Pancake Squares

For the pancakes:
Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add buttermilk, eggs, butter, and sugar and stir with a spoon or spatula until smooth. Pour batter into a 9 x 13 baking dish and bake at 350ºF for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for a minute or two before slicing.

For the strawberry syrup:
Combine the strawberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a large sauce pan. Stir and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Cook strawberries for 10–15 minutes or until strawberries have broken down and mixture starts to thicken.

In a very small bowl, combine cornstarch with remaining 1 teaspoon of water. Add this to the strawberries, stir, and let it thicken for 2–3 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat. Strain syrup through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing on the solids until only the smooth syrup has been extracted. Discard the solids. (Makes approximately ¾ cup syrup.)

Serve the pancake squares with the strawberry syrup.