Ways to Serve Pancakes

Pancakes can be served with sweet or savory toppings and ingredients.

Pancakes are economical and easy to prepare, and although they're favored mostly at breakfast, they can be served any time of day or night. Enjoyed by both children and adults, the round, flat quick-bread disks are commonly served with butter and syrup and often have fruits, nuts or sweets incorporated into their batter. Serving pancakes in different ways also adds variety to meals.

Personalized Pancakes

Put some pancake batter in a squeeze bottle with a pointed nozzle, like those used to hold picnic condiments. Heat the griddle and write each person's name or initials with the pancake batter on the surface. After 20 or 30 seconds, pour pancake batter on top to form a normal pancake. When you serve the pancake, the writing will appear on the top. If you are artistic, you can draw holiday-themed shapes or cartoon characters in the same way to create fancier pancakes. An easier way to individualize pancakes is to cut a stencil of names or letters from parchment paper, place it atop cooked pancakes and dust it with powdered sugar to make the characters appear.

Pancake Sandwiches

Make a pancake batter that is a little thicker than usual. Cook a stack of pancakes and use them like bread slices to make pancake sandwiches. Good savory fillings include fried or scrambled eggs topped with cheese and bacon or ham. For a sweet sandwich, spread a pancake with peanut butter and jelly and top with another pancake. Sautéed pears or apples mixed with cinnamon and sugar also make a good pancake sandwich filling.

Shaped Pancakes

Use metal cookie cutters to create mini-pancakes in interesting shapes such as hearts, stars and seasonal characters and symbols. Place the cutters on the grill and pour the batter into them, being careful not to let any escape from the bottom. Remove the cutters when the pancakes are set and turn to finish cooking. Arrange the little pancakes on a serving plate in a decorative cookie presentation style and top each with a dollop of whipped cream.

Pancake Roll-ups

Make a thinner than normal pancake batter and pour it onto the griddle in 8- to 10-inch circles. After you have cooked three or four per person, fill them with sweet or savory ingredients, roll them like a jellyroll and line them up like enchiladas on the plate. The fillings should be semi-soft to avoid breaking the pancake. Good choices are seasoned softly scrambled eggs, finely chopped cooked and drained fruit or sweetened ricotta cheese. Top the rolled savory pancakes with a light cheese sauce or drizzle maple or fruit-flavored syrup on the sweeter versions.

References

• Pancake Lovers: Pancake Recipes
• Target Woman: Homemade Pancake Recipe