Sweet Potato Pancakes

Wow.  These were some really awesome pancakes.  Sweet Potatoes are one of my favorite foods; I have a sweet potato with my dinner about every other day at home.  We had a leftover sweet potato in the fridge, and I had been wanting to make myself some sweet potato pancakes ever since I saw them on the menu at Cracker Barrel...so I figured, "why not?"  I found a basic recipe online and { jazzed it up } with my own ingredients to make it tastier.  The result was absolutely fabulous.  My family and I wolfed so many of these down.  I had my pancakes with a variety of toppings (not all the ones listed below, of course) - pure maple syrup, maple butter, honey, whipped cream, and cinnamon sugar (not all on the same pancake, obviously).  I would have loved some chopped pecans to go with it, though...but we didn't have any (*sad face*).  These pancakes were so perfect; moist, flavorful, slightly sweet, soft, and fluffy - everything the perfect pancake should be.  I thought they wouldn't be sweet enough, since there's no sugar added to the pancakes themselves, but the sweet potato sweetened them very nicely. This is such an wonderful fall recipe.  I can't wait to make this again during the holiday season!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes *(see first direction below)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 
  

Garnish: maple syrup, chopped nuts, maple butter, marshmallows/fluff, shredded coconut,  brown sugar, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar, butter, honey, powdered sugar, cranberry sauce, etc. 

Directions:
1. If sweet potatos aren't cooked yet, place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, vanilla, and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
3. Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.
4.  Garnish with desired toppings if desired.  Serve immediately.