Sweet Potato Pancakes with Spiced Pecans

This is how we closed out 2011...a yummy breakfast. These were nothing short of amazing and we'll be making them for years to come. The recipe said it makes 4 servings, but apparently we don't eat like the author wants us too. I think it made more like 8 servings! But, I am happy with extra pancakes and froze a bunch, so we'll have them on some random weekday mornings when we need something other than cereal. Michael didn't like the pecans but I thought they MADE the meal. They are slightly spicy and salty, so they are a fun contrast to the sweet pancakes. We topped with syrup and ate them up!

1 large sweet potato

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp salt

5 Tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3 cups buttermilk

3 eggs

2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

2 Tbsp honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Wrap the sweet potato in foil and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until tender (I made these for breakfast and knew I couldn't wait that long, so I cooked it in the microwave for 5 minutes, then wrapped in foil and baked for 20). Set aside to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. In another large bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture. Dig the flesh out of the sweet potato into a medium bowl and mash. Add the honey, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well. Add the sweet potato mixture to the pancake batter and whisk until combined. Let the batter stand for a bit (um, it said for one hour, but again, I was making these in the morning, so mine only stood 15 minutes and it was FINE-but if I ever make them at night, I will try to let them stand an hour and see if it makes any difference). Heat a skillet over medium heat and ladle the batter in batches, 1/3 cup at a time, cooking pancakes until browned on each side.

Spiced pecans:

1 1/2 tsp honey

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 1/2 tsp unsalted butter

1 cup chopped pecans

In a bowl, mix the honey, cayenne and salt. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the honey mixture and the pecans and cook for 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat, cool, and store in an airtight container. Place a few over the stack of pancakes and serve.