Birthday Cake Pancakes

Today my wonderful husband turns 28.  Happy birthday!  As I have mentioned before, it is tradition in my family to make pancakes on someone's birthday.  And when my husband married me, he married my family traditions.  That means birthday pancakes and deodorant in your Christmas stocking.  These are actually the pancakes I made him last year on his birthday.  I have been selfishly holding onto this recipe, but I think today is the perfect time to share.

As the big day approached last year, I pondered over what kind of pancakes I should make.  They had to be perfect for his special day.  I had already decided on a red velvet cake for later in the day, so a festive, cake-like, pancake seemed like a fun way to start the day.  I have come across recipes for pancakes that actually use cake mix for the batter.  While that sounded delicious, and I was willing to splurge a bit, I couldn't bring myself to have cake twice in one day.  My solution was to take my favorite basic pancake recipe and tweak it slightly to make it a birthday worthy pancake that didn't put my whole day off track (I'd save that for the cake!).  What I came up with was a delicious pancake that is worth celebrating!

The changes I made in this recipe from my standard pancake recipe were pretty minor.  I used melted butter instead of oil, added some vanilla and lemon juice, and, of course, sprinkles.  These are nothing fancy, but they are delicious!  I can't think of a better way to start off a birthday morning.

For quality control purposes, I sampled these pancakes several different ways.  These were great with regular old maple syrup, my special mulberry syrup, and even just on their own.  And I didn't try it out, so I can't say for sure, but I am pretty certain they would be spectacular with the cream cheese glaze I used on my oatmeal cinnamon roll pancakes.  After all, what isn't good with cream cheese glaze?

However you decide to top these pancakes, I am sure they will be loved by all who try them.  They are festive, buttery, delicious, and fun!  So next time a special someone in your life is turning another year older, start their day off with a special treat by whipping up a tasty batch of these awesome birthday cake pancakes!  Off-key "Happy Birthday" song is optional, but candles are a must!

Birthday Cake Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup colored sprinkles
Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Beat eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla, and lemon juice together in small bowl.  Add to flour mixture and stir just until combined.  Gently fold in sprinkles.
Ladle onto hot skillet using 1/4 cup batter per pancake.  Cook until golden brown on bottom, flip and cook until golden brown on the other side.  Continue with the rest of the batter.
Serve with butter and syrup (and a birthday candle!).