Pancakes don’t need to be plain. You can add fruit, nuts, and spices to make special pancakes for a Saturday morning. Just add the following to your pancake mix or recipe. For ease of measurement, 3 cups of dry mix is approximately one pound for dry mix.
Cranberry Pecan Pancakes. Add dried cranberries and pecan pieces to your mix. The cranberries will soften somewhat in the batter and heat.- Apple and Maple Pancakes. Add 2/3 cup diced dried apples to one pound of mix. Add a teaspoon of quality cinnamon and a teaspoon of maple extract. You may also add cinnamon chips for a burst of sweet cinnamon in each bite.
- Cinnamon Chip Pancakes. Add 3/4 cup cinnamon chips and one teaspoon cinnamon for each pound of mix.
- Pumpkin Pancakes. For one pound of mix, add 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons brown sugar.
- Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Pancakes. Add 3/4 cup mini milk chocolate chips and one teaspoon vanilla extract for each pound of mix. Also add 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup sour cream. You may use fresh sour cream or dry sour cream powder.
- Gingerbread Pancakes. For one pound of mix, add three tablespoons of molasses, two teaspoons of ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and two teaspoons of cinnamon.
- Blueberry Lemon Pancakes. For one pound of mix, add two tablespoons of sugar, the zest from two lemons, and 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries.
- Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes. For one pound of mix, cream two eight-ounce bricks of cream cheese with the eggs. Add two tablespoons of sugar, the zest from two lemons, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of poppy seeds.
- Banana Pancakes. There are two ways to make banana pancakes. The first is to mash the bananas, about three large per pound of mix, and fold them into the batter. The other is to pour the batter on the griddle and then plop banana slices onto the batter before turning the pancakes. Either way, try adding a half teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter.
- Apple Pancakes. My mother used to take two Jonathan apples and dice them into 1/4-inch bits and added them to the batter. Add a teaspoon of cinnamon also.
- Strawberry Pancakes. Fold in two cups of sliced fresh strawberries.
- Sour Cream Currant Pancakes. Fold in 3/4 cup sour cream and 3/4 cup currants along with 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg.
Most of these pancake choices are available as completed mixes along with others at The Prepared Pantry. You can see these pancake mixes here.
