Lee's Recipes
I was talking to my friend and she mentioned that pancakes were difficult for her to make. This inspired me to share some ideas that make pancakes easier to make, tastier, and a lot more fun!
Don't use butter to fry your cakes, use vegatable or avocado oil. The oil will make the outside of the pancakes crispier while leaving the inside soft and fluffy. Make sure your oil is very hot before you put your batter in. If the oil is too cold the pancake will soak up the oil and become soggy, greasy, and gross.
Instead of using bisquick or a homemade recipe, make your pancakes out of boxed cake mix! By doing this you can customize your flavors and textures. If the batter is too thick, simply add a dash of cream, water, or milk, and then add to a hot oiled pan.
Make pancake kababs. My grandma would always make these for me when I was a kid! After cooking your pancakes, slice them up into 6-8 small triangles. Place them on a skewer with fruits or other toppings. You can put whip cream and syrup on the side for easy dipping. Easy to make and great for kids.
When you are making your pancake batter, add ginger ale in place of water to make your pancakes fluffier. This works best with bisquick or more thick batters.
Replace your eggs with mashed banana for vegan/vegatarian pancakes! Bananas are also a good source of nutrition to sneak in for kids or picky eaters. (You can do this with any soft fruits like squash, pumpkin, strawberries, etc.. Just make sure to mash well)
If you are in a hurry or just don't want to use your stove top, you can make pancake-sheet cakes. Just pour your batter into a well oiled casserole dish, making sure the layer of batter is pretty thin. Bake in your oven at 350 F degrees for about 8-10 minutes or until golden. Then you can slice the cakes and eat them like regular pancakes. Before you bake your sheet cakes you can top with fresh fruits, chocolate chips, walnuts, etc...!
This sounds strange to some people but its really delicious and easy to make! Fry bacon up until almost completly cooked, then pour pancake batter over the top! The sweet pancake and the crispy bacon are a great pair. It almost tastes like a crunchy sweet corndog. Extra points if you add maple syrup and cinnamon!
Make your pancakes savory! If you don't have a sweet tooth maybe omit the sugar from your pancake recipe. Add extra eggs, bacon bits or meat, scalions, cheese, everything bagel seasoning, etc... It's so delicious and is even better with crushed avocado and salsa.
Continuing with the savory theme, make your pancakes the "bread" in your breakfast sandwich. Layer bacon, eggs, cheese, and any topping you want between two small pancakes to make an easy breakfast sandwich.
Struggle with making your pancakes the right shape? Try using cookie cutters to help the batter stay in place. Use a metal cookie cutter, plastic will melt in the hot pan. Place an oiled cookie cutter into a hot oiled pan and then pour a thin layer of batter in it. Wait for bubbles to form on top of the batter before removing the cookie cutter to prevent bleeding on the sides of your shape. Flip and continue cooking. I hope these tips can help you with your next breakfast!