Strawberry Banana Pancakes

When I fist made these pancakes, I was really scared that they would turn out like the red, white, and blue pancakes I made for the United States' breakfast of the world. They were gummy, and did not cook well at all because I put too much pureed fruit into them. The strawberry banana pancakes I am giving you today did not have that issue at all. They were so good! The strawberry and banana flavors really pop out at you, and the texture does not resemble mush like my red, white, and blue pancakes.



Strawberry Banana Pancakes
makes 8-10
¾ cup flour
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 banana
¾ cup strawberries
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt

Blend together the strawberries, milk, egg, and banana. In a separate bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Add the strawberry banana mixture, oil, and vanilla. Whisk it all together. Preheat a nonstick pancake pan to medium low heat. Scoop out the batter onto the pan and cook each side until lightly browned.

 

 

Here is a nice summery card. The combination of pink and brown really goes together well here. I love how the ribbon's polka dots are mirrored by the banner of buttons at the top. It is just an idea for a nice surprise message for someone you love.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Pancakes

These pancakes not only contain the awesome taste of peanut butter, but they are also topped with peanut butter. That's double the love. Light and fluffy, you will want to make these pancakes again and again. At least until you see tomorrow's post and fall in love with yet another pancake.

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Pancakes

makes about 8-10 pancakes

1 1/2 cup quick oats

½ tsp baking powder

3 tbsp peanut butter

1 cup milk

1/8 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 tbsp honey (optional)

 Whisk all the ingredients together. Preheat a nonstick pan to medium heat. Once it is hot, pour about 3 tbsp of batter onto it to make each pancake. Flip once bubbles start to form on the top and the bottom looks dry. Top with extra peanut butter.

 

The little girl I teach Spanish to gave me a lovely graduation present of two hand sewn bookmarks. I sent her this thank you card. It is kind of an inside joke between us involving a pajaro loco (crazy bird) and my front window. Even if you aren't in on the joke, the card is still super cute.

 

Blueberry Banana Pancake

I felt bad about totally trashing blueberry pancakes in yesterday's post. They may be simple and standard, but sometimes it is nice to just stick with the classics. Today's pancake is a banana blueberry one complete with extra blueberries on top.


Don't they just look delicious? They make even the most ardent blueberry haters (like myself) fall in love with them.

Blueberry Banana Pancakes

1 medium banana
¾ cup milk
¾ cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp oil
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 egg
¼ cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Blend all the ingredients together except for the blueberries. Stir in the blueberries. Preheat a nonstick pancake pan to medium low heat. Scoop out a few tbsp of the batter onto the pan and cook until the top starts to bubble and the bottom is dry. Flip and cook the other side until lightly browned. Enjoy warm.

I was in a creative mood this morning, and this was the result. Who said that you couldn't play with your food? I made my initials and a pancake man. My inspiration came from Ma Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie. It was my favorite book when I was little, and now I am reading it to Harper. Ma made Laura and Mary pancake people, so I decided I would try it out myself. It is harder than it looks, especially if there are chunky blueberries in the batter.



Even though I am out of school, Sydney and Harper still have a couple of weeks left. The end of the year is coming up soon, and I made Harper's kindergarten teacher this card. She is a Stampin' Up consultant, so I was a little intimidated. Hopefully the card will be up to her standards.

This has nothing to do with blueberry pancakes or teachers' cards, but here is a yummy pizza recipe that I made for family pizza night. It is a cauliflower, cheese, and parsley pizza on top of my whole wheat pizza crust.

 

 

Cauliflower Pizza

For the sauce:

1 cup frozen cauliflower florets

1/2 cup milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

 

For the pizza:

whole wheat pizza crust

2 tbsp parsley

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped cauliflower florets

1 tsp Italian seasoning

 

Microwave 1 cup of frozen cauliflower for 45 seconds. Blend the garlic and milk with the cauliflower. Roll out the pizza dough on a large stone. Spread the cauliflower sauce on top. Add the other toppings. Bake at 400 degrees until the crust is golden and the cheese is browned.

 

 

Swiss Cheese Corn Cakes

Today's pancake recipe demands a more adventurous type of pancake connoisseur. If you are someone who eats plain chocolate chip or blueberry pancakes every day of your life, this recipe may not be appealing to you at first. If you are someone who loves to live life to the fullest and have fun with things, you will be running to the kitchen to make these. I really do encourage everyone to step out of their comfort zone and try something new. It is definitely worth it.

I personally think these pancakes were amazing. Sweet pancakes can get boring. It is nice to shake it up a bit. Harper refused to try them, and my mom was a bit skeptical at first. Once she tasted them, though, she agreed that they were good. They have a unique and savory flavor that plain old blueberry pancakes just can't match.

Swiss Cheese Corn Cakes

makes 10 small pancakes
½ cup yellow cornmeal
2/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup grated Swiss Cheese
1 egg
1 wedge original Laughing Cow Cheese
¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

Whisk the buttermilk and cornmeal together. Let the mixture sit for at least 10 minutes. Beat the egg and Laughing Cow cheese together. Combine this to the cornmeal buttermilk mixture along with all the other ingredients. Preheat a pancake pan over medium low heat. Scoop about 2-3 tbsp of batter at a time onto the pan. Cook each side until lightly browned.



This is the last graduation card I made. I don't know if I will be making anymore, but if I don't, this card will remind everyone the year when the best seniors graduated. (I'm not biased at all.) Go class of 2013!
 

Better than IHOP

Today was my very last day of high school. It is crazy to think about. I cannot believe it is over. Anyway, the top ten in our class were treated to breakfast at IHOP. I had only been to IHOP once before with my grandparents, and I was only six or seven. I was surprised at how large their menu was. (You can by steak and salad there. But I don't advise it.) My friend Augustine who is salutatorian (I'm the valedictorian) ordered what she thought were chocolate chip pancakes. When they came out, she discovered that she had actually ordered chocolate chocolate chip pancakes. They put chocolate chips inside the chocolate pancakes. I knew at once that I needed to try it.

And I sure am glad that I did.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes

1 cup flour
¼ cup cocoa powder
3 tbsp sugar
½ cup milk
1 egg
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup applesauce
1 tsp oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup chocolate chips

Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Whisk in the egg, milk, oil, vanilla, and applesauce until there are no more lumps. Add the chocolate chips. Preheat a nonstick pancake pan to medium low heat. Scoop out the batter onto the pan and cook each side until lightly browned.


I enjoyed handing out all the graduation cards today. I wish there had been more time to see the recipients' reactions. I was too busy taking my calculus exam that took four periods and cleaning up the dissected cats from anatomy. (Trust me, the title of Valedictorian is not worth all the work at all. I should have stuck with the easy classes and had more fun.) To sum it all up, my advice to you is to relax, have fun making and distributing graduation cards, and never to order steak at IHOP.

Greek Yogurt Banana Pancakes

Now that Mother's Day is over, I can go back to sharing all my graduation card ideas. Our last day of school is tomorrow, so I have been super busy writing letters to all my friends. (This is my last post as a high school student.)

Today's pancakes are light, fluffy, and thick. They are bursting with the flavor of ripe bananas and the texture of creamy Greek yogurt. You will have to try them to see for yourself. Enjoy!

Greek Yogurt Banana Pancakes
makes 10-12 silver dollar pancakes
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 ounces Greek yogurt
1 banana
½ cup flour (I used oat flour.)
1/8 tsp salt

Mash the banana, yogurt, and egg together. Stir in the flour, salt, and baking powder until everything is well incorporated. Preheat a nonstick pancake pan over medium low heat. Scoop out 1-2 tablespoonfuls of the batter onto a pan. Cook until bubbles start to form and the top looks dry. Flip and cook the other side until lightly browned.

National Apple Pie Day

Which is better: Mother's Day or National Apple Pie Day? It is a tough choice, so it is a good thing that they are back to back. Here are two recipes to celebrate the amazing nationally appointed date.

First I have a delicious apple pie smoothie recipe. I used a jazz apple (the best apples in the world) to make it, and that made the smoothie even better. If you have never had a jazz apple, your life is not complete.


Apple Pie Smoothie
1 apple, cored and cubed
1 frozen banana
3/4 tsp apple pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves)
½ cup plain yogurt
1 cup milk

Blend all the ingredients together until creamy. Enjoy!

 

These apple pie pancakes are a great way to introduce my new project. It is called the Parade of Pancakes.

 

The Parade of what?

 

Pancakes, of course. I got the idea while riding my bike the other morning. My neighborhood has a lot of new additions in it and even more construction going on. This summer it will be hosting a parade of new homes. I thought it would be fun to have a Parade of Pancakes. Some of them will be your typical pancake flavors, and other ones will be a bit more unique. Today's pancakes fall somewhere in the middle. They are a fun spin off your typical spiced pancakes.

Apple Pie Pancakes
makes 8
¼ cup flour
¼ cup oatmeal
½ cup oat flour
¾ cup milk
2 tbsp brown sugar
¾ tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
¾ tsp apple pie spice
1 apple
1 egg
1 tsp oil

Combine the flours, oatmeal, brown sugar, spices, salt, and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Add in the milk, oil, and egg. Whisk until everything is mixed together. Grate the apple into a separate bowl and then mix it in with the batter. Preheat a pancake pan to medium low heat. Cook about 3 tbsp of pancake batter at a time, flipping them once the bottoms are done.