Cake Batter Pancakes

Three little letters - WOW!  This pin was well worth giving it a try!

Nine years ago today I was in the hospital celebrating one of the four best days of my life!  My little nutter butter, my youngest-one-of-three was born. She has been a hum dinger - and I mean that in an incredibly complimentary way.  

As with each of my children's birthdays, I always try to make them feel as special as I do just having the opportunity to be their mom.  So when I found this recipe for Cake Batter Pancakes, I just knew my little pancake connoisseur would love them!  She was so excited that she helped me make them.  It's interesting to me how similar and how different we are - I, a first born, and she, the baby.  But when it comes to the kitchen, she's the first to want to know everything I'm doing and the first to want to jump right in and help.  

The dry ingredients of this recipe are simple - Bisquick, yellow cake mix, and rainbow sprinkles.  

My youngest-one-of-three helped me measure each and put them into the mixing bowl.  I knew the cake mix would add a great flavor to the pancakes, but I really was a little skeptical about the rainbow sprinkles.

We measured one cup of Bisquick, one cup of the yellow cake mix, and 3 tablespoons of the rainbow sprinkles.  My nutter butter was having great time!  After all, what nine year old wouldn't be excited about rainbow sprinkles being part of her breakfast!

I must admit, the recipe was indeed looking celebratory and festive! Once she mixed up the dry ingredients, it was time to add the wet variety.  This simple recipe calls for a cup of milk, 2 eggs, and a teaspoon of vanilla - the real stuff, always.

  

Anytime eggs are involved in our combined cooking efforts, my kiddos can't wait to crack them.  My nutter butter cracked away and added them along with the milk and vanilla to the dry mixture.  The only job left to do was mix it all together.

We sat the batter aside and I turned on the griddle.  While the griddle was warming, we made the "syrup" for our cake batter pancakes.  Now, of course, no regular syrup would do.  Our recipe called for powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and of course, more rainbow sprinkles for garnish.  

I did make one adjustment here.  The recipe called for 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons milk, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Looking at the amount of batter in my bowl, I just felt like I wouldn't need that much "syrup."  I cut the recipe in half, figuring I could make more if I needed it.  

The griddle was now heated to my setting of about 325 degrees.  Yes, the recipe calls for 375, but I know my griddle, and 375 would have given us burnt cake batter pancakes.  On went my 1/4 cup scoopfuls of batter and we waited for the little bubbles to form atop the rainbow spotted circles.

My youngest-one-of-three was so excited. We waited patiently while watching the sprinkles melt into the batter.  Soon, the bubbles were saying, "Flip me."     

Ok, now seriously, who could resist this?  Imagine the smell of pancakes cooking, but with a hint of cake baking in the oven!  Just as these divine delicacies were being pulled off the griddle, the hubster came through the door with our older-two-of-three.  My firstborn did a double take, "Oh my..."  My son was quick to follow.

I plated my nutter butter's special breakfast while the other two literally pranced and pawed, oohed and aahed, and drooled like our crazy OESheepdog.  Onto the birthday plate they went, the "syrup" was drizzled generously, and the rainbow garnish signaled that the cake batter pancakes were officially ready to be tested.

Did they pass the test?  Well, let's just say that I've served very few dishes that have received applause.  I think we were all glad that it was our nutter butter's special day - even the sprinkle skeptic!  This one's a keeper!  And so is the recipe.

You can follow TraceyCarol on Pinterest by clicking here.

Crispy Cheddar Chicken

I spend a large portion of my at-home time in the kitchen, partially out of necessity preparing deliciously wholesome meals for my three kiddos and my hubster (Ha!) but mostly because I enjoy cooking.  Maybe it's the creative corner of my brain, but I've always loved cooking.  So, for my inagural post, I decided that my Pinterest Interest would be from my Test Kitchen board.

It's a difficult task pleasing a dinner table of five, but some sort of chicken usually does the trick.  And to put cheese in the mix only makes my odds better - hence, Crispy Cheddar Chicken!

I repinned (stole) this idea from my friend and fellow cuisine cooking officiando, V.T., also a former co-worker that I miss greatly!  The photo alone was enough to entice.  The recipe originally comes from another blog called Jamie Cooks It Up.  Check her out! 

I varied her recipe very little - I usually try to stick as closely as possible to the original on my first try with a new dish.  Her instructions called for cutting up boneless, skinless chicken breast, but I prefer the lazy route - chicken tenders!

Next, it was time to get my dredging ingredients together.  I prepared my milk dish, using 2% because that's what I keep in our frig, grated some of my cheese, and crumbled some crackers in just a few quick pulses of the processor.  


Just a hint, I didn't grate the entire recommended amount of cheese because I wasn't sure if I would need it all and it was going to get messy with the milk so leftover cheese couldn't be reused.  I figured I could grate more as necessary.  I was glad I went that route because I didn't need the entire 3 cups for my portion of chicken tenders. Now came the tricky part - getting that doggone grated cheese to stick to my chicken tenders!  

The milk just wasn't making it happen so I decided to veer from the recipe a tad and use beaten egg, with a little milk mixed in, to try and give me sticky chicken.

It helped slightly, but getting the cheese to stick was still a challenge.  After much smushing, yes that is chef terminology, and packing on of the cracker crumbs, I finally got it sufficiently coated and in my lightly sprayed glass baking dish.



I covered it with the necessary foil to keep it from getting burned early in the cooking time and popped it into the oven on 350.

About 10 minutes into the baking process, I realized that I had forgotten to sprinkle on the parsley flakes so out came the chicken, up went the foil, and on went the flakes.  I really don't think the flakes did anything other than give it a little variation in color though.  Next time, I think I'll try it with Italian seasoning.



After baking for about 30 minutes, I removed the foil and baked for another 10 or so until it got a little more golden brown.  In those last 10 minutes I worked on the sauce.  Honestly, I didn't have high expectations for the sauce.  I mean how good could a three ingredient sauce be.  
But, the hubster is all about sauces so I wasn't going to ignore it.  I took my can of cream of chix, a few scoops of sour cream (maybe a little more than the recipe called for) and my very generous 2 tablespoons of butter and heated them all together in a small saucepan.


The chicken was toasty brown and smelling delish by the time the sauce was ready.  Out of the oven it came and onto the plates.  It looked pretty good!  I even posed it for a pic, trying to simulate the original -

The food critics tasted and commented:

"Love this crispy cheese!"

"This sauce ranks right up there with ranch dressing!"

"These would even be good as chicken strip appetizers for a party."

The only mediocre critique came from my youngest-one-of-three and really, she doesn't count.  She likes almost nothing.  But she did eat it so it must have been good.

I served my Crispy Cheddar Chicken with garlic smashers and applesauce. Something green on the side would have been nice but I didn't have the makings in the frig for a salad and I didn't feel like eating peas!  

All in all, this Pinterest Interest is a keeper!