I was a grown woman before I heard the term Hootenanny. My husband with his southern roots had grown up eating it. Once I discovered it, hootenanny quickly became a favorite.
What is Hootenanny?
The Googled meaning of the word is different than what I expected. I fully expecting it to say ‘a southern pancake.’ But this is the official definition.
noun
an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.
“we invited friends to a hootenanny in our backyard”
So my historical take on how this delicious oven pancake got its name?
People took it as a side for a potluck style meal during the party.
The first time I made this, I didn’t know about my husband’s childhood favorite – hootenanny. I found the recipe in the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook under, “Puffed Oven Pancakes” and decided to give it a try.
When I set it on the table my husband was extatic, I had made one of his favorite meals (by mistake 😅). I now only refer to it as hootenanny because let’s be honest, that’s much more exciting than puffed oven pancake.
My Favorite Reasons to Eat Hootenanny
It’s high in protein
Low in flour
Can easily be served sugar free
Can easily have 100% whole grain
It bakes in the oven so I can pop it in and get other things done while it’s baking.
If you want sugar you can always serve it with syrup. Which is how I serve it for my kids, but since too much sugar makes me sick I’ve started searching for great sugar free options that still taste good.
This is not so much a substitute for sugar as a different dish all together.
First top it with plain Greek yogurt (packed full of 5 strains of probiotics). Then sweeten it with honey and blueberries.
It tastes amazing!
It could be that I’ve been going without sugar for so long that it only taste good to me, but really it taste so good, it would taste good to the average sugar eater as well.
What a Sugar-free Diet Tastes Like
When you go off of sugar, food actually starts tasting better. Especially Vegitables, fruit and honey. By cutting out the highly processed sugar your taste buds adjusts and actually taste other foods better.
If you’ve already gone off of sugar, you’ll absolutely love this. If you’re thinking of taking the first step, this is a great dish to start with.
Hootenanny bakes in a large casserole dish – at least mine does – I’ve adjusted the recipe (details below) to make enough for a family of 6.
It gets all these beautiful, golden hills and valleys from the large amount of eggs. They’re is actually more egg than there is flower so making this sugar free, makes it a really great source of protein.
Sometimes I even add chia and flax seeds which are a great source of fiber, iron, calcium, fatty acids and antioxidants.
Without further adieu
Sugar Free Hootenanny
This will make two 8×11″ size casserole dish sizes. It is quite light and fluffy, my family of 6 leaves no left overs.
Hootenanny Ingredients for two 8×11″ Casseroles
2 Tbl butter
9 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups milk (you can use almonds milk, but it doesn’t rise as high)
1/2 tsp salt
Heat oven to 400 °
Butter the entire bottom of each casserole dish. Leave one TBS of butter in each dish and let melt in the oven while you mix the other ingredients.
Mix the rest of the ingredients with a hand held mixer until smooth.
Pull the hot casserole dishes out of the oven. Pour half the batter into the furst hot dish and the other half batter in the second dish.
Bake for 25 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.
Top hootenanny with your choice of
Syrup, powdered sugar, whipped topping, plain Greek yogurt, honey, fresh or frozen fruit, chia and/or flax seeds
Eat and enjoy 😊
You may also enjoy Blueberry Blender Pancakes
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And have a terrific day!
Hi Natalie, That’s an amazing food . Although I am not a good cook, will try out this recipe.
Thank you for posting amazing recipes.
Jamie, this is a good recipe to start out with. Even if it doesn’t puff up, it still tastes good. 😊
That looks insaneeee! Definitely a must-try for me!
Well thanks for stopping by – it is delicious. Mmmm
Your Hootenanny recipe sounds so delicious. I never heard of it but it sure looks tasty. I am going to have to try your recipe.
I think it is primarily a southern thing – but it’s delicious. I’m also happy it tastes good without sugar.