But then a few years ago I was part of a 'taste buds' group - a group of people (buds) who taste tested recipes for a blogger. And THAT is when my fascination with the pancake began.
I taste tested two recipes back then, one a fairly traditional number but the other was chock full of various grains and ground nuts and the result was a hearty nutty flavorful and filling cake of the pan unlike the lifeless pale rounds of flat dough I had been familiar with.
Since then I have experimented with the humble pancake, putting all sorts of things in there...nuts, fruits, various grains. I really feel like there is no end to what you can add to a basic batter. (seriously)
The other day I decided to stray a little further off the beaten path. (having sick kids at home for days will do strange things to a person...........)
First I made a basic batter. And by basic I mean I start with about a cup of bisquick. And then all bets are off. :)
To that I generally add a half cup of ground flax seeds and a half cup of freshly ground oats. This time around I added a bit of cornmeal too, just for a little added texture. Then the requisite milk (of any variety - often almond) and eggs.
And then
for just a bit of color
I decided to add something I rarely have on hand
Cereal
Not just any cereal mind you - but sugary crunchy colorful and utterly-devoid-of-nutritional value-cereal.
aren't they pretty?
And yes, there are crunchies of the devil in there - true.
But there are also some good things in there that the wee ones will never fret over as they delight in the fact that Nana (crazy old coot) put CEREAL in their pancakes.
And looooooooook at the blue and red and yellow balls in there!
Cerealously (see what I did there?) cereal. ously. okaaaaaaaaay.
So seriously, maybe putting kids cereal into pancakes is not earth shattering or record breaking.
But. What I did next?
Yeah, that's one for the record books. (And by records books I really mean my recipe book. That maybe my Mom and my daughter will read. Some day. )
I poured some batter in a small circle in the pan.
Then on top of that I placed a perfect, delicious, rich, golden chocolate chip cookie.
Oh yeah. It's going' down.
I'm yelling Timber.....you better move....you better dance.
On top of the cookie went a dollop of pancake batter, spread around with a spoon til it just eased itself over the sides of the cookie.....let it rest a moment and then flip - cook a minute or two and voila.
Dive In.
This is a rick, gooey, sugary, chocolatey pancake that will knock your socks off.
Really more of a dessert than a breakfast item.
And, if you can restrain yourself, and let some of them cool.....the most amazing thing happens. The cookies regain their crunch (more or less). And you have a dough covered semi-crunchy chocolate chip cookie.
ONE THAT HAS FLAX SEED AND OTHER NUTRITIONAL THINGS IN IT!
(uhhh, yea, I'm gonna keep telling myself that)
In my defense, as I said the other day - I like to be careful and I try not to waste food so when I saw these few leftover chocolate chip cookies, well, I just figured I needed to use them before they went to waste.
that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Here we have kid treats
And kid treats with Nana treats....
But ok, so I am typically compelled to actually make myself something healthy. Here are the pancakes that I ate - same basic recipe as above to which I added the thinnest shaved tart green apple and a dash of cinnamon.
You could almost see through the apple it was shaved so thin.
(I LOVE my titan peeler!! I think I posted about it before)
They are far less dramatic in appearance, but they were really very tasty and much more in keeping with a proper breakfast. :)
One more for the road, just because they are so colorful and fun!
Comment below and tell us what you like to put in YOUR pancakes.
