Makeover Monday: Eggnog Pancakes with Butter Rum Flavored Syrup

Have you seen the commercials for IHOP's Holiday Hotcakes?  I have.  And I drool on my couch every time.  What really gets my salivary glands going is the eggnog hotcakes.  This is what their IHOP's eggnog pancakes consist of according to their website: "eggnog cream with cinnamon and nutmeg layered between sweet golden pancakes.  Crowned with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, a drizzle of butter rum flavored sauce and creamy whipped topping."  Uh, yum. 

Unfortunately, I have moved out of the big city of Topeka, Kansas and into a small town that doesn't even have a breakfast restaurant.  Yes, no breakfast restaurants of any kind.  Goose egg.  Zero.  None.  Not a pancake in sight!  So I knew if I was going to have eggnog pancakes, I was going to have to make them myself.  

Fortunately, I had some eggnog leftover from my Eggnog Spice Cake.  While I was snooping around IHOP's website, I made a stop in their nutrition section.  Bad idea.  It turns out that 4 of these too-good-to-be-true eggnog pancakes have 2,150 calories.  I knew I could never put a days worth of calories in my body for breakfast and look myself in the eye the next day.  But I really wanted some eggnog pancakes.

So I made my own, but on my own terms.  I used my standard pancake recipe, but added cinnamon and nutmeg, rum extract, and used eggnog instead of milk to give it a festive flavor.  Also, because eggnog contains egg yolk, I used meringue powder instead of a whole egg.  This cut out 50 calories.  As usual with my pancakes, I used Splenda instead of sugar, and applesauce instead of oil.  Instead of a butter rum flavored "sauce" as served at IHOP, I made a butter rum flavored syrup.  I layered this syrup between pancakes and topped with light whipped topping, and sprinkled the pancakes with cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Four of my eggnog pancakes topped with 1/2 cup of my butter rum flavored syrup and 2 tablespoons of light whipped topping comes in at about 850 calories.  So it's not the kind of breakfast I would recommend on a daily basis, but that's still 1300 fewer calories than you would get from four of IHOP's eggnog pancakes.

And if you don't have eggnog, or want to save a few more calories I did also make a batch of pancakes with skim milk instead of eggnog.  In that batch, I used an egg instead of meringue powder, and used 1/2 teaspoon rum extract instead of 1/4 teaspoon.

These are really easy to make.  Start out by mixing together the flour, Splenda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Whisk together meringue powder and water.  Or you can just use an egg white.  Whisk together the meringue mix, eggnog, applesauce, vanilla, and rum extract.

Then stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined.  My batter initially was pretty thick, so I added a few tablespoons of water to thin it out a bit.

Ladle onto a hot skillet 1/4 cup at a time.

When the bubbles form and pop, flip.

To make the syrup, just stir all the ingredients in a small saucepan.

Boil for two minutes.

Then remove from heat and allow to cool.  The syrup will thicken as it cools.  You could also make this the day before and heat it up while the pancakes are cooking.

Stack the pancakes with a little syrup in between.  Top with light whipped topping, and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg for a perfect holiday breakfast!

Eggnog Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

2 Tbsp Splenda

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp meringue powder

2 Tbsp water

1 cup eggnog

1/4 tsp rum extract 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp no sugar added applesauce

Directions:

In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, Splenda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, beat meringue powder and water until foamy.  Mix in eggnog, rum extract, and applesauce.  Beat until smooth.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until combined.  Pour onto heated skillet by 1/4 cupfuls.  Bake until golden brown on both sides.

Butter Rum Flavored Syrup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp margarine

2 Tbsp Splenda brown sugar

3/4 cup light corn syrup

3/4 tsp rum extract

Directions:

Stir all ingredients together in small saucepan.  Boil for 2 minutes then remove from heat.  Allow to cool.  Syrup with thicken as it cools.