the sunday morning pancake experiment

RIP SMPX

2009-07-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

I think we officially pancaked out after 39 weeks.

smpx 39: pineapple

2009-04-17T06:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-31T06:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-08T16:30:00.001-07:00

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

2009-03-03T05:21:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T12:23:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-02T06:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-28T11:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-12T11:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-05T06:08:00.000-08:00

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.

smpx 27: whole grain white chocolate cherry

2008-12-28T08:31:00.000-08:00

We mixed up some pancakes from scratch in Maine. My brother and I followed a recipe from the King Arthur Whole Grain Baking cookbook and accidentally made 8x more pancake mix than we would actually need. (The three tablespoons of baking powder should have been our first clue.) Luckily it stores indefinitely in the freezer.

Went through the cabinets and decided to add dried cherries and white chocolate to the mix. The batter had to sit for a while while the oats soaked up the liquid, then I started cooking up the pancakes. High quality ingredients, high quality pancakes.

This SMPX fed six people, and got rave reviews from all of them. I think everyone had seconds.

**** 1/2
We give whole grain white chocolate cherry pancakes 4.5/5 stars.
Next week: TBA

smpx 26: eggnog

2008-12-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

Continuing the holiday festivities, we had eggnog pancakes this morning. Used eggnog instead of milk in the batter, and stirred in some nutmeg and cinnamon. These were good, but pretty heavy and rich. You could definitely taste the eggnog.

I'm getting kind of embarrassed by my camera phone snaps of our breakfast. I need a professional plater.

****
We give eggnog pancakes 4/5 stars. Next week: something exciting from Portland, Maine.

smpx 25: candy cane

2008-12-14T06:11:00.000-08:00

For the 25th week of SMPX we wanted to do something really weird. To get into the holiday spirit, we decided on peppermint pancakes. We crushed up two candy canes (one super fine and one in big chunks) and added them to the batter.

The result: good. They were sweet and minty and fun and looked festive. The peppermint flavor wasn't too strong, and the candy bits reminded me of an DQ Blizzard. Except, you know, with pancakes instead of ice cream.

*** 1/2
We give candy cane pancakes 3.5/5 stars. Next week: continuing the holiday theme with eggnog pancakes. (Thanks for the suggestion, literaryone!)

smpx 24: pecan cinnamon whole grain

2008-12-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

This week was the second mix we picked up on vacation. Just like last week's, it was very easy to make and cooked up quickly.

In the finished pancakes, the pecan pieces were few and far between and I couldn't really taste the cinnamon. Actually they were kind of blah. I think I'm getting too used to all the weird stuff.

** 1/2
We can pecan cinnamon whole grain pancakes 2.5/5 stars. Next week: peppermint! Aw yeah.

smpx 23: blue corn

2008-11-30T08:07:00.001-08:00

We bought Blue Corn Pancake mix from the grist mill we visited in Arkansas on our camping trip last week. The mix was easy to prepare; just add water and oil and you're good to go. I loved the gritty texture of the cornmeal and the slight tanginess of the pancakes.

Pictures are of the actual water-powered grinding mechanism that we got to see in action, as well as a picture of the finished product and its blueness.

*** 1/2

We give blue corn pancakes 3.5/5 stars. Next week: pecan cinnamon whole grain pancakes

smpx 22: batter blaster

2008-11-23T14:35:00.000-08:00

We are back from our camping trip, and as the picture shows we made campfire Batter Blaster pancakes. They were surprisingly good! Super easy to make, as the video in the previous post illustrates. Just spray, cook, and flip.

They would have been even better if we had remembered butter or some kind of non-stick spray. As it was, they stuck to the pan and we had panlumps instead of pancakes. But they tasted good and were hot and filling, which is what we needed on that cold, cold (like seriously it was 35 degrees) morning on an Arkansas campground.

***
We give Batter Blaster panckes 3/5 stars.
Next week: one of the pancake mixes we picked up at a grist mill gift store

batter blaster

2008-11-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

I've been told we need to try this.

smpx 21: the jimmy's egg experience

2008-11-17T07:26:00.000-08:00

So we kind of broke the rules again this week and went out for Sunday morning breakfast. We did, however, order the buttermilk pancakes at Jimmy's Egg. And to make them SMPX-worthy, we opted out of the usual strawberry, blueberry, or apple toppings and instead loaded them up with cottage cheese.

Not bad! But we've made cheese pancakes (like lemon ricotta) that were better.

Next week we'll be on the road so look for SMPX 22: campfire pancakes.

sorry we missed a week

2008-11-12T12:59:00.000-08:00

I was out of town. Apparently the SMPX blog has fans that notice.

From an e-mail:
"Say, do you know what you're doing for the next SMPX? It better be something really bizarre to make up for lack of pancakes this past sunday. I am an avid follower of the SMPX blog, and inevitably end up craving pancakes."

We'll try to come up with something especially crazy as punishment for missing last weekend. Feel free to comment with suggestions.

smpx 20: coffee cake

2008-11-03T13:36:00.001-08:00

IHOP has been advertising their coffee cake pancakes this past week. We saw the ad and thought it would be perfect to try for the 20th week of SMPX.

We used the whole wheat batter mix and added a little brown sugar and sour cream. Once they were on the griddle, we sprinkled streusel from a package of apple muffin mix on one side of the pancakes. Once flipped, this made a sugar crust that was amazingly good. We topped the finished pancakes with honey butter and sprinkled on a little more the streusel.

These were the best SMPX attempt we've had a long time. I think these might be my new favorite.

****
We give coffee cake pancakes 4/5 stars.

smpx 19: oreo

2008-10-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed the chocolatiness of s'mores pancakes a few weeks ago, so this week we decided to go with Oreo pancakes. We mixed up a small batch of pancake mix and added some crushed mini-Ores. The texture of the finished pancakes was great-- a mix of crunchy (cookie), creamy (filling), and spongey (pancake). They tasted pretty good, and the chocolate flavor wasn't overwhelming. Lots of fun!

*** 1/2
We give Oreo pancakes 3.5/5 stars.
Next week: strawberry?

smpx 18: mac & cheese

2008-10-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

Lisa sent me this video of Kenny Shopsin making his famous mac & cheese pancakes. I knew we had to try them right away. It was as easy as adding cooked macaroni to the pancakes while on the griddle, then topping them with some cheese before flipping. The cheese made a really tasty crust and the inside was still gooey and cheesy.

We think these were better in concept than execution. I really wanted to like them, and usually we're all for the weirdness, but these were just... not that good.

**
We give mac & cheese pancakes 2/5 stars. We bumped Oreo back because of these, so we'll get back on track next week.

smpx 17: carrot cake

2008-10-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

We saw this post on Slashfood last week and knew we had to try carrot cake pancakes. The recipe is from Joy the Baker and we followed it exactly.

Grating carrots took forever, but it was worth it. The cream cheese frosting was perfect, too. Check out their picture, it's much prettier than ours (which was taken on my cell phone).

**** 1/2
We give carrot cake pancakes 4.5/5 stars. Next week: oreo?

smpx 16: want s'more?

2008-10-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

My husband came up with the idea for this one. He crushed graham crackers in a plastic bag and then we mixed them into the batter. We dropped mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips onto the pancakes while they were cooking. The marshmallows melted and left pockets in the finished pancakes when they oozed all over the griddle, so the result was pretty gooey and messy.

They tasted like smores, though! To get the flavors right, I would say add twice as many marshmallows as you think you need, and half as many chocolate chips.

***
We give s'mores pancakes three stars. Next week: carrot cake pancakes?

smpx 15: peaches and cream

2008-09-28T07:38:00.000-07:00

Back to fruit again. For peaches & cream pancakes, I chopped up a peach the librarian at one of our rural extension libraries gave to me. I added the peach and some cream to the batter, then laid out more sliced peaches and poured a little cream on the finished pancakes.

They turned out well. I was worried they would be undercooked since the batter was so thick and lumpy, but it turned out fine, and they tasted kind of like a peach cake.

***1/2
We give peaches & cream pancakes 3.5/5 stars. Next week: smores?

smpx 14: nuttin' honey

2008-09-21T15:15:00.000-07:00

Nut & honey pancakes were another Food Network-inspired idea. We added a tablespoon or two of honey to the whole wheat batter mix, then sprinkled sliced almonds onto the cooking pancakes. When the pancakes were flipped, the griddle toasted the almond side.

Aaaaaaand SMPX14 was totally a hit. Next week: peaches and cream?

smpx 13: cran-apple

2008-09-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

This recipe was all our idea. We added dried cranberries and diced apple to the batter, then threw in some cran-apple drink mix. The result: bright pink cran-apple pancakes!

Good, but even with all the added fruit and drink mix, the cran-apple flavor was very subtle. Adding the color and eating pink pancakes was our favorite part.

smpx 12: pb&j pancakes

2008-09-07T08:15:00.001-07:00

I think we got the idea for peanut butter pancakes from an episode of Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

We added Reese's peanut butter chips to the batter. A little went a long way; they were very peanut buttery. I topped mine with some of Aunt Mary's raspberry currant jelly. Tasted just like a PB&J sandwich!

smpx 11: ethereal cloud cakes

2008-08-31T12:40:00.001-07:00

Used another actual cookbook recipe, this time from A Real American Breakfast: The Best Meal of the Day, Any Time of the Day by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison.

These pancakes were extra light and fluffy, thanks to the special ingredients:. ricotta cheese and sour cream. We both thought they were good, but weren't especially blown away.

smpx 10: pear

2008-08-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

We wanted to keep things simple this week, mostly because last week's SMPX was so complicated. So we used the whole wheat buttermilk mix and added some diced pears to the batter for SMPX 10: pear pancakes.

Easy, quick, and tasty. Overall, a good way to celebrate our week 10 milestone. Next week: something weirder.

smpx9: toasted coconut pancakes

2008-08-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

This was the most intense SMPX yet. We used a recipe from The Cafe Pongo Cookbook and made toasted coconut pancakes with pineapple ginger compote. We used fresh pineapple and fresh ginger (this was the first time I've ever bought ginger root and grated it myself). I burned the first batch of "toasted" coconut, but luckily we had enough to try again.

Making the actual pancakes was easy. The pineapple compote was a lot of work. I don't even really know what compote is. But it tasted good.

smpx8: lemon ricotta

2008-08-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

I zested a lemon and added 1/4 c. ricotta (and reduced the milk called for in the mix recipe to compensate). They turned out to be fluffy, light, and perfectly lemony and cheesy. If the rules of SMPX didn't call for a different recipe every week, I would make these again next Sunday. And every Sunday after that until the end of time.

Inspired by a recipe in It's All American Food by David Rosengarten.

*****
We give lemon ricotta pancakes 5/5 stars.

smpx7: apple

2008-08-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

whole wheat batter mix
1/4 c. applesauce
sliced apples on plate

I used more applesauce instead of maple syrup and loved it. I want to make these again.

smpx6: granola

2008-08-15T18:48:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite so far! Super simple-- just used whole wheat batter mix and sprinkled in some granola.

smpx5: the great pumpkin

2008-08-15T18:43:00.001-07:00

Now we're starting to get complicated! Added about 1/4 c. canned pumpkin, cinnamon, and ground ginger to the batter.

smpx4: gingerbread

2008-08-15T18:41:00.000-07:00

SMPX1-3 were solely experiments with fruit additions to a standard batter, so I was nervous going into SMPX4. It was more additional ingredients than we had ever used before: ground cloves, ginger, cinnamon, molasses, and a little brown sugar.

Thankfully, a success! Yum.

smpx3: bananarama

2008-08-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Just mashed up a banana in the batter and added some sliced banana to our plates.

smpx2: blueberry

2008-08-15T18:38:00.000-07:00

Made with farmer's market blueberries. This was a prerequisite; there's no way we could do SMPX without making blueberry pancakes. Tasty, but safe. We're looking forward to the weird stuff.

the original smpx: blackberry panckes

2008-08-12T18:07:00.000-07:00

It started with a trip to a local pick-your-own blackberry farm. With cartons and cartons of blackberries in our fridge, we were trying to come up with creative ways to eat the berries at every meal. Blackberry pancakes seemed a great idea. Little did we know we were starting a tradition.

I'm no great master of cooking, so most recipes are pancake mix + special ingredient. When the ingredients get complicated the execution is sloppy and full of guesswork. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the original Sunday Morning Pancake Experiment (SMPX).

The Recipe
Bisquick Heart Healthy Pancake Mix
added 1/2 c fresh blackberries