. The amount note down below is straight up the middle. It’s neither meek or assertive once the casserole is baked. But keep in mind, the type of mustard you will also be a factor. What I’m trying to say is: feel free to adjust to your tastes.
Photos of Cabbage cut in Half and Shredded
You can see the chop of the cabbage in the photo up above. But note, you can cut it more finely if you like the cabbage to blend in more. Alternately, you might go with wider ribbons if you like the cabbage component more pronounced. You can see the pasta component below – before boiling and after.
Photos of Pasta for Baked Pasta Recipe Before Cooking and After

Baked Pasta: Serving Ideas

This begs to be served alongside a big green salad. Something like this kale salad. Or, this Anna Jones salad is always a hit. If you’re up some something a bit unexpected and absolutely awesome, this cilantro salad is your move.

If a salad feels too ambitious, roast some broccoli while the casserole is baking, and do a roasted version of this Broccoli Apple Salad. This roasted broccoli is also always quick to disappear. And one last idea, if you have any kale chips on hand, I love to shower the baked pasta with them before serving.

Baked Pasta in a Casserole Dish After Baking on Wood Table

Inspiration and Variations

Like most casseroles or lasagnas, this is a bit of a project. But, in the end, there is a good amount of food to enjoy, and the leftovers are great. There are also endless ways to tweak it.

  • Kid-friendly: If you have kids, I imagine a version with macaroni elbows could work.
  • Buckwheat Pizzoccheri: The inspiration for today’s recipe came from a buckwheat casserole I would make from The Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook (red cover edition). She used a buckwheat pizzoccheri and savoy cabbage. The inspiration was likely the popular northern Italian pizzoccheri dish featuring traditional buckwheat pasta of the region, cabbage, cheese and a generous amount of butter. Her version is baked and has served as a great jumping off point over the years. You’ll see in the recipe that I call for farro tagliatelle, but you’ll have success with a wide range of pasta shapes and types. For example, fettuccine, penne, broken lasagne, etc. And you can experiment beyond farro – whole wheat pastas, buckwheat, spelt, they’ll all work nicely here. 
  • Shredded Brussels Sprouts: I like to make the Brussels Sprouts “Slaw” with Mustard Butter from The Essential New York Times Cookbook (red cover). I can imagine using sprouts in place of the cabbage here if you’re more of a sprout fan, or if that is what you happen to have on hand.

More Baked Pasta

More Pasta Recipes

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Farro with Roasted Butternut Squash

A wonderful farro and roasted butternut squash recipe. Balsamic roasted butternut squash, deeply toasted walnuts, and nutty farro come together in this delicious recipe.

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Balsamic roasted butternut squash, deeply toasted walnuts, and nutty farro come together in this salad inspired by the countless farro salads I enjoyed while on the Umbrian chapter of a recent Italian adventure. The Italians were using farro alongside cherry tomatoes and basil (with the occasional introduction of cheese or local olives), but the seasons changed while I was away, and after a survey of the farmer’s market on Saturday, I knew my next farro salad was going to get a roasted butternut squash twist.
Farro with Roasted Butternut Squash in a Bowl

Let’s talk Winter Squash

You have a few options here, outside of butternut squash. I call for easy-to-find butternut squash for a few reasons. They typically have good flavor and texture, they’re also quick to peel versus some other winter squash. If you tend to shop farmers’ markets keep an eye peeled for red kuri squash, they’re fantastic, and you can absolutely eat the peel. Same goes for kabocha squash. You can swap in either in this recipe.

How This Came Together

I thought long and hard about this recipe once I knew the general direction I was headed. It was destined for a friend’s house, one of our regular potlucks, and it’s a group of discerning and vocal palettes, excellent cooks all of them. The rainy weather was screaming roasted ingredients, so that ended up being a bit of a no-brainer, but I ran into some decision-making surrounding the final dressing.

I knew I wanted to use a toasted walnut oil I had on hand as the dressing, or as a major component in the dressing. I thought about tossing the entire salad with a simple walnut-balsamic vinaigrette but when I tested it the balsamic totally overpowered the toasted walnut oil I was using. At the same time I was busy almost burning the walnuts. The salad actually became more about the walnuts at this point for me, I wanted to make sure that walnut flavor didn’t get lost. It turned out the deep, deep flavor that came off the slightly over-toasted walnuts gave the walnut flavor in the oil and the nuts the muscle it needed to stand up to the rest of the dish.

Another Possible Direction

There were moments where I also considered a more Thai-inspired angle, maybe a spicy coconut milk dressing, limes, tomatoes, basil, pickled red onions – it ended up feeling too summery to me. Delicious, but off-season.

Farro!

Farro is a favorite grain of mine – nutty, chewy, hearty! If you’ve never tried farro I encourage you to give it a shot. Make-ahead components of a recipe like this keep well in the refrigerator, and can be served warm or at room temperature. Looking to find farro? I know many of you have a Whole Foods Market or natural food store within your communities, check out the bin section for farro and let me know how it goes! Italian grocers often stock it as well.

How To Cut a Butternut Squash

For a recipe like this, take a medium butternut squash, lob off the little stem end so it is flat. Cut off the entire neck, so you’re now dealing with a cylinder shape. Stand that on end, and run a knife top to bottom to peel it, alternately, use a Y-style vegetable peeler. Slice the cylinder into 1/2-inch thick disks. It’s easy to cube from there.

Move onto the bulb portion next. With the big bulb part, halve it lengthwise, clear out the seeds. Peel and then slice into cubes for a recipe like this, or drizzle with some oil and a sprinkle some salt, roast, and use that as the basis for a simple blender soup – no waste, minimal fuss.

More Roasted Vegetable Recipes

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Middle Eastern Rice

My family recipe for fluffy Middle Eastern Rice, made with basmati rice, shallots, zaatar spice, lemon zest and fresh herbs. Quick & easy, in just 30 mins!

My family recipe for fluffy Middle Eastern Rice, made with basmati rice, shallots, zaatar spice, lemon zest and fresh herbs. Quick & easy, in just 30 mins!

Buttermilk Pie

Buttermilk pies are simple, unassuming, and a breeze to throw together if you keep pie dough at the ready. The buttermilk filling here is a standout – simple, creamy, and maple-sweetened with a kiss of lemony tang and sea salt.

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My take on buttermilk pie – a twist on a beloved, easy to make, classic pie. Favorite aspects here are a bright, tangy, and silky textured filling cradled by a buttery, structured, home-made crust. Buttermilk is the backbone of the custard filling. And in this version, maple steps in as the sweetener, the salt isn’t shy, balancing everything out. Lastly, you bring everything into focus with a good amount of lemon zest.
Buttermilk Pie cooling in a Pie Plate

People have been baking this pie off the site for years, I originally posted it in 2011, you can read their comments down below, but I wanted to highlight a few details.

Buttermilk Pie: Variations

  • Graham Cracker Crust: Laurie noted,”I used a pre-made graham cracker crust. YUMMY!!”
  • Less Lemon: Some people like less lemon, so feel feel to dial back the zest or skip it altogether.

Buttermilk Pie cooling in a Pie Plate on a Wood Table

What If You Don’t Have Buttermilk?

So, I haven’t tested this personally with this pie, but it sounds like you can confidently give it a go. Sarah, reported back, “For those who wanted to know if it would work to substitute homemade buttermilk (i.e. milk + lemon juice/ vinegar) I used the juice of the lemon used for zesting and it worked out perfectly. I screwed up a lot of little steps along the way (like accidentally putting in 1/3 c. flour instead of 1/4 c. in the filling) and it still turned out fantastic. It was also a great way to use up a bunch of milk before it expired and a lemon that had been around a while.”

Another Buttermilk Pie

Buttermilk pie fillings just hit right. And if you’re in agreement, I have another pie for you to bake. I started using buttermilk in my coconut cream pie years ago and never looked back. With the sort of pie that can often come off as overly sweet, the buttermilk and a confident amount of salt offset some of the that. Be sure to make it next level with a homemade pie crust.
Pie Dough Draped over a Pie Plate in a Kitchen
This is generally what you’re aiming for as you go to make your pie crust. A bit of dough overhang that you can crimp into a pretty rim. This is an example of the rye crust, it’s noted in the headnotes of the recipe down below.
The Crimped Edge of Pie Dough Before Baking

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Creamy Polenta

This creamy polenta recipe is cozy, comforting, and a godsend on busy weeknights! Simple to make in under 25 minutes it can easily be turned into a meal with our favorite toppings. Gluten-free and vegan-adaptable.

This creamy polenta recipe is cozy, comforting, and perfect for busy weeknights; it is easy to make in under 25 minutes! Gluten-free and vegan-adaptable.
This creamy polenta recipe is cozy, comforting, and a godsend on busy weeknights! Simple to make in under 25 minutes it can easily be turned into a meal with our favorite toppings. Gluten-free and vegan-adaptable.

Fluffy Pancakes

A pancake recipe that delivers a beautiful, classic stack with impossibly tender crumb and golden edges. The pancakes have lightness and lift, and good color. The recipe is also endlessly adaptable based on what you have on hand.

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I first posted this pancake recipe in 2006, and figured it was time to elaborate a bit. This is a recipe I use a lot, resulting in a beautiful, classic stack of pancakes with impossibly tender crumb and golden edges. The pancakes have lightness and lift, and good color. That said, the real reason I love this recipe is because it’s endlessly adaptable. I’ve used it as a base pancake recipe and jumping off point for endless pancake adaptations and I heartily encourage you to do the same. You can experiment with a range of flours, liquids, and add-ins, and I list off a number of suggestions below. If you’re looking for classic pancakes to make when camping, your search is over.
Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

Let’s Make a Great Pancake Batter

The best pancakes start with great batter. You don’t want your batter too thick, because pancakes made with really thick batter tend to cook well on the outside, but the inside they can be undercooked. Worse, in my opinion, is too thin pancake batter. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good crepe, but if you’re after the perfect fluffy weekend pancake? You don’t want your batter spreading out all over the pan. This recipe hits that perfect middle mark. And you can use a range of liquids, depending on what is in your refrigerator. 

Buttermilk, Yogurt, or Milk? – use what you’ve got!

You can make these pancakes with just about any liquid you have on hand. I’ve listed them in order of preference. Buttermilk is wonderful, but yogurt works like a dream too. Not everyone keeps buttermilk on hand, but many people have a cup of yogurt. Go for it! Thin Greek yogurt with an equal amount of water, so for this recipe I’d combine 1 cup + 2 tablespoons Greek Yogurt with the same amount of water. If you’re using a standard yogurt don’t bother thinning it.

Both of the above (buttermilk or yogurt) are A-plus choices. Don’t have other of those? Dairy milk, oat milk, and almond milk will all give you good results. When using one of these, allow the batter to sit for 5-10 minutes before cooking, allowing the batter to thicken a bit.

Experiment with Different Flours in Your Pancakes

I’ll start by saying, you can use all-purpose flour in these pancakes. But, by all means, experiment with more nutritious whole-grain flours if you have them (I have suggestions below and in the recipe). White whole wheat flour works wonderfully here. It’s the Trojan horse of whole-grain flours, because for finicky people who won’t eat anything brown or wholesome you can pass it off as white. It is made from a strain of hard white winter wheat berries and the nutritious bran and germ aren’t processed out the way they are in all-purpose white flour. The white whole wheat flour makes for a tender crumb.

Rye Pancakes: Replace about 1/2 of the all-purpose flour with rye flour.

Oatmeal Pancakes: Replace 1/3 cup of the flour with quick-cooking oats or uncooked oats you’ve blitzed in a blender. These pancakes are particularly good with slices of banana cooked in. Sprinkled with a bit of brown sugar in place of syrup.

Tiny Grain Pancakes: Stir 1/2 cup cooked quinoa or millet into your batter.

Blueberry Beet Pancakes (Vegan):  If you’re looking for a colorful vegan pancake variation – hearty, substantial, delicious, and kid-friendly. 

Variations From other Cooks

A number of you have left helpful comments for tweaks and variations to this recipe over the years and I wanted to list off a couple:

Lactose Intolerant: Jenny noted, “I just made these this morning for my lactose-intolerant twins, substituting the 2 1/4 C buttermilk for 1C soy milk. They were absolutely awesome! I ground 2 C wheat berries, which made 4C flour, and doubled the recipe for my large family.”

Lots of Bran: Rachael says, “I would really encourage you to try adding bran to your waffles or pancakes next time. I substitute up to half of my flour with bran (sometimes have to reduce the liquid a bit or add in something thicker, like yogurt, because the bran doesn’t absorb milk)… it lends a wonderfully nutty flavor to things and it lightens the texture substantially, not to mentioned the good-for-you fiber.

Extra Credit Fluffy

I’ve tweaked the recipe here to have you separate your eggs, and beat the whites into fluffy peaks. It’s an annoying step, and requires extra effort, but is arguably worth it. You fold the whites into your batter as a last step before cooking, and it adds a really nice lightness to the pancake batter. That said, if you’re not feeling up to it, no big deal – lightly beat the two eggs and add them to the liquid mixture.
Fluffy Pancakes Recipe

Favorite Toppings for your Pancakes

  • Whole Blueberry Maple Syrup: This is my favorite syrup for these pancakes and worth the bit of extra effort to make. It’s delicious, fragrant and beautiful without being overly sweet. To make blueberry maple syrup put half of a 6-ounce basket of blueberries, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 2 tablespoons of water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Heat and stir until the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 5 or 6 minutes or until the blueberries begin to split. Remove from heat and press the blueberry mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl. Mash the fruit to get all the juiciness extracted. Throw out the solids. Stir the remaining blueberries into the warm syrup and set aside. You can use whatever sugar you like here – white, brown, coconut sugar, etc.
  • Homemade Blackberry Syrup: For blackberry fans who enjoy a bit of feistiness, this is your syrup. It’s slow-burning, sweet and spicy. Inspired by a recipe in the September 2007 issue of Gourmet Magazine, it’s great not only over pancakes and waffles, it’s also aces in oatmeal, and in all sorts of drinks and spritzers.
  • Churro-style Cinnamon Sugar: Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon with 1/2 cup sugar and stir well. Sprinkle generously across hot buttered pancakes. You can experiment with the sugar blend beyond this as well, adding a pinch of ground cloves or curry powder, and/or crushed rose petals.
  • Roasted Strawberries: These jammy gems are a favorite topping. You can make them ahead of time and refrigerate for up to a week.
  • Compound Butters: One of my favorite pancake toppings for a weekend brunch. Make a compound butter or two and let people choose.

Tasty Pancake Add-Ins

  • Berries: If you’re adding berries to your pancakes, add them to your pancakes after they’re on the griddle. This way your pancake batter retains its color.
  • Bananas: If you’re adding slices of banana to your pancakes, add them after the pancakes are on the griddle.
  • Boosts: Adding a boost of oat bran, wheat germ, chia seeds, nutritional yeast, kale or beet powder, hemp or flax seeds is always an option. I usually start with a tablespoon or two.

Some Cooking Tips

My pan of choice for pancakes is cast iron, but any pan that holds steady heat is fine. The key is getting and maintaining the right temperature. Too much heat and you end up with burned pancakes that are under-cooked in the middle. Too little heat, and they take forever to cook, and they end up with a bit dry with a toughened crumb. I tend to start  at a lower temperature than I think I’ll want, and creep it up from there. 

What Kind of Pan is Best for Pancakes?

Related to the above sentiment, I nearly always use my favorite well-seasoned cast iron pan to make pancakes. That said, I keep a non-stick skillet on hand for omelettes and the like. Both pans cook these pancakes well, but the non-stick pan makes beautiful, golden, perfect-looking pancakes. The cast iron pan pancakes taste very similar, they just aren’t as uniform or golden in color. And maintaining a steady temperature seems easier using cast iron.

How do I Know When to Flip My Pancakes?

For starters, when cooking pancakes, your pan shouldn’t be too hot, or too cool. If the pan is too hot, the pancakes end up overcooked before the insides have time to cook. Alternately, when the pan is too cool, pancakes take too long to cook and it impacts the texture negatively. So, control the temperature of the pan, flip when perfectly golden, and finish the second side. The batter should be set throughout and you’re ready to ladle in your next round of pancakes.  Flip pancakes with a thin spatula when the bottoms are golden. You should also see bubbles coming up. 

Keep Those Pancakes Warm!

Unless you have a griddle, or multiple pans going, you’re going to need make your pancakes in batches. And you don’t want your first round to go cold while you’re making the next. If you have a cooling rack you use for cookies, you can deploy it here. Place pancakes, preferably in a single layer, on the cooling rack after transferring from the skillet, and place them in a 200F oven to keep warm. I like the cooling rack better than a plate because it allows air to circulate around the entire pancake. This way, the bottom sides of the hot pancakes won’t get soggy.

How to Make Pancake Mix Ahead

I often make a pancake mix in a jar and and add the liquid ingredients just before I’m ready to make them. Simply combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a Mason jar. The morning you want to make pancakes combine the buttermilk, egg yolks, and melted butter (or alternately, olive oil), fold in whipped egg whites, and you’re ready to go.

Can I Freeze these Pancakes?

You can! Allow pancakes to cool completely. Arrange them on a parchment-lined baking sheet in a single layer, and freeze. Transfer to a freezer bag or container. Reheat pancakes by placing them on a baking sheet, cover tightly with foil and place in a 350F until hot, 10 minutes or so. If you don’t want to heat the oven, you can thaw them in the skillet you originally cooked them in. Another choice is to pop them in the toaster for a quick breakfast, you get a bit more crispness, but still good! Freeze for up to two months.

More Pancake Recipes

More Breakfast Recipes

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Cherry Salad with Kale & Black Rice

This refreshing cherry salad recipe features lacinato kale, black rice, fresh mint, toasted hazelnuts, and creamy goat cheese in a tangy red wine vinaigrette. It is vegan-adaptable.

This refreshing cherry salad recipe features lacinato kale, black rice, fresh mint, toasted hazelnuts, and creamy goat cheese in a tangy red wine vinaigrette. It is vegan-adaptable.
This refreshing cherry salad recipe features lacinato kale, black rice, fresh mint, toasted hazelnuts, and creamy goat cheese in a tangy red wine vinaigrette. It is vegan-adaptable.

25+ Healthy Delicious Quinoa Recipes

25+ Healthy Delicious Quinoa Recipes! Learn how to cook fluffy, perfectly cooked quinoa every time with my chef’s perfected recipe- then, use it for dinner recipes, bowls, salads, or one of our 25 quinoa recipes below.

25+ Healthy Delicious Quinoa Recipes
25+ Healthy Delicious Quinoa Recipes! Learn how to cook fluffy, perfectly cooked quinoa every time with my chef's perfected recipe- then, use it for dinner recipes, bowls, salads, or one of our 25 quinoa recipes below.