Lazy Girl Pumpkin Pancakes - So Easy...

 

Easy Pumpkin Pancakes🥞

It's been a while...long time no see. Haven't felt the desire to blog...I apologize to anyone who actually reads my stuff... 

But I've had some ideas lately and what I made for breakfast this morning combined with the fact that "pumpkin season" is almost over gave me the motivation and desire to blog what we had for breakfast this morning...ha.😃

One of my "ideas" was to add a new recipe section for those times when I've experimented and concocted awesome easy recipes for "lazy" moments in life, or moments where maybe, perhaps (coughs) we don't have enough on hand to make said recipe from scratch...or we just don't feel like it. Today I was game for making homemade pumpkin pancakes from scratch, but behold...surprise, surprise, Carmen forgot something...flour. Can you believe? Who doesn't have flour in their pantry? 

Apparently I ran out and it's been a while since I needed to use it, so here we are ready to make homemade pumpkin pancakes and there's no flour. But then...a little light bulb💡went off in my head, and I said, what if I use "boxed pancake mix" and then add in the other ingredients?🤔

And so, the experiment began...lazy girl pumpkin pancakes.🧐 And, voila, they were delicious,😋so I wanted to share. What I did was I shopped around for pumpkin pancake recipes before realizing I was out of flour. 

I wrote down the recipe I wanted to use, and then combined some helpful tips and adjustments from people who tried the recipes and mixed up the recipes because they were fairly similar, adding in some things that others didn't have or omitting something that I didn't feel I needed or didn't like, like vinegar, that was in a few of the recipes but I omitted it. 

And so, let the fun begin...here we go...🥳

Easy Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe🥞

• 4 Cups of Pancake Mix 
• 1-15oz can of pure pumpkin
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3-4 cups of water (when you get to the fourth cup, pour a little at a time till you get the right texture, not too thick, not too watered down.)
• Optional: I found these in other recipes and decided to include them, but you don't have to. 3tbsp melted butter; 3tbsp maple syrup.
• Also Optional! You could add in some fresh cranberries, diced apples, banana, etc. Yum... Next time I plan on adding in cranberries. 
• Also, also optional: Instead of using nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon, you can use "allspice." I didn't have allspice, so I made my own. To make your own allspice, you just simply combine equal parts of all three of the above: nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. Never realized how easy it was to do till I realized I didn't have that either and had to make mine from scratch! 

I hope this helps someone out there like it helped me. Enjoy your easy pumpkin pancakes!😃

With Love,

💖Carmen

Valentine's Day Breakfast Ideas: Strawberry Heart Shaped Pancakes with Whipped Cream Topping

So Yummy...

photo credit: lisaclarke via photopin cc

So I decided that I'm in the mood to do some baking this year for Valentine's Day, from cupcakes to sugar cookies, I'm just really in the mood to do it this year.

Anyone that's not an avid baker knows that you really have to be "in the mood" to bake anything. I love to bake, but I'm just not an avid baker. 

And I was also trying to think of something different and fun to do for breakfast that involves pancakes when I decided to make strawberry heart shaped pancakes with my favorite whipped cream/cream cheese frosting for the topping. This recipe is for anyone who is looking for fun and yum, anyone searching for Valentine's Day breakfast ideas as well as any strawberry lover out there!

I'll be including strawberries within the pancake, in the syrup, and to top the whipped cream/cream cheese frosting. I also decided that I'd like red and pink pancakes, so you'll need food coloring and to get ready for some creativity to do this. Ready, set, time for strawberry heart shaped pancakes to start your Valentine's Day...

Strawberry Heart Shaped Pancakes

Ingredients:

• Pancake mix - store bought or homemade
• Non-stick heart shaped pancake ring
• 1-1/2 of a package of strawberries, chopped and diced
• Food coloring - to make red and pink pancake mix
• 2-3 medium or large mixing bowls 
• Optional:  Valentine's Day sprinkles or candies

Directions:

Step 1)  Mix up your pancake mix.

Step 2)  Separate your pancake mix and then make your pink and your red. Use three bowls to make whiter pancakes, pink pancakes and red pancakes, or use two bowls to keep it simple and just make pink and red pancakes. The choice is yours. A couple of drops of red food coloring will give you the color pink. Keep adding drops of red until you find the pink that you'd like to achieve. 

To achieve red, you'll have better luck using gel food coloring. Continue adding red food coloring until you achieve the color red that you would like. If you're not familiar with gel food colors this is what they look like.  For natural alternatives to food coloring, check out these tips:  Homemade Food Coloring; Make Your Own Natural Red Food Dye for Valentine's Day Treats.

Step 3)  Chop your strawberries.

Step 4)  Begin making your pancakes, dropping a few strawberries into the pancake while it's on the pancake griddle or throw some strawberries right into the bowls of pancake mixture. Whatever is easier for you. 

Step 5)  Butter your pancakes, add strawberry syrup, top with a dollop of whipped cream and cream cheese frosting as well as some extra strawberries! For this step you could also frost the entire pancake and then add the syrup over top of the pancakes. That last method is how I intend on making my pancakes.

Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of white granulated sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 and 1/2 cup of mashed strawberries

Directions:

 

Step 1)  Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Slowly add in your mashed strawberries a little at-a-time. Stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Cook uncovered for ten minutes on low heat, stirring the mixture occasionally. Allow to cool a little bit before use or store in a seal-tight container for later use.

Whipped Cream and Cream Cheese Frosting

I should add that this whipped cream and cream cheese frosting recipe is great for cakes as well! This recipe gives you a sturdy whipped cream frosting thanks to the cream cheese and it's soooo yummy.

Ingredients:

• 1 8ounce package of reduced fat cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups of heavy cream or whipping cream

Directions:

Step 1)  Combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Whip on medium speed with a hand mixer until smooth and creamy.

Step 2)  Begin stirring in your heavy cream or whipping cream a little at a time while you continue to mix with your hand mixer on medium speed. Continue to do this until you've added all of your heavy cream or whipping cream. Whip until the cream holds a "stiff peak."

Whipped Frosting Tip:  Try freezing the beaters to your hand mixer, along with the bowl that you intend on using for at least 15 minutes to 1 hour before mixing. 

Last but not least, have fun and enjoy! I know I will!

Project Pancake: Fun Fetti Pancakes Recipe

Fun Fetti Pancakes Recipe

How to Make Fun Fetti Pancakes

(See below for pictures.)

This is a really fun and simple recipe to make with or without kids. If you like sprinkles and whipped cream, then you'll love this. Enjoy!

Prep Time:  Less than 5 minutes

Servings:  Depends on the amount of pancake mix you use. 

Ingredients:

• Pancake Mix - I use Hungry Jack
• Syrup
• Whipped Cream
• Sprinkles  - any kind.  You can also use colored sugar.

Optional:  You can add any diced fruit of your choice.

Fun Fetti Pancakes Directions:

1.)  Mix up pancake mix. Throw some sprinkles into the pancake mix or as you're cooking the pancake, sprinkle some sprinkles onto each individual pancake.

2.)  Place pancake on plate. Add butter. Drizzle some syrup. Add whipped cream and sprinkles, or sprinkles and colored sugar. Fresh fruit is optional; makes it healthy and even yummier!

 

 

 

Project Pancake: Strawberry Pancakes Recipe

Strawberry Pancakes Recipe

How to Make Strawberry Pancakes

(See below for pictures.) 

This is a great recipe for any strawberry lover and so fun to make. Enjoy!

Strawberry Pancakes

Prep Time:  10 minutes

Servings:  Depends on the amount of pancake mix that you use.

Ingredients For Pancakes:

• Pancake mix - I use Hungry Jack. (If you want a good homemade pancake recipe, click here.)
• Strawberries - 1 package
• Whipped cream

Ingredients for Strawberry Syrup:

• 1 cup of white granulated sugar
• 1 cup of water
• 1 1/2 cups of mashed strawberries

Directions for Syrup:

1.)  Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium sauce pan. Slowly add mashed strawberries and stir well. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Stirring occasionally.

Directions for Strawberry Pancakes:

1.) Cut up strawberries into small pieces - as many as you like. Remember, we want to place strawberries into the pancake mix and on top of the pancake, so make sure you have enough to do both.

2.)  Following the instructions per your pancake mix and for the amount of pancakes that you want to yield, mix your pancake mix into a large bowl. Add strawberries to pancake mix. Cook pancakes.

3.)  Place pancake on a plate. Add a little bit of butter (I use Blue Bonnet soft butter), then drizzle syrup over the pancake. Make a smiley face with your whipped cream or be creative and do a freestyle design. Top with a handful of diced strawberries. Enjoy!

One of my sons said this tasted like strawberry shortcake. And it does!

Please note: The amount of strawberries you use will depend on the amount of pancakes that you make. For the strawberry syrup you will need 1 and 1/2 cup of mashed strawberries, so you want to make sure that you have enough for the amount of syrup that you need, to put into the pancake mix, and to top the pancakes. For my family, I have to double the batch for syrup. So I need 2 cups of water, 2 cups of sugar and 3 cups of strawberries, plus strawberries for our pancakes and to top the pancakes!

 Diced Strawberries

 Mashed Strawberries

 Cooking the syrup

 I put my pancake mix into the bowl that I mashed my strawberries in!

 I wish I had bought more strawberries, otherwise I would have put more into the mix!

 Smiley face

 Freestyle

Project Pancake: Chocolate Chip Pancakes Recipe

Chocolate Chip Pancakes Recipe

How to Make Chocolate Chip Pancakes

(See below for pictures.)

These pancakes sort of remind me of when my mother used to sometimes take my little brother and I to IHOP back in the day. My little brother would always choose the pancake with the smiley face. He'd eat all the whip cream and waste the rest, lol.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Prep Time:  5-10 minutes if that

Servings:  Depends on the amount of pancake mix that you use.

Ingredients:

• Pancake mix - I use Hungry Jack.
• Syrup
• Semi Mini Chocolate Chips - one to two 12 oz packages.  I use Nestle Toll House
• Hershey Chocolate Syrup
• Whipped Cream

Chocolate Chip Pancakes Directions:

1.)  Prepare your pancake mix depending on how many people that you're serving. Add as many chocolate chips as you like. If you like chocolate, add more. If you don't want it too chocolatey, add less.

2.)  Cook your pancakes.

3.)  Place pancake on plate. Add a little butter, drizzle syrup and then lightly drizzle Hershey syrup. Not too much Hershey syrup - just light drizzles. Make a smiley face with your whipped cream or create a free style design. Top with a handful of chocolate chips and enjoy!

This tastes just like a giant chocolate chip cookie, so this recipe is definitely for any chocolate lover!