Italian Cream Pancakes

I know I haven't posted in a while...I've been super busy with school work (junior year is killing me), but now it's FINALLY time for Spring Break! I will try my best to post at least one recipe each day because there are so many recipes I've been meaning to post and I know I am super behind. For my first post in a while, I have decided to present to you these incredible, sweet, nutty pancakes topped with a decadent cream cheese glaze. 

Yes, they are just as delicious as they sound. I promise.

If you've never tasted Italian Cream Cake, then you totally need to. Like...immediately. Sooo..you can start with this breakfast recipe! These pancakes seriously taste just like Italian Cream Cake, only hot and in heavenly pancake form, with warm glaze oozing all over them. Coconut, cream cheese frosting, and pecans are the most perfect combination perhaps in the entire world, and they taste scrumptious in this recipe.  Not to mention, [ toasting ] the pecans give the pancakes a wonderful nutty-ness that tastes so warm and comforting.

There were no leftovers when I made these for my family, and I'm sure the same thing will happen for you.

You can find this decadent recipe here. 

Blueberry Cornmeal Pancakes

Ohmygosh.  These were just too good.  This is my new all time favorite pancake recipe ever.  When I say these melt in your mouth, they literally MELT IN YOUR MOUTH.   Your fork will cut through them like butter. They are incredibly soft, fluffy, and full of flavor.  Most basic pancake recipes are pretty tasteless besides the add-ins you put in them, but this batter - even without the blueberries - has a wonderful sweet and salty taste that seriously tastes like not only the the best pancakes you'll ever have, but the best cornbread as well.  If you were to take the cornbread taste of this pancake, and put it into an actual, thicker, baked pan of cornbread, that pan of cornbread would be the bomb!  I served this recipe with my buttermilk syrup (here) and it was absolutely to die for.  My family all agrees that I have to make it again very soon.  Aaaand I'm going to request this on my birthday.  Yup...it's that special.  I adapted it from a Martha Stewart recipe, and my version is one of those rare recipes where I wouldn't change anything about it.


Yield: about 4 servings (about 1 dozen 5- to 6-inch pancakes)


Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup cornmeal

• 1/4 cup white sugar, plus 1 tablespoon

• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon coarse salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

• 1/4 cup milk 

• 1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for griddle

• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

• 2 cups (1 pint) blueberries

• 
  

• Garnish: Buttermilk Syrup and/or pure maple syrup

•                 whipped cream (optional)

• 
  

• Instructions:

1. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, 1/4 cup white sugar, the baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, milk, butter, and egg. Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined (mixture will be lumpy).
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Heat a griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Toss blueberries with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Brush griddle with melted butter. Spoon batter onto griddle 1/3 cup at a time. Sprinkle with sugared blueberries, about 2 tablespoons per pancake. Cook until edges are set, 4 to 5 minutes. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and blueberries, adding more butter to griddle and keeping prepared pancakes warm on a baking sheet in the oven. Serve with desired syrup(s) and/or whipped cream.

Buttermilk Pancakes

FINALLY!! My search is officially over for the fluffiest, and most delicious buttermilk pancake recipe EVER.  A bajillion times better than Ihop, boxed mixes, and any other breakfast restaurant. I've tried too many times to make buttermilk pancakes, and they almost always turned out flat, too thick, or lacking flavor...that is...until today.  This morning, I tried (for about the hundredth time) making buttermilk pancakes, and they were absolute perfection.  Super fluffy, lightly sweet, perfect consistency, shaped into perfect circles, cooked perfectly....did I mention these pancakes were perfect?? The secret is fresh buttermilk!  For the best flavor, you have to use fresh buttermilk.  I always combined milk with vinegar or lemon juice to create "sour" milk, since it's a good substitution for buttermilk in most recipes, but this recipe requires fresh buttermilk for best flavor. It's also extremely important that you cook all the batter within 10 minutes of mixing it together, or else the "fluff" factors in the baking soda and baking powder will wear off and the pancakes will turn into crepes (this was one of my main issues with most of my failed buttermilk pancake trials). I served these with my Buttermilk Syrup recipe (here) and my family all agreed this is the best pancake recipe we've ever had.  I (literally) cannot wait to make these again.  This is definitely going to be my default pancake recipe for now on.


Yield: about 2 dozen pancakes

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter with a whisk until smooth. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. You can flick water across the surface and if it beads up and sizzles, it's ready!
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together (it's okay if there are some flour lumps.  They will break open on the griddle and cause more fluffiness). Do not over stir! Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

***I suggest not poking the middle of the pancake to check for doneness on the inside, because this will cause the pancake to deflate a little since air is escaping.  For maximum fluffiness, just make lightly brown on both sides and I promise they will be cooked through.

***If adding mix-ins like nuts, chocolate chips, and fruit, then stir into the flour mixture and follow the recipe as stated.

Dutch Baby

For those of you poor souls who don't know what a dutch baby is (also called a German Pancake), it results from pancake batter being poured into a sizzling butter-filled cast iron skillet, and bakes into a wonderful breakfast treat.  Don't ask me why it's called a "Dutch Baby"...because I honestly have no idea.  If I was to give it a name myself, I would name it "Heavenly Pancake Puff." I've been making this recipe for as long as I can remember, and I have no idea why I didn't post it sooner. I've grown up making this delightful pancake. It's slightly more eggy than your usual pancake...but totally not in a gross way.  It's also very light; I could probably roll the entire thing up and eat it myself.  Since eggs make foods puff up, they cause the sides of this pancake to rise high above the edges of the pan, creating a light, puffy, slightly crispy crust with a moist, tender, eggy middle.  The staple topping that makes this pancake so unique is lemon juice.  It sounds weird at first, but the flavors are perfect together and I can't imagine eating a dutch baby without it (just like you wouldn't eat a normal pancake without maple syrup).  I absolutely love watching this baby puff up in the oven!  It does make me sad to watch it deflate once you take it out, though...but then I take a bite and the incredibly delicious taste makes me [happy] again(:

Yield: about 2-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt (these have a better taste than table salt)
• 1/2 cup milk (preferably not skim...for best taste), room temperature
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Garnish: Lemon juice, powdered sugar, cinnamon
• ***jams, syrups, and fruit are also delicious toppings, but the 3 listed above are the most common (and in my opinion, most delicious) toppings for traditional Dutch Babies.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into a 10-inch cast iron skillet and place in the oven. Set the remaining tablespoon of melted butter aside to cool slightly. Wait 10 minutes before assembling the other ingredients.  If butter in the skillet is boiling pretty hard within these 10 minutes, remove it from the oven.  Lightly boiling is fine.

Place the flour, sugar, salt, milk, eggs, vanilla and remaining tablespoon of melted butter into the bowl of a food processor or blender and process for 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of a blender with a rubber scraper, if necessary.  Remove the skillet from the oven (watch out because it's very HOT so use an oven mitt!). Carefully pour the batter into the preheated skillet. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until the edges are puffed and brown. Do not open the oven or else the Dutch Baby may fall. Carefully remove the skillet from the oven, and use a thin spatula to gently coax the pancake onto a large plate. It may fall slightly once removed from the heat, which is totally normal. To serve, cut into wedges and sprinkle with desired toppings. 

Peanut Butter Waffle Toast

Betty Crocker's picture...








And mine...

, 

....yummmmmm.....

Betty Crocker is an absolute genius.  This recipe literally transforms a normal piece of bread into a waffle.  Just pour some peanut butter pancake batter over the bread, stick it in your waffle iron, and wah-la!  Waffle toast!  I did not grease my Belgian waffle maker because this makes the waffle extra crisp on the outside, and my waffle turned out big, crispy, and peanut buttery!  So delicious!  The inside is a little more dense than your average waffle because it's a piece of bread, but it's still very yummy.  I actually used an open hot dog bun as opposed to whole wheat bread, because those were my only two options and I love hot dog buns...but I'm gonna try the whole wheat bread next time I make it.  I topped mine with maple syrup, some maple butter, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and banana slices.  I guess you could say I like toppings(:  This recipe left my brain screaming with ideas about transforming more things into waffles...banana bread with this batter or chocolate/chocolate chip pancake batter, chocolate cake slices with this batter, and any other cake with any type of pancake batter around it, strawberry or blueberry bread with strawberry or blueberry pancake batter around it, or a cookie with pancake batter around it....I could go on all day!




You can find this magical recipe here.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Wow.  These were some really awesome pancakes.  Sweet Potatoes are one of my favorite foods; I have a sweet potato with my dinner about every other day at home.  We had a leftover sweet potato in the fridge, and I had been wanting to make myself some sweet potato pancakes ever since I saw them on the menu at Cracker Barrel...so I figured, "why not?"  I found a basic recipe online and { jazzed it up } with my own ingredients to make it tastier.  The result was absolutely fabulous.  My family and I wolfed so many of these down.  I had my pancakes with a variety of toppings (not all the ones listed below, of course) - pure maple syrup, maple butter, honey, whipped cream, and cinnamon sugar (not all on the same pancake, obviously).  I would have loved some chopped pecans to go with it, though...but we didn't have any (*sad face*).  These pancakes were so perfect; moist, flavorful, slightly sweet, soft, and fluffy - everything the perfect pancake should be.  I thought they wouldn't be sweet enough, since there's no sugar added to the pancakes themselves, but the sweet potato sweetened them very nicely. This is such an wonderful fall recipe.  I can't wait to make this again during the holiday season!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes *(see first direction below)

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 
  

Garnish: maple syrup, chopped nuts, maple butter, marshmallows/fluff, shredded coconut,  brown sugar, whipped cream, cinnamon sugar, butter, honey, powdered sugar, cranberry sauce, etc. 

Directions:
1. If sweet potatos aren't cooked yet, place sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan of boiling water, and cook until tender but firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, and immediately immerse in cold water to loosen skins. Drain, remove skins, chop, and mash.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, milk, vanilla, and butter in a separate medium bowl. Blend sweet potato mixture into the flour mixture to form a batter.
3. Preheat a lightly greased griddle over medium-high heat. Drop batter mixture onto the prepared griddle by heaping tablespoonfuls, and cook until golden brown, turning once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble.
4.  Garnish with desired toppings if desired.  Serve immediately. 

Baked Pancakes

 

 

 

I may never make normal pancakes again.  I discovered a baked pancake recipe a few weeks ago, and I was totally dumbfounded.  Why hadn't I thought of it sooner???  Baking pancakes with guarantee a light, fluffy texture, they'll be cooked perfectly (since they're cooked at a lower heat and slower in the oven), and you're at a much lower risk of them burning than if you make them on a griddle.  These pancakes were so perfect...everything you could [dream] of a pancake being.  They soak up butter and syrup super well, too.  You can add anything you want to this basic baked pancake recipe - chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts, etc.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 5 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons shortening, melted
• 
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Grease a 10x15 inch jellyroll pan or 13x9 in baking pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, white sugar and salt, set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs until light and fluffy (at least 1 minute with a whisk). Add milk, vanilla, and shortening; mix well. Gradually stir in dry ingredients until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. 
4. Bake for 15 minutes, In the preheated oven, or until pancakes are cooked through. Cut into pieces and serve hot with butter and syrup.

Chocolate Cheesecake Pancakes

I'm not sure if you know this...but I have a slight obsession with the Cheesecake Factory.  I've tried the majority of their menu items (since I go their nearly every time I go to the mall), including cheesecake (my favorite flavors being the chocolate coconut, peanut butter fudge ripple, lemon raspberry, and Chris's outrageous chocolate cake.  I can't help but smile when I think of the Cheesecake Factory; I've never had a bad meal their.  I went their for brunch the other day (try the giant Belgian waffle with strawberries, sweet roasted pecans, and cream...sooo good) , and I couldn't help thinking what a hit it would be if they added cheesecake pancakes to their menu.  It would be totally perfect for that restaurant.  Chop up some pieces of they're legendary cheesecake, mix it into pancake batter and wah-la:  cheesecake pancakes.  It wasn't long after I had this breakthrough idea that I spotted Philadelphia's new [chocolate cream cheese] in Harris Teeter.  I swear, I grabbed the container and sprinted back to my mom like a lunatic  - begging her to buy it.  She said yes, of course, because she's a huge cream cheese fan, as am I.  There's white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate, and we bought the dark chocolate.  It is so delicious.  Try it with graham crackers, banana, bagels, and my favorite - strawberries.  Another amazing way to have it is in these yummy pancakes.  I took my graham cracker pancake batter recipe from my scrumptious s'mores pancakes (here), added frozen chocolate cream cheese pieces, and they turned out perfect.  You get rich, chocolate, cream cheesy goodness in every bite, along with the graham cracker flavor that you would normally get from a cheesecake crust...making it seem like you're eating an actual slice of chocolate cheesecake.  Only it's breakfast.  And a pancake.  Mmmm...that's good eatin' right their.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Philadelphia chocolate cream cheese (any flavor - white, milk chocolate, or dark chocolate)

Whipped cream (optional)

Graham cracker crumbs  (optional)

Instructions:

1. Scoop 3/4 cup (about 3/4 container) cream cheese out, and divide it into four.  Place the 4 globs onto an ungreased cookie sheet; cover and freeze 8 hours or overnight.
2. Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
3. Cut frozen cream cheese into bite-sized pieces.  Set aside.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.  Stir in cream cheese.
4. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour cupfuls of batter onto the skillet.  Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.
5. Serve with whipped cream and a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs if desired. 

Carrot Cake Pancakes With Cream Cheese Frosting

Oh yesss..I went there.  I converted the remarkable carrot cake into a pancake.  These are just as good as a big ole slice of carrot cake.  But these are slightly healthier!  They are very hearty and a great way to get some veggies into your breakfast.  Who knew you could be eating vegetables, fruit, breakfast, and dessert all at the same time?? Now I'm not saying these are the healthiest breakfast option (definitely very healthy if you omit the frosting though!), but who really cares???  It's CARROT CAKE for BREAKFAST.  I'm seriously thinking about going to make some right now...and it's 11:00 at night.   They were just that amazing.  It's everything you love about a typical carrot cake, but in pancake form.  There are just so many delicious flavors that [hit your taste buds] once you bite into these pancakes.  Cinnamon, pineapple, toasted nuts, coconut, orange juice, cranberries, cream cheese, maple syrup....oh~my~goody~goodness.  I had this with Archer Farms Coconut Macaroon Coffee on the side (found here) and I honestly felt like I was in Hawaii or something.  It was the most tropical, flavorful, super fantastic breakfast ever.  My parents and I ate sooo many of these pancakes; it was ridiculous.  Yet I legitimately cannot wait to make them again.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup Complete Pancake Mix (I used Hungry Jack)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup milk
1 heaping tablespoon applesauce

1/4 cup diced pineapple

3/4 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup toasted, chopped nuts

1/2 cup sweetened, shredded coconut

1 cup orange juice

1/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins

Instructions:

***Prepare frosting recipe below first, so you can spread it over the pancakes when they're still warm from the griddle.

1.  Heat orange juice in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat.  Add cranberries or raisins and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce to a medium-low heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes, or until cranberries/raisins are nice and plump.  Remove from heat, drain orange juice, and set aside cranberries/raisins.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together pancake mix and cinnamon. Add milk and applesauce and whisk until combined. Stir in plump raisins, pineapple, carrots, coconut, and pecans until well combined. 

3.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat and grease it. Working in batches, form each pancake by dropping spoonfuls of batter onto the skillet. Cook until golden on bottom, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer. Repeat with remaining batter.  Spread frosting over each pancake and serve with maple syrup.

Ingredients:  (this makes a very generous amount of frosting, so you may want to half it if you don't want a lot on your pancakes)
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pure maple syrup 


Instructions:
1. In a medium bowl cream together the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
2.  Slowly sift the confectioners sugar and continue beating until all lumps are gone.  Add the vanilla and mix until fully integrated. Spread onto warm pancakes and serve with a generous amount of maple syrup.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Pancakes with Vanilla Almond Syrup

If you know me, then you'd know that I always eat my pancakes with -->peanut butter<--.  Pancakes without peanut butter is pretty much unthinkable for me.  For real, peanut butter makes everything better.  But these pancakes?  They didn't even need peanut butter;  they were that good without it!!  I'm sure peanut butter would have tasted great on them because I love different combinations of nutty flavors, but I didn't even want to put peanut butter on them! I do have one little confession:  I used Bisquick.  Usually, I never use Bisquick (cause recipes are almost always best from scratch, in my opinion).  Well..I never use it for the original pancake recipe on the box where you just add milk and an egg.  But I will use it for more complex recipes, like on their website and stuff.  So if you have Bisquick and you look underneath that original recipe, you'll see they have a recipe for "Melt-In-Your-Mouth Supreme Pancakes".  All you do differently than the original recipe is add sugar, lemon juice, and baking powder (the sugar makes them slightly sweeter and melt-in-your-mouth-like, and the lemon juice and baking powder make them fluffy and soft).  So I decided to make them (who can resist when it says "melt-in-your-mouth supreme"??).  The reason I didn't make the pancakes from scratch is because I wanted to make a syrup, and making homemade pancakes AND homemade syrup seemed a little too time consuming...and besides, I was hungry.  The sooner to eat the better, right?  I definitely don't regret saving time with the Bisquick, because they truly were melt-in-your-mouth amazing.  And the vanilla almond syrup just took them over the top.  The syrup is absolutely delicious; it has the perfect amount of almond and vanilla...I can't say I like it better than maple syrup, though, because they're two totally different flavors.  A little bit of this syrup goes a long way on these pancakes, so I don't recommend drowning your pancakes if you usually do.   Feel free to add whatever other toppings you'd like...I suggest butter and/or bananas.  I was going to try adding chocolate chips, but all the pancakes were eaten by my mom and I before I had a chance.  The next time I make these, I may try adding chocolate chips and coconut for a little almond joy experience.

Ingredients:

For the pancakes:

2 cups Bisquick

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Vanilla Almond Syrup:

• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoons corn syrup
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

For the pancakes:

Combine all ingredients and let sit for at least 2 minutes. Preheat griddle to 350 degrees, or medium heat.  Pour about 1/4 cupfuls onto the griddle and cook until browned on each side.  Served hot with Vanilla Almond Syrup.

Vanilla Almond Syrup:

Place the white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, and water in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium, cover pan, and simmer 8 minutes. Stir in almond extract and vanilla.  Serve warm on top of pancakes.  Syrup will be thin, but it will thicken up in the fridge as it cools. Store leftover syrup in glass jars, cover, and refrigerate.

Grain and Nut Pancakes

  

These are so moist, nutty, hearty, and tasty!  I've never had healthy whole wheat pancakes that actually taste really good, and these are amazingly good.  The eggs, milk, and applesauce makes them so moist.  And the vanilla and cinnamon give them a delicious flavor.  I love the nuts in them too, because they add a little crunch. They taste kind of similar to IHOP's Harvest Grain and Nut pancakes, but these are way better.  I served them with banana slices, maple syrup, and whipped cream. Mmmm..they were SO yummy - and nutritious! My whole family just loved them.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
• Garnish: banana slices, maple syrup, whipped cream, peanut butter, honey, etc.

Directions:

1. Grind the oats in a blender or food processor until fine. In a large bowl, combine ground oats, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix wet ingredients into dry with a few swift strokes. Stir in nuts, if desired, or sprinkle them on top of the pancake before flipping.
3. Lightly grease a skillet or griddle, and preheat it to medium heat. Ladle 1/3 cup of the batter onto the hot skillet; cook the pancakes for 2 to 4 minutes per side, or until brown. Garnish if desired.