Make Tonight a Pancake Night

My favorite night for dinner? Pancake Night! A stack of homemade pancakes is just minutes away, either traditional sweet pancakes with butter and syrup but also, my favorite for dinner, savory pancakes. Here you'll find my collection of pancake recipes, tools and tips.

Fresh & Flexible. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special.

~ Skip Straight to the Recipes ~

Pancakes Deserve Their Own Night, Any Night.

So in the Christian calendar, today is Shrove Tuesday. For as long as I can remember, that means tonight is Pancake Night and that tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday, ash crosses will brushed onto our foreheads and we'll follow the old Finnish tradition to plant Lenten Grass, such a sweet way to mark the season of Lent with children.

But pancakes? Pancakes deserve a night of their own and more than just once a year! Families do Taco Tuesday and Pizza Friday and Sunday Dinner but I just might appoint myself the official ambassador for a year-round Pancake Night.

Sweet or savory, Make Tonight Pancake Night!

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QUICK LINKS

click the
~ SECTION TITLE IN CAPS ~
for more information about each recipe or the
Recipe Title
to go straight to the recipe page

~ FAVORITE PANCAKE RECIPES ~
My Mom's Pancake Recipe
Lifetime Pancakes
Cottage Cheese Pancakes
Cornmeal Pancakes with Blueberries
Triple-Banana Oat Pancakes

~ PANCAKE RECIPES with VEGETABLES ~
Carrot Buttermilk Pancakes
Pumpkin Pancakes
Spinach Pancakes

~ LEFTOVER PANCAKES ~

~ PANCAKE FUN! ~

~ PANCAKE TOOLS! ~

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Favorite Pancake Recipes
Because One Isn't Enough

MY MOM'S PANCAKE RECIPE is my very first pancake recipe. I make Mom's pancakes with buttermilk but it can also be made with "sweet milk" (you know, just regular milk.)

• BEST FOR those who love light and fluffy pancakes and who might or might not keep buttermilk on hand. This recipe is filled with extra tips for anyone who's new to making homemade pancakes.
• THE RECIPE My Mom's Pancake Recipe

MY SISTER'S "LIFETIME PANCAKES" prove that we are really and truly a pancake family – and that's before mentioning my almost 89-year old father who's the "real" pancake fiend in the family!

My sister Adanna has worked and tweaked this recipe over the years, fitting it to the passage of years. As a newlywed, she made pancakes for two (the "tiny" batch). As a young mother, she scaled the recipe for two growing boys (the "small" batch and the "medium" batch) and then, after some years, strapping teenage boys with bottomless stomachs for pancakes (the "large" batch). Now she and her husband are empty nesters, so it's back to pancakes for two (the "tiny" batch). Now you know why we call these "Lifetime Pancakes"!

• BEST FOR those who like their pancakes extra-thick with lots of toppings.
• BEST FOR families that stretch small and large depending on the occasion.
• THE RECIPE Lifetime Pancakes

COTTAGE CHEESE PANCAKES taste just like regular pancakes but are made with the miracle food cottage cheese. This makes them high-protein and low-carb. With no added sugar! With no added oil! Now I won't call these "diet" pancakes but ...

• BEST FOR those avoiding processed sugar and looking for increased protein. This would be an extra-good choice for diabetics; moderation, of course, remains important.
• THE STORY This column tells the story how my mom gave up making homemade pancakes and turned to a commercial pancake mix. Which one? It's the one that America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Illustrated endorse as well! Hint: Are you Hungry, Jack?
• THE RECIPE Cottage Cheese Pancakes

CORNMEAL PANCAKES (pictured below) are perfect for blueberries, both cooked into the pancakes themselves and with a blueberry compote topping.

• BEST FOR cornmeal lovers and blueberry lovers, those who like slightly more rustic pancakes.
• THE RECIPE Cornmeal Pancakes with Blueberries

Triple-Banana Oat Pancakes

What game-changer pancakes! No refined flour, just finely ground oats. No dairy or refined sugar, just banana and egg. These are amazing! Oh! and mixed in a blender, zip zip.

• BEST FOR for those who avoid processed flour and processed sugar, here the "flour" is finely ground oatmeal and the usual milk and "sugar" are banana so yeah, these pancakes are gluten-free, dairy-free and sugar-free. And yet? Your traditional pancake texture and taste.
• THE RECIPE Triple-Banana Oat Pancakes

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Pancakes with ... Vegetables? Yes, Vegetables!

CARROT BUTTERMILK PANCAKES start off with My Mom's Pancake Recipe but I've added a small jar of carrot baby food, adding lovely color and added nutrition. Still? The pancakes don't "taste" like carrots, no one will know if you don't want them to!

• BEST FOR adding nutrients to pancakes. These would be nice for Easter, too!
• THE RECIPE Carrot Buttermilk Pancakes

SPINACH PANCAKES are "dyed" green from the all-natural spinach but yet, there's no bitter spinach taste at all. They're surprisingly good and taste just like regular pancakes except maybe a little "greener". Thanks to both Greek yogurt and spinach, they're also high in protein.

• BEST FOR adding nutrients to pancakes. Wouldn't they be just excellent for St. Patrick's Day?
• THE RECIPE Spinach Pancakes

PUMPKIN PANCAKES Seasonal pancakes are so much fun! This version shouts falling leaves and shortening days. It's always about the spices!

• BEST FOR festive fall occasions, Thanksgiving breakfasts, or just because.
• THE RECIPE Pumpkin Pancakes

Enough Pancake Recipes?

Probably not! I'd still working on an overnight yeast pancake recipe and perfecting the Finnish Oven Pancake that's made in one large slab. And then there are buckwheat pancakes and Swedish pancakes and and and and ... you see what I mean? Pancake Night! We really do need one!

Do you have a special pancake recipe you really love that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail via recipes@kitchen-parade.com.

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What to Make With Leftover Pancakes

Leftover pancakes? Yep, it happens. We all know about Gashouse Eggs, although you may call them something else. The same technique works for tortillas (see Mexican Gas House Eggs) and even in a pattypan squash (see Toad in a Pattypan Hole). Now? Pancakes!

Just cut a hole in the center of a cold pancake. Chop up the center with some chopped vegetables for a really good breakfast vegetable hash. Then drop the pancake into a hot skillet and an egg into the center, let it start cooking on the stove, then finish in the oven. When it's cooked, devour!

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Pancake Fun!

When I was a little girl, my grandmother patiently cooked "bear pancakes". Now I don't really know if Gramma Kellogg "really" made bear pancakes every single time but I do know that in my memory, she "always" made bear pancakes.

And so it pleases me no end that a certain grandfather today makes bear pancakes whenever the five-year old twins come for a sleepover. He's not just cooking pancakes, he's building memories!

But it's not just bear pancakes. How about pumpkin-shaped pancakes?! Let your inner-child let loose!

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Pancake Tools!

Pancake Batter Squeeze Bottle We use a large squeeze bottle to make pancake shapes, way easier than spooning the batter onto the griddle. Just don't overfill it, yes, that's the leavening at work, spilling out of the squeeze bottle before the griddle was even hot! Oooops ...

• Like the Pancake Batter Squeeze Bottle?
• Buy it on Amazon.
• FYI that's an affiliate link, My Disclosure Promise.

A Big Griddle We also love the Electric Nonstick Pancake Griddle that my sister first introduced. What a pancake machine! First, the temperature is hot and even, just set the thermostat at 325F and go to town making pancakes. Second, there are different sizes but our griddle easily holds six or even eight pancakes at a time. (Why only four in the photo below? I was testing a recipe for XXL pancakes for my weekly column in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.)

• Want to learn more about our pancake griddle?
• Check it out on Amazon.

A Good Spatula A good pancake spatula is harder to come by than you might think. This one is by Berndes, it's slightly flexible but not too bendy, it's also thin enough to slip beneath a tender pancake. It's been my one-and-only spatula for more than twenty years. I've had to replace it or time or two but am glad to have such a reliable product.

• Does your kitchen need a good spatula like this?
• Check out the details on Amazon.

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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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