RIP SMPX

I think we officially pancaked out after 39 weeks.

smpx 39: pineapple

This week we searched the kitchen cabinets for something to make for SMPX and found a can of pineapple chunks. I drained the juice and patted the pineapple pieces with paper towels to get off as much of the excess juice as I could before adding them to the batter.

***
The result was good! We give pineapple pancakes 3/5 stars.

smpx 38: bisquick shake 'n' pour

We originally bought Bisquick Shake 'n' Pour for our camping trip, but ended up using Batter Blaster instead. We finally used the Shake 'n' Pour this weekend for an easy SMPX. Despite having possibly the worst commercial ever, these are pretty good.

Just like the commercial shows, you add water to the jug, shake it up, and pour right onto the griddle. They were fluffy and light and honestly, tasted better than some of the pancakes we've made over the last few months. The jug made 6 small pancakes, which was just the right amount for the two of us.

*** 1/2
We give Bisquick Shake 'n' Pour pancakes 3.5/5 stars.

smpx 37: dried fig

After a massive grocery shopping event on Saturday, we had several options for SMPX this week. We decided on fig pancakes. I don't think I've ever bought figs before, I know I haven't ever cooked with them. And really, I probably haven't eaten them outside of Fig Newtons and a couple fresh ones I picked off a tree at the beach last summer.

So I chopped up some dried figs and mixed them into the batter, and saved a couple for garnish on the top. These came out really well. The figs were sweet and chewy and were especially tasty with butter and maple syrup.

*** 1/2

We give dried fig pancakes 3.5/5 stars.

smpx 36: vanilla crepes

To make up for last week's really gross orange pancakes, we needed this week to be awesome. We've been wanting to do something besides our regular griddle pancakes, so we bought vanilla crepe mix and I cooked some up in a skillet.

Even added strawberries & whipped cream! We loved them. SMPX is back on track.

****1/2
We give vanilla crepes 4.5/5 stars.

smpx 35: orange

Disgusting! Watery and gross. I don't think we thought this one through.

*
We give orange pancakes 1/5 stars. Next week: crepes!

smpx 34: sweet potato

We needed something simple and fast this weekend, so we used Bruce's Sweet Potato Pancake Mix (made in Texas) and cooked up a batch. Good ol' Bruce.

We've been wanting to make sweet potato pancakes and it doesn't get any easier than this "just add water" mix that cost like $1.39. And they were good. Actual pieces of rehydrated sweet potato and everything.

Our pancakes even turned out better-looking than the ones on the package. Maybe I should send Bruce's fancy Texas marketing company this photo.

***1/2

We give sweet potato pancakes 3.5/5 stars.

smpx 33: mango

I chopped up dried mango and added it to the batter mix. Must have been dealing with a crazy sweet tooth, because I also added brown sugar and honey. The finished pancakes were topped with a little more of the secret ingredient.

Surprisingly, I didn't kill us with sugar overload. These were chewy and fruity and pretty darn good.

****
We give mango pancakes 4/5 stars. Next week: something exciting in celebration of National Pancake Day.

smpx 32: caramel apple

Cameo apples are the best. We'd already made apple pancakes, but as an excuse to use them again we made caramel apple pancakes this Sunday.

We cut up an apple, added some of the caramel syrup to the whole wheat batter, and cooked them up. Instead of syrup we used a little bit more of the caramel. They were okay; a little dry. Some applesauce would have been good to add to the batter.

** 1/2

We give caramel apple pancakes 2.5/5 stars. Next week: sweet potato pancakes?

smpx 31: breakfast sandwiches

I got a one-egg pan for Christmas and have been itching to use it to make breakfast sandwiches. So this past weekend we used the blue corn mix to make mini pancakes. We stacked egg, cheese, and vegetarian sausage patties in between the pancakes and ta da!

The pancakes were a little too crumbly for breakfast sandwiches, so the finished product was messy. But it tasted really good.

****

We give blue corn pancake breakfast sandwiches 4/5 stars.

smpx 30: confetti

Okay, so plums are totally not in season.

Instead we made Fruity Pebble pancakes. Just poured a bunch into the batter and mixed it up. The resulting pancakes kind of reminded us of that confetti cake mix. The pebbles disintegrated and we got a vaguely fruity, colorful pancake. I wrapped mine up and ate it straight, and my husband put blueberry syrup on his.

***

We give confetti pancakes 3/5 stars.

smpx 29: lime coconut

Went to Braum's on Sunday morning, where my sole purchase was one lime (25 cents). The checkout guy laughed at me.

For this week's batch, we added the toasted coconut left over from SMPX 9 to the mix. I zested the lime and squeezed its juice into the batter as well. (I bet you didn't even know I had a zester, huh mom? I am all over the zesting.)

I don't think we've had anything green in our pancakes yet, so that was fun. Other than that, they were just okay. Not really anything special or particularly good.

**

We give SMPX 29: lime coconut pancakes 2/5 stars. Next week: plum. Do they even have plums at the grocery store this time of year?

smpx 2008: Year in Review

We voted on our favorite pancakes of 2008 and the winner is...

lemon ricotta!

We both agreed that it was the best. Second favorite is carrot cake, and the runners up are:

pumpkin
coffee cake
toasted coconut
nut & honey

Lots of great ideas for 2009. Stay tuned!

smpx 28: maple oat with brown sugar

We just kind of threw this week's SMPX together. Used the whole wheat mix and added quick oats, maple syrup, and some brown sugar. Then I sprinkled brown sugar on the pancakes while they were cooking, and some oats on the finished product.

They were chewy and sweet. I love the whole grain mix.

*** 1/2

We give maple oat with brown sugar pancakes 3.5/5 stars. Next week: lime coconut.