For our holiday episode of Time to Cook, chef Stephen La Rosa is mixing and whipping one of his favourite breakfasts, featuring the most decked-out pancakes you’ve ever attempted and seriously good hot chocolate. And the good thing is that you can prepare the breakfast in advance, so there is hardly any work to do in the morning - except indulge.

American style pancakes

You need

For the dry mix

• 300g Dove’s Farm plain flour
• 5g baking powder
• 3g bicarbonate of soda
• 5g salt
• 20g brown sugar

For the wet mix

• 4 eggs, separated
• 300g Greek yoghurt
• 300g Alpro Oat milk
• 3g vanilla essence
• Chocolate chips
• Dried cranberries 

Method

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any lumps. You can make extra batches of this and store in an airtight container for up to three months.
2. Separate the eggs. Place the yolks in a large bowl and the whites in another.
3. Add the yoghurt, oat milk and vanilla essence to the egg yolks, whisk to combine.
4. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.
5. Fold the egg whites into the wet mixture with a rubber spatula.
6. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Do not overwork the mixture.
7. Place a large non-stick pan over medium-low heat. Rub lightly with a paper towel and some butter or oil.
8. Add a ladleful of the pancake mixture at a time into the pan and use the ladle to form a circular shape. Cook the pancakes for two to three minutes or until a few small bubbles start coming through the tops.
9. Add any toppings such as dried cranberries or chocolate chips.
10. Flip them over and continue cooking for two to three more minutes.
11. Place on a baking tray and hold in a 100°C oven until all of the pancakes are done or reserve in the fridge to reheat later. 

Oat and nut streusel

You need

• 200g plain flour
• 10g rolled oats
• 150g mixed nuts
• 200g butter, cut into cubes
• 100g light brown sugar
• 5g salt
• ½ tsp each cinnamon, ginger, cardamom

Method

• Pulse nuts and oats together in a food processor.
• Combine flour, brown sugar, salt, the mixed spices and the oat and nut mixture together in a mixing bowl.
• Rub in cubed butter until only small pea-sized pieces remain.
• Bake in a 180°C oven for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. 

Whipped honey yoghurt 

You need

• 150g cream
• 100g yoghurt
• 40ml honey
• Salt

Method

• Add cream, yoghurt and honey to a bowl. 
• Whisk for three minutes or until airy and stiff. 

Real hot chocolate

You need

• 200g dark chocolate
• 200g cream
• 300g milk
• 50g sugar
• 2g salt
• 3g vanilla 
• 40ml of your favourite spirit, optional

Method 

• Heat up milk, cream, sugar, salt and vanilla
• Add chocolate and whisk in
• Add booze 

Watch this space for more recipes - but if in the meantime you get hungry, find more of Stephen's recipes here.