Leah Nieman - Party Bars: Creative Ideas for Easy Entertaining

Party Bars: Creative Ideas for Easy Entertaining

Copyright 2015 Leah Nieman

www.leahnieman.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided by USA copyright law.

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All information and graphics within this product are originals or have been used with permission from its owners, and credit has been given when appropriate.

Cover image by: Amy Stults

Printables by: Marlene Griffith

Editing by: Heidi Strawser

Breakfast Bars

Appetizer Bars

Brunch and Lunch Bars

Dinner Bars

Dessert Bars

Drink Bars

Fun for Kids

A Food Bar for All Occasions

Best Basic Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 c. of sifted flour
• 3 T. sugar
• 3 eggs, slightly whisked
• 3 c. of buttermilk
• 3 T. butter, unsalted and melted

Instructions:

Preheat a griddle to medium heat. Whisk salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and sugar in a medium size bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk.

Whisk the melted butter into the eggs and buttermilk. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and stir until almost completely combined. Don't overmix! (It will cause your pancakes to become flat and tough.) It's fine to leave a few streaks of flour.

Pour 1/3 cup of batter onto a buttered, heated griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to form. Flip and cook until golden in color. Serve immediately; or place on a baking sheet and keep warm in oven.

Gluten Free Baking Mix

*This recipe uses a Gluten Free Baking Mix you can prepare ahead of time or when making the pancakes.

Ingredients for Gluten Free Baking Mix:

• 3 c. blanched almond flour
• 1 c. coconut flour
• 1 T. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tarter
• 3/4 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl. Youll need 2 cups of this mix for one batch of pancakes.

Gluten Free Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Shortening or oil for greasing your pan
• 6 large eggs
• 1 c. Almond milk
• 2 c. Pancake mix (see above)
• 1/4 c. melted coconut oil
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Heat a griddle over low-medium heat. Add oil to coat the pan so pancakes wont stick.

Place all ingredients in blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Scrape sides of blender and blend again if necessary.

Pour about cup of batter per pancake onto the pan and spread lightly to make a 4 inch circle. Be sure not to make pancakes too large or flipping them will be hard. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side, or until bubbles form on the surface. Flip and cook 2 more minutes.

Repeat until all remaining batter has been used being sure to oil pan before pouring new pancakes.

Pancakes for a Crowd

*This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Flour Pancakes for a Crowd Recipe.

Ingredients:

• 5 lb. bag King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 1/2 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. baking powder
• 3 T. baking soda
• 4 1/2 tsp. salt
• 10 large eggs
• 3 qt. buttermilk
• 6 c. whole milk
• 1 1/4 c. butter, melted
• 3 T. vanilla extract

Instructions:

In a very large bowl (one that can hold 36 cups of batter), whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, milk, butter, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is fairly smooth. A few small lumps are OK. Allow the batter to rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes. If the batter gets too thick, add up to one more cup of milk.

Spoon batter in 1/4-cupfuls onto a preheated 325F to 350F griddle. Cook till bubbles form and the bottoms of pancakes are brown. Flip, and cook a couple more minutes till the bottoms are brown. Serve immediately or hold briefly covered in a warm oven. This recipe makes about 150 4-inch pancakes.

Note: For best results, make the batter just prior to cooking the pancakes. Batter left to sit too long will yield pancakes that arent as light and fluffy.

Toppings

The basics: Softened butter, several kinds of syrup, powdered sugar, cinnamon

Fruit: sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches, warm cinnamon apples

Nuts: peanut butter, chopped pecans

Additional toppings: chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, yogurt

Laying It Out

Consider the space you have and how this will work for the flow of your bar. If you will have a large crowd and need to get hot pancakes to your bar as people are moving through, be sure to set up your bar so youll be able to get fresh pancakes to your bar easily.

Youll want to set the plates and utensils at the beginning of your bar next to the pancakes, since this is where your flow begins.

Butter, peanut butter and anything spreadable should go next in your bar lineup. Its tough to spread peanut butter over a pancake that already has sliced bananas on it!

After your spreadables, place your fruits. You can save space by using a tiered stand.

Next, a tray with syrups will keep drips contained and organized.

Nuts and additional toppings should go last. These can even be placed on a separate stand-alone table, if you have one available. This will keep the line moving along and give your guests time and space to top off their pancakes with those extras like whipped cream, chocolate syrup, and nuts without feeling like they are holding up the line.

Lets Talk About Looks

Pancakes are meant to be stacked. If your crowd is smaller, stack them up on large plates. They dont need to be in one tall stack. Place them in round circular patterns around the plate going upward. Youll get lots of pancakes on one plate. And, it will be easy for your guests to grab the next pancake off the plate. Stacking also helps keep them warm.

If you have a large group, layer the pancakes into chafing dishes placed in an oven set to warm. This will keep the pancakes warm as you make them. Cover with foil; then remove and serve from the chafing dish. You can add more pancakes as needed.

Group syrups on a tray or plate to catch drips that might happen during your event. You can even use a set of translucent white squeeze bottles to help minimize spills. These reusable bottles are a great investment if you plan to host a variety of party bars.

When deciding on what youll need to set up your pancake bar, think about your event. Is it a more formal event? Or, is it a causal, fun, family event? Once you have this in mind, think through what you have. You might find you have everything you need to set up your bar right in your cabinets. Then fill in what you might need by calling friends, checking Goodwill, or purchasing items that youll use again and again.

Remember: Pancakes are a heavier, sticky and wet food. Using disposable plates is great for larger crowds. But make sure your plates can hold up to the weight of a pancake topped with fruit and syrup.