Breakfast Pancake Burger

Yeah, this one is definitely inspired by my adorable carnivore SO. Meat-man loves beef, pretty sure I only trump steak by a few points. Therefore, when we had a grill-out at a park with some friends and came home with some leftover burger patties, he was a happy camper.

As I often do on weekends, I woke up early, checked email and Twitter, blogged a bit, and decided what fancy thing I would make for breakfast. I love weekends because there is so much more time in the morning to make something other than pop-tarts or a smoothie. (Don't get me wrong, I looooooove smoothies.)

I decided on pancakes. 

About this time, meat-man comes stumbling sleepily into the kitchen, and heads straight to the fridge. Upon noticing the nicely browning pancakes, and seeing the leftover picnic food, his eyes light up. I quickly made the connection too, and though it breaks so many nutrition rules, I had to admit I was curious.

Yes, I'll let you have a pancake burger. For science.

It grosses me out personally, and makes my arteries cringe, but if the happy noises and time it took to demolish (about 15 seconds) is any evidence, it's damn good. So if you're feeling brave or want to make a man you know speechless with joy, have at this breakfast beast.

Ingredients:

2 pancakes

2 eggs, scrambled

1 burger patty

Maple syrup

1 slice of cheese

*Not counting this as a less than 5, because individual ingredients (pancake, burger) take several more ingredients to make.

Step 1: Scramble the eggs in a small bowl. Add to a hot, sprayed pan, and cook into a small patty themselves by pushing the sides into the middle with a spatula as it cooks.

Step 2: If you haven't yet, make pancakes, at least 2.

Step 3: Make or reheat your burger patty, and place on top of one pancake.

Step 4: Cover with egg, cheese, and some syrup.

Step 5: Top with the other pancake.

This bad boy was about the size of my face.

Then when you finish it all, you can go right back to bed in a food coma. If ever I have a restaurant (le sigh) this will totally be a food challenge on my menu.

What's your dream breakfast?

Pineapple Pancake Syrup

While maple syrup is delightful, sometimes you feel a little bolder at breakfast time. When I get bored or simply want something unexpected, I make up my own syrups. Since I had a huge amount of leftover pineapple upside down cake and sweet potato pancakes from breakfast at Snooze in Denver (which could be a huge post in its own right, seriously GO THERE, it's amazing), I decided to make a pineapple-y syrup to go with them. This would be a great syrup to make and have breakfast in bed for Valentine's Day (or the Saturday following).

Ingredients:

1/2 can pineapple chunks

1/4 cup pineapple juice from can

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

Step 1: Put all ingredients into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, then simmer 5-20 minutes, until it thickens to your liking.

These were the sweet potato pancakes, so those got extra love: melted marshmallows!

Step 2: Pour over pancakes. Stuff yourself silly, and smile. I bet this would taste great over my Perfect Pancakes too.

What's your favorite way to top pancakes?

Perfect pancakes

There is nothing quite as wonderful on a lazy Sunday as fresh, homemade pancakes. And they are actually quite easy to make. Just four dry ingredients plus four wet, and maybe some chocolate chips, fruit, or nuts. This would also be a great Christmas morning breakfast or brunch.  Total time required is roughly 20 minutes. This recipe makes about 10 hotcakes. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 whole egg
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp vanilla 
Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, oats, etc.

Step 1: Mix the first four dry ingredients in a large bowl. (Add whatever extras you like).

Step 2: Mix the next four wet ingredients into the dry. If you want to, you can set this aside for 10-20 minutes to shower or watch the news or brew some coffee.

Step 3: Heat a frying pan over medium heat and spray with cooking oil. Pour in about 1/3 cup batter per cake. Cook until batter shows bubbles, about 4 minutes.

Step 4: Flip the cakes when golden brown and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Serve with syrup, preserves, whipped cream, honey, or whatever you like on your pancakes.

This recipe produced light and fluffy cakes with the perfect amount of sweetness. I'm pretty proud of this batch I must say. Try making your own Pineapple Pancake Syrup to go with them.

What is your favorite type of pancake?