Cornbread Pancakes with Fresh Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients

• 1 pound fresh strawberries , hulled
• 0.5 cups white sugar
• 0.5 cups cold water
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. 1

   Gather all ingredients.

2. 2

   Place strawberries in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in sugar, water, and lemon juice and bring to a simmer. Lower heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until strawberries are very soft, and the syrup starts to thicken, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. 3

   Remove from the stove and carefully pass through a mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard any seeds and fibrous bits that are left in the sieve. Let syrup cool for 15 minutes, then cover and store in the refrigerator until needed.

4. 4

   Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl until all ingredients are well incorporated; set aside.

5. 5

   Place buttermilk, cornmeal, and 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a whisk until butter melts and mixture starts to simmer. Once simmering, cook and stir until very thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.

6. 6

   Whisk eggs into the cooled cornmeal mixture until incorporated. Add the reserved flour mixture and stir with a spatula until well combined and no flour remains in the saucepan; batter will be thick but still scoopable.

7. 7

   Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium heat. Working in batches, scoop 1/3 cup batter for each pancake into the hot skillet and press them down with the back of a spatula to flatten out. Cook until the outside edges start to look a little dry, about 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and repeat on the other side until pancakes are cooked through, another 3 to 4 minutes. Repeat to cook remaining pancakes, adding more butter to the skillet as necessary.

8. 8

   Top warm pancakes with strawberry syrup.