Pancakes with pizzaz!

The trick to making your meals look, taste, and feel #fancy is to take your simple meal and spruce it up with some extra household goodies. Take my fusilli pasta post for example. Starting with a plain jar of red sauce and dry pasta, we created a fabulous and tasty meal chock full of veggies and exploding flavors. Today I'll be sharing how I spice up my simple box mix of pancakes by adding a few bonus ingredients and getting creative with the toppings. 

You can simply start with any pancake box mix. I don't usually follow the recipe exactly- I use my eyeballs to guide me. But just take about a cup of mix, add 1 egg, several splashes of nut milk until it's that silky pancake batter consistency. THEN, you're going to pick your favorite add on ingredients and throw them in. I used about a tablespoon each of ground flax seeds and chia seeds, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. When I have it on hand, I like to throw in a scoop of desiccated coconut. For the exact ingredients used in my pizazz pancakes, plus the directions, have a look below.

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Ingredients:

For the pancakes

1 cup of pancake mix

1 egg

1/2 cup of walnut milk

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp coconut oil for the pan 

For the cream

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

1 tbsp almond butter

1 big or small drizzle of honey depending on that sweet tooth of yours ;) 

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

For the granola

This should really be a post of its own, so use your favorite granola from the store, use your own favorite recipe, or stay tuned for mine (it's crunchy, easy, and delicious). 

                                                        

Directions:

Mix all of the pancake ingredients in a mixing bowl. Heat the coconut oil in a skillet. Pour your pancake batter into the hot skillet. When the pancake starts to bubble give her a flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until your pancake is golden brown on both sides. Nothing complicated- you're just making basic pancakes. 

Make the creamy topping sauce. I like to take my greek yogurt, almond butter, honey, and cinnamon, and mix it up on the side. I add a thin layer in between my pancakes and put a final scoop on the top. The consistency should be firm enough, not runny. But I want it to hold its own when placed on the top pancake. Does that make sense? Good. 

The other add-ons. Go for whatever flavor or theme you're looking for. I was feeling tropical and added freshly sliced mango on my side and added homemade granola over the top. I also enjoy adding dry coconut, berries, apple and cinnamon, chocolate chips. Let your pantry speak for you. Don't be afraid to try new combos. There is no limit. Enjoy! :)