Chocolate Milk Pancakes
A sweet breakfast treat? Definitely.
ingredients:
1-1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup chocolate milk
1 egg
In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the chocolate milk and egg and mix til just combined.
In a pan over medium-high heat, melt some butter and then ladle out your batter. When bubbles appear and pop, flip over. (how to make perfect pancakes, here)
An easy twist to your everyday pancakes!
Sweet Potato-Mochi Pancakes
It’s Fat Tuesday aka Shrove Tuesday aka Pancake Day!
I first made these back in December when the kids were on winter break and on a pancake kick – as in pancakes all day everyday for breakfast AND dinner.
Pancakes are so easy because it’s just one bowl and the kids love to help with the mixing. Sweet potato and mochi go together really well in dessert form, so I thought it’d also make for a perfect pancake!
ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup mochiko flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 sweet potato, mashed
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon melted butter
Mochiko is a fine rice flour, and what gives mochi it’s familiar ‘chew’. You can find it in Japanese markets or online
Start by roasting your sweet potato. Prick it with a fork and place it on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for one hour. When it comes out the skin will peel off easily. Mash it with a fork or a masher and set aside.
In a bowl, whisk the flour, mochiko flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon.
Add the mashed sweet potato, egg, milk (you may not need all of it depending on the consistency!), vanilla and butter. Stir to combine, making sure all the flour is dissolved. If the mixture is a bit thick, add a little more of the milk.
Ladle the batter into a hot pan (how to make perfect pancakes, here). When bubble form, flip them over and cook until done. Darth Vader totally photobombed this shot. I think he loves pancakes. Evil pancakes.
The sweet potatoes add a nice flavor to the pancakes and together with the mochi, you get a nice hefty chew. I make an extra batch of these and freeze them for mornings when the kids DEMAND hot pancakes and I am still wiping the sleep out of my eyes. A few minutes in the microwave and they taste just as fresh as the day I made them!
Pumpkin Mochi Pancakes
I make a lot of mochi recipes, so Fall seemed the perfect time to combo mochi with pumpkin! These pancakes are a favorite of the Kid. Then again, like his momma, he loves mochi anything…
ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup mochiko flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon melted butter
maple whipped cream (recipe, here)
Mochiko is a sweet rice flour. It’s very fine, almost dusty. You can find it in most asian markets or online
In a bowl, whisk the flour, mochiko flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon.
Add the pumpkin, egg, milk and butter. Stir to combine, making sure all the flour is dissolved. If the mixture is a bit thick, add a little more milk.
Ladle your batter into a hot pan (how to make perfect pancakes, here). Flip them over and cook until done.
I added little cinnamon chips to make a smiley happy eat me face.
These pancakes are hefty with a subtle mochi chew. I like to serve them with syrup or the Kid’s fave: maple whipped cream. And of course no breakfast (er, I made this for dinner actually) is complete without a side of Brown Sugar Bacon (recipe, here). Yum.
Cream Cheese filled Pancakes
While *I’m* not a fan of cream cheese – my cheese lovin’ son IS. And since breakfast is also his fave meal of the day, I made up some pancakes filled with sweetened cream cheese. The touch of lemon zest adds just a little kick of freshness. The perfect send off for the first week of school.
ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
2 Tablespoons cream cheese
1 Tablespoon softened butter
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cream cheese
2 Tablespoon powdered sugar
1 Tablespoons lemon zest
In a small bowl stir together the cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add the egg, butter, milk and vanilla until just combined.
Set your pan to medium high and add touch of butter. Watch the heat, you know how *I* am about my pancakes!
Ladle out the pancake batter. Add a dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the pancake…
then top with more batter.
Once the bubbles start to pop, carefully flip the pancakes and cook the other side.
You can top these with syrup or strawberries, and you’ll be please to find a creamy center to brighten your morning!
Green Tea Pancakes
I make A LOT of pancakes. I’m always looking for a way to change it up and surprise the kids – so one morning I added some matcha powder (powdered green tea) to the batter. The kids LOVED it! Topped with a nice strawberry compote, you have a unique, colorful, delicious breakfast.
ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons matcha (powdered green tea)
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1 Tablespoon melted butter
Strawberry compote (recipe, here)
Matcha can be found in the tea section of Japanese markets. Careful – that powder is potent and will get EVERYWHERE if you are not careful.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar and matcha.
Add the eggs, milk and butter until just combined.
Heat your skillet with a little butter and start making PERFECT pancakes.
Top with some Strawberry Compote and serve!
Ovaltine Pancakes
Sometimes you just need to change your average pancakes up and give ‘em a little extra something. In this case that extra something is tasty delicious Ovaltine.
ingredients:
1-1/2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup Ovaltine
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and Ovaltine. I add A LOT, 1/2 cup, but if you don’t want the flavor that strong, a 1/4 will be fine. Chocolate or malt, choose your poison. I like to go old skool, malt all the way, baby.
Stir in the egg, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Just until combined, don’t overdo it!
Make pancakes as you normally would (if you want to see a good vs. bad pancake, go here.)
Serve these with Brown Sugar Bacon twists and your kids will jump for joy.
Nutella Pancakes
A pocket of Nutella right in the middle of your pancake would make your day so much better, don’t you agree?
ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
Nutella
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the egg and milk and stir until just combined. If you need more milk, add by the Tablespoonful.
Make pancakes as you normally would, then add a dollop of Nutella right in the middle. (Feel free to ignore how disgusting this picture looks:)
Top with a little more batter to form a pocket. Once the bubbles start to pop and the bottom is browned, carefully flip the pancake over. (If you want to see my dissertation on Good pancakes vs. Bad pancakes, go here.)
The fun part is seeing the kids faces as they bite into these, however if you are the Baby he angrily demands why the entire thing isn’t make out of Nutella, no pancake necessary…
Pancake faces
Sunday morning is my favorite time to cook. No school to rush off to – just a leisurely morn – except that the kids wake up at 5:30 and demand breakfast. Oh yeah. That part. So I start it, set it up and by getting them involved they happily entertain themselves. Good. Clean it up too while you’re at it, I’m going back for some zzz’s…
ingredients:
pancakes, obviously – this recipe is the kid’s favorite.
anything for toppings – shredded coconut, fresh fruit, chocolate chips, nuts
You can just use a plain old pancake of course, but here’s a trick my mom used to make for us when we were kids: On a hot buttered pan take a spoonful of pancake batter, make eyes and mouth.
The idea is to the let the face components cook a bit, to get a little dark.Then go ahead and ladle a spoonful of batter on top of the face, to cover, making a circle. (Well, attempt to, at least.)
When you flip it – HELLO FACE. This just really serves as a template, you don’t need to do it, but it’s fun.
Now gather all of your toppings and let the kids go at it with the decorating. I like to use a mini muffin tin because it portions things smaller and also keeps everything pretty neat.
Every night the kid’s and I do an “After Dinner Art” project, and this is sort of the same idea…but with food! It’s really cool to see the ideas they come up with!
Cinnamon Vanilla (bunny shaped) Pancakes
My mom used to make me shaped pancakes on a Sunday morning, and let me tell you, it certainly makes you more interested in eating your breakfast. Here’s how I made these bunny ones for the kids on Easter.
Similar to my cinnamon vanilla waffle recipe, this one for pancakes is just as popular with my kids. Especially when you form them into fun shapes to eat.
ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
1-1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Mix all the ingredients together until just combined. If you need more milk, go for it – just don’t let it get runny. You want to be able to shape these things.
Heat a pan over medium high heat, I like to melt some butter in there for flavor, but you certainly don’t have to. To make the bunny – use a large Tablspoonspoonful of batter and start with the head – making a nice oval shape.
Then use half the Tablespoon and pull up one ear.
Then the other. Once you know the pancake is ready to flip – gently turn it over and you should have a nice little bunny head.
I used small pink heart quinns for the nose and black POKER quinns for the eyes.
Obviously, you can make any shape, but bunnies are easy and fun…and recognizable!!
Tasty Pancakes
Plain old pancakes are great. But add some special ingredients and you’ve got tasty, tasty cakes. I serve these for dinner as well as breakfast!
Jenn’s Basic Pancake Batter ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 egg
1-3/4 cups milk
1 Tablespoon melted butter (plus some for the pan)
Take all the ingredients and combine in a bowl until smooth. Put a griddle on the stove, put the heat on medium high. Add a small pat of butter. This not only allows for maximum flippage, but a nice brown and lovely flavor. Pour your batter into nice little circles.
At this point, you can sprinkle ANY ingredients you want on top. We’re talking, savory and sweet. Blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, a favorite in our house is sausage. I cook the sausage first, so it’s nice and caramel-y, then toss a few bite sized pieces on top of the batter, see:
Once small bubbles appear in the batter and start to pop, it’s time to flip. Now hold up. When you flip your pancakes if you get those awful dark circles around the edges and discolored centers, that is because your heat is too high. The first batch usually comes out like this, and if so, turn down the heat. Pancakes should be a gorgeous evenly brown.
Simple. Don’t get me wrong, these are great plain. The secret to my recipe is the vanilla and brown sugar. I mean, you can’t go wrong with that, but when you add stuff, it just makes it that much more flavorful. Get crazy with add-in options, (I dunno about spinach…), but see how creative you can get and you can have a break from boring old pancakes!
