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!

Makeover Monday: Pancake Squares

It doesn't take much time browsing my blog to figure out that I like love pancakes.  They are one of my favorite weekend breakfast dishes and I enjoy trying different varieties and exploring all the fun things you can add to a plain ole pancake.  But despite all the kinds of pancakes I have made, such as oatmeal cinnamon roll, pumpkin, strawberry poppy seed, and even sweet potato to name just a few, I have never even thought about changing the way I make pancakes.  That changed about two weeks ago.

That was when I saw a pin on Pinterest for these pancake squares.  This is basically just regular pancake batter, but instead of pouring individual pancakes on a skillet and watching, waiting, flipping, watching, waiting, and repeating over and over, all you do is pour the batter into a baking dish and bake it.  Then you cut it, eat it, and love it.  One look at that pin, and my mind was blown!  Why did I not think of that?

Oatmeal Pancakes with Honey Bourbon Apricot Topping

Despite the disgustingly hot and dry conditions we have been experiencing here in North Central Kansas, the apricot trees have been brave enough to bear fruit.  Tender, sweet, delicious fruit.  One of my husband's coworkers was kind enough to give us an ample supply of fresh apricots.  There were too many to just eat as a snack, which is what I usually like to do with my fruit.  So when I saw a recipe for honey apricot topping, I knew I had to make it.  


This recipe was super easy and I am officially declaring it as the absolute best way to use up any surplus of apricots you may have if you are fortunate enough to have an apricot tree (or know a kind soul who does and likes to share!).  If you don't have bushels of apricots lying around, I would still encourage you to buy some and make this delicious honey bourbon apricot topping.  

Makeover Monday: Mulberry Pancakes

Last week I shared my recipe for sugar-free mulberry syrup.  I made it several weeks ago, but hadn't been able to actually enjoy it on a hot stack of pancakes because my husband and I have been traveling every weekend.  Although we traveled this weekend for an out of town wedding, we were at least able to spend some time at home Saturday morning.  Finally!  And Saturday mornings mean Saturday morning breakfast. 

I was super excited to try out my mulberry syrup and wanted the perfect pancake accompaniment.  In case you haven't checked out the syrup recipe yet (shame on you if you haven't!) in the process you simmer the mulberries in water until they are soft and then mash them.  When I have made this syrup in the past I threw the resulting mulberry pulp away.  I hated doing that.  It seemed like such a waste of one of my favorite summer treats.  This time I saved the pulp.  I knew I could use it somehow.   And then I realized that the perfect pancakes for my mulberry syrup would be mulberry pancakes.  Turns out mulberry pancakes + mulberry syrup = summer breakfast bliss.  That's math I would go to summer school for!

Makeover Monday: Strawberry Poppy Seed Pancakes

 

Spring is in full swing and that means it is berry eating time!  I have never met a berry I didn't like, but I think of all the members of the berry family, strawberries are my favorite.  This time of year, it's hard to beat the taste of a perfectly ripe, sweet, juicy strawberry.  And, like all berries, strawberries are as good for your health as they are for your taste buds.  They are loaded with Vitamin C and cancer-fighting antioxidants.  Berries spoil easily, which is part of the reason why they tend to be a little pricy.  But now is the time of year when they are freshest, and usually cheapest.  So feel free to add lots of berries to your Spring cuisine!

Recently I found myself with some strawberries I needed to use up before they spoiled.  And I had a husband with a hankering for pancakes.  I am always looking for ways to mix up my Saturday morning pancakes and I thought tossing in a handful of strawberries would make a nice Spring breakfast.  And then I decided to up the ante by adding some poppy seeds.  They added a nice bit of color.  And though the strawberries were great for Spring, the red and blue combo of strawberries and poppy seeds would be perfect for the upcoming patriotic holidays.  Memorial Day is right around the corner, and before you know it, it will be the 4th of July!  Picnics get all the glory for these holidays, but why not start off the day with a little red, white, and blue?

Makeover Monday: Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

In case you didn't know, today just happens to be my birthday.  Don't worry if you didn't send a present.  I accept late entries! :)  I have been spoiled with several birthday celebrations already, including a trip to Bentonville, Arkansas yesterday and some great food!  My husband has traditionally baked me a Funfetti cake for my birthday, which I love.  But this year we are making a cake from scratch, together.  He needs supervision in the preparation of anything that doesn't come in a box!  I am really excited about the cake we are making and can't wait to share with you.  I'm not saying what kind we are making, but if you've been reading my blog, I don't think you will be surprised with what I've picked out!

Anyway, I haven't exactly been eating healthy in the last few days, but Makeover Monday must go on!  I thought a pancake recipe would be appropriate to share today in the spirit of my birthday.  Why pancakes?  While my family always partook in the tradition of cake and ice cream for birthdays, we had another tradition when I was growing up.  We always had a special breakfast for the birthday boy or girl on his or her birthday morning, no matter what day of the week it was.  So you might have to get up a little early in the morning, but you were going to get pancakes and presents, so it was worth it!  While the pancakes we had back then probably weren't particularly healthy, any pancakes made at my house now are.  That includes these delicious oatmeal banana pancakes!

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Pancakes with Cinnamon Pecan Streusel

Last week I shared my maple mashed sweet potato recipe and I promised I would let you know what I did with my leftovers.  Without any further ado, here it is--sweet potato pancakes!  I have seen several sweet potato pancake recipes here and there on the world wide web (remember when people used to call it that?) but I passed them up.  They came back to me when I was wondering what I was going to do with the mountain of leftover mashed sweet potatoes I had.  Sweet potato pancakes seemed liked a great use for mashed sweet potatoes that already had a hint of maple flavor.  Put maple syrup on them and you have double maple!  So I searched a couple of recipes, tweaked them a little bit, and made a batch.

I loved these pancakes!  They were hearty from the whole grains, plenty thick, perfectly spiced, and very moist.  Just what I love in a good pancake!  These are similar to the pumpkin pancakes I made this fall, but they have a higher proportion of sweet potato.  While making these, I had an epiphany.  I have a recipe for pumpkin pancakes with a streusel topping that I have never made.  Because the flavors of the two pancakes are similar, I tried the streusel topping on my sweet potato pancakes, with some added pecans.  Sweet potatoes and pecans are meant to be together.  It all came together for some of the most amazing pancakes I have ever had!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Random musing: If I had a cinnamon roll tree in my backyard that produced calorie free cinnamon rolls all year, I do believe I would have cinnamon rolls every day.  I love them that much.  But alas, cinnamon roll trees don't exist (that I know of!) and they are certainly not calorie free so I have to settle for having them every once in a while.

A while back ago, I woke up on a Saturday morning inexplicably craving cinnamon rolls.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the hours it takes to make up a batch of fresh cinnamon rolls.  So I started to make a batch of one of my favorite pancake varieties, oatmeal, which has a hint of cinnamon, thinking that would calm my craving.  I thought maybe I could even add a little extra cinnamon to up the ante.  Then I remembered seeing a recipe somewhere for cinnamon roll pancakes.  A quick internet search brought me to just what I was looking for--pancakes with a cinnamon-sugar swirl and a cream cheese glaze.  I just adapted the idea into my whole wheat oatmeal pancakes for a breakfast that was fast, hearty, and surprisingly cinnamon roll-like.  Perfect!

Makeover Monday: Whole Wheat Gingerbread Pancakes

The countdown to Christmas is now 6 days.  There are so many things that make Christmas a unique time of year.  The tree, stockings, lights, candy canes, etc.  And how many other holidays have their own songs?  Not to mention that Christmas is maybe the only day of the year when people actually look forward to morning.  Because you probably aren't going to be munching on celery sticks all day, you might as well get your day off to a healthy start.  

Enter, whole wheat gingerbread pancakes.  I have been wanting to make gingerbread cookies since I finished my turkey and pumpkin pie.  But with only a few days remaining before Christmas, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.  So I decided to make a breakfast version.  I used whole wheat flour, Splenda, applesauce instead of oil, and ground flax instead of an egg.  The flax seed was mostly because I was out of eggs, but it does cut out about 40 calories and adds some omega-3 fatty acids.  These were really yummy and festive.  And I got my gingerbread fix without the calories of a cookie.  

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.

Apple Cranberry Oven Baked Pancake

In case you haven't noticed, I love making yummy breakfast treats.  A few years ago I decided I wanted to make apple pancakes and began searching for a recipe.  What I came across was oven baked apple pancakes.  It's not what I originally had in mind but I thought it was worth a try.  The first recipe I used was okay, but not great.  To me it was too egg-y, too bland, too soggy, and just forgettable.  I thought I could do better.

In my own version of the oven baked apple pancake, I added more flour (whole wheat of course!) to make it more like the pancakes I was used to and less like an apple omelet.  I also added walnuts for a bit of crunch, and cranberries for a little extra flavor punch.  I chose cranberries because I love their tartness and it is November, but you could use raisins if that's what you have.  You could also use whatever kind of nuts you have if you don't have/like walnuts.  But if you don't like walnuts I suggest you seek mental help immediately.  I used margarine to save calories, and added some ground flax seed to give these pancakes a boost of omega-3 fatty acids.  But if you aren't into preventing heart disease, feel free to leave the flax out. 

One advantage of oven baked pancakes compared to traditional pancakes is that you simply prepare a pan of them, and then stick it in the oven, and forget about it for a half an hour.  That is a great time to brew some coffee and read the paper while the aroma of apples and cinnamon overtakes your house.  Yum!  This version really hit the spot and is a great fall breakfast.

Makeover Monday: Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

I have quite an arsenal of pancake recipes.  Of all my weekend breakfasts I make, pancakes have to be my favorite.  I have been making pancakes on weekend mornings for as long as I can remember.  And of all my pancake recipes, pumpkin pancakes are my favorite.  I love that fall allows me an excuse to make as much pancake stuff as I can!

I am always trying to make my weekend meals live up to my weekday standards.  This Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancake recipe wasn't too bad to start out with, but I found a few ways to improve it.  I used 100% whole wheat flour (24 extra grams of fiber), Splenda brown sugar substitute (70 fewer calories), flax instead of an egg (35 fewer calories), and applesauce instead of oil (105 fewer calories).

My main experimentation in this recipe was using the ground flax seed instead of an egg.  Eggs are slowly shedding the villain role they previously held for their high cholesterol content.  I didn't lose the egg in this recipe because I think I need fewer eggs so much as I think I need more omega-3 fatty acids, which flax seed is an excellent source of.  I eat ground flax seed most mornings either in Bran Flakes or a bowl of oatmeal, and I have noticed the box says you can substitute 1 tablespoon flax plus 3 tablespoons water for one egg.  I hadn't tried it yet, but I thought this recipe would be a good tester.   

It turned out great.  These pancakes are moist, thick, and perfectly pumpkin-y.  Not only is the pumpkin tasty, but it is an awesome source of Vitamin A.  I topped these with margarine and light pancake syrup to complete a breakfast that tastes like an indulgence, but really isn't!