I decided to whip up these pancakes back on Valentine’s Day weekend to use some leftover sweet potato purée to avoid wasting any food. So, I wanted to adapt the New York Times’ famous buttermilk pancake recipe to do this; it’s my favorite pancake recipe to make and can easily be done in practically no time with common pantry ingredients.

No need to worry about the pancakes being too dense with the sweet potato purée being added to the pancake batter. Since they're folded in at the end you avoid overworking the batter, which still results in tender and fluffy pancakes!

I prefer crispy edges, so I’ll walk you through that to make sure you get perfect stacks every time. I would recommend making the sweet potato purée the day before if you feel like it so it’s less waiting time for the pancakes, but that’s definitely up to you. And if you don’t want to make these with the sweet potato, you can honestly add any addition you like: I love adding sliced bananas before flipping over the pancake. Either way, you’ll still end up with a delicious breakfast. Let’s get cooking!

Instant Pot Sweet Potato Purée

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves: 2

2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork or knife

1 cup water

3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Pinch kosher salt

Pinch black pepper

Set up the Instant Pot with the resting rack inside. Add the cup of water to the bottom of the insert and place the scrubbed and pricked sweet potatoes on the rack. Set the Instant Pot to high pressure for 15 minutes. Depending on how much time you have and once the cooking cycle as finished, you can either let the Instant Pot release naturally or you can carefully use the quick release function according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Once Instant Pot is safe to open, remove the sweet potatoes and place them in a large mixing bowl to cool down. When they’re cool enough to handle, remove the skins and then smash the potatoes with a fork. Next, add the butter, and stir well. Season with kosher salt and black pepper and then adjust to taste. Keep stirring until you get the consistency that you want.

Remember, you don’t want the purée to be overly seasoned since you’re going to be adding this to the pancake batter, that’s why I kept it super simple. Set the purée aside and cool down before using. Any leftovers can be used for dinner, eaten solo, or frozen since you’re only going to be using 1/2 cup for the recipe itself.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Serves: 4-6

Cook time: 20 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sweet potato purée, cooled

Canola oil, for cooking the pancakes

Preheat the oven to 300ºF.

Working with the dry ingredients first, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and kosher salt. Then, using the whisk, create a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the buttermilk and eggs.

Mix together the mixture starting at the center of your well and make sure to work your way out, incorporating the dry ingredients into the wet. Then, add the sweet potato purée and fold it in slowly, making sure not to overbeat the mixture. If you have lumps, that’s totally okay!

Next, heat up a nonstick pan or skillet over low heat for about 5 minutes. Then, add enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan and turn the heat up to about medium-low or medium. This part will honestly depend on your stove and working quickly but I prefer crispy edges, so I go up to a medium. If you like them softer, stick with medium-low heat. Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour an even scoop (about 1/3 cup’s worth) onto the pan making sure not to crowd it (I was able to do two pancakes at once).

Once the edges are crispy and bubbles have started to form on the top of the pancake, about 2-4 minutes, flip it over to finish cooking on the other side. Set aside the pancakes on a sheet pan or roasting dish in the oven to keep warm while you finish the rest of the pancakes on the stove. Serve with your favorite maple syrup or favorite toppings.

¡Buen provecho!