Ali Cooks: Granola Pancakes

Sunday morning revealed two life truths to Brian and myself:

 

1)  Brian likes his pancakes as 'normal' people do.  I, on the other hand, prefer my pancakes barely cooked.

 

2)  Granola doesn't do anything special to pancakes.

 

To address the first important truth, I must confess my love for batter of any kind.  Brownie batter.  Cake batter.  MUFFIN BATTER (my favorite...).  So yes, I do enjoy scraping the pancake batter bowl after the last pancake has been scooped out onto the frying pan.  However, this affinity for undercooked (...or even uncooked...) food also means that I prefer my pancakes barely cooked.

 

Contributing to my love for pancakes in this state is the fact that I am impatient in the kitchen.  No matter how much I encourage pancakes to hurry on up and 'get delicious!,' they just keep on sizzling at their own pace.  Frustrated, I am known to begin the sliding maneuver of the spatula prematurely, leading to dissatisfied (and often anxious) sound effects to escape my mouth, and resulting in a giant PLOP of uncooked pancaked flopped down on the frying pan.  Due to the stressful nature of my pancake-making, I very often flop the pancakes so that they overlap one another.  Pancake-making is messy and sometimes stressful when I'm around.

 

Yet...Brian and I like to make pancakes in shifts...or shall I say...batches.

 

Batch 1:  I start us off, since the first pancakes are always the worst anyway, and we both know that I am very good at making imperfect pancakes.

 

Batch 2:  Brian takes a shot at his pancake technique, timing their cooking carefully and only flipping when rapid bubbles begin popping through to the surface of the uncooked portion.  The flip is anticlimactic and well-executed.  The shade of brown on the newly-flipped pancake would be envied from Spring Break sun-bathers.

 

Batch 3:  I'm back at it again, recreating the chaos that is my pancake-making process.

And so the cycle continues.  Until the last batch is in the frying pan, and I am licking the batter bowl clean as my sort-of breakfast appetizer.

Oh yeah, and we discovered another truth about the pancakes themselves and how they tasted:  pretty average.  Maybe there wasn't enough granola or maybe the granola just got lost in the pancake, but there really isn't anything special about these.

 

Feel free to try the recipe for yourself, but if you have a not-so-exotic pancake recipe that you prefer, you should probably just stick with it.

But...if you do give this a shot, let me know how it goes!  :)

Happy Pancaking!

Granola Pancakes

*adapted from TastyKitchen.com

 

Ingredients:
½ tsp Baking Soda
½ Tbs Baking Powder
2 Tbs Sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Flour
⅛ tsp Salt
¾ cups Granola
1  Egg
1  Egg White
1 Tbs Brown Sugar
1 cup Greek Yogurt
¾ cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
3 Tbs Butter, Melted

Instructions:

In a medium bowl, mix together the baking soda, baking powder,of sugar, cinnamon, flour, and the salt. Mix well.  Add the granola and stir.

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and egg white, the brown sugar, the Greek yogurt, the almond milk, vanilla, and the melted butter. Whisk well until combined.

Gradually add the dry ingredients into the wet, but do not overmix (the batter will be somewhat lumpy).

Portion the batter onto your heated pre-greased frying pan using a 1/4 cup measure. The skillet/frying pan should be at medium-low heat, and the pancakes will be ready to flip when bubbles appear in the middle of each.

Flip the pancakes and cook the other side until browned to your liking.