So, Krusteaz sent me a bunch of pancake, waffle, and coffee cake mix a few weeks ago as part of their Breakfast Month blogger program. The idea behind the program is that bloggers should come up with creative ideas for how to enjoy breakfast for dinner.
I like pancakes. I also like experimenting. So I decided that I would try to see if various casual afternoon or evening foods would taste good in pancake form.
So, I fired up a griddle and got to work trying a few different morsels in pancake form.
I'll be honest: while many of these foodstuffs taste great as components of dinner or PM snacks, many of them did not translate well in pancake form. Nonetheless, it was tons of fun.
How I did it
I mixed up a batch of Krusteaz pancake mix according to the package instructions ("just add water"!), then cooked the pancakes one at a time. In general, I poured the batter then put the toppings on the uncooked side, so that it would stick and then cook when flipped. I did clean out the pan in-between so that residual flavors wouldn't affect the next pancake.
As a side note, I like this pancake mix. It yields a good-tasting, fluffy-textured pancake, so it was a great base for this experiment.
So, how did the various mix-ins stack up? See for yourself:
#1: Popcorn
Popcorn is delicious. Pancakes are delicious. Popcorn tastes good with butter. Pancakes taste good with butter. A match made in heaven, right? Well, not necessarily. As it turns out, popcorn makes pancakes decidedly weird. It loses its crispiness when cooked in a pancake, so it's sort of like eating a buttery-salty pancake studded with packing peanuts.
Verdict: Never Put This In Pancakes.
#2: Ham and cheese
Ham and cheese is a classic combo that you can enjoy from morning til night. It works equally well in omelettes and sandwiches. I had high hopes! Well, my hopes were in fact realized, because the cheese got all melty and the ham was the perfect rich and salty complement to the pancake dough. As a bonus, I truly enjoyed referring to these as "hamcakes". GOOD THING. Great with potato chips. Which leads nicely into the next experiment (see below).
Verdict: Go Ahead and Put This In Pancakes.
#3: Potato Chips
Salty and sweet is such a great combo. What could be a more efficient way to deliver salty to the sweetness of pancakes than by adding potato chips? I grabbed a handful and put 'em in the griddle then poured some batter on top. Unfortunately I probably should have crushed the chips, because the batter had a hard way "getting around" the curves of the chips. The flavor was actually OK, but the chips in the center got a little soggy. It seems like this idea could have potential if you slightly crushed the chips and chose wisely with your chip flavor. Like, cool ranch doritos? Maybe not.
Verdict: Maybe Put This in Pancakes, But Proceed With Caution.
#4: Lettuce
If you want to be a lean, green machine, do me a favor and eat a salad rather than eating lettuce embedded in a pancake. Turns out, lettuce gets deeply gross and wilty when put in a hot skillet and griddled with pancake batter. I don't really think there's any instance in which this would taste great. Maybe sauteed kale or collard greens, but not lettuce.
Verdict: Never Put This In Pancakes.
#5: Chicken Salad
If you're anything like me, the very phrase "chicken salad pancakes" makes you want to vomit a little in your mouth. Well, turns out our instincts are correct! Chicken salad is very disgusting when cooked in a pancake. The mayonnaise turns all liquid-like and makes the center gooey; the chicken starts to taste sort of, well, fishy when heated. Don't do this.
Verdict: Never Put This In Pancakes.
#6: Salad Dressing
My sweetheart had made a beautiful homemade mustard vinaigrette, and you know what I did with it? I put it in pancakes. Interestingly, it wasn't totally gross, but then again "intriguing" isn't exactly the same thing as "delicious". I think that this could have worked if added to the ham and cheese version or maybe as a topping for a savory pancake, but as an add-in, not so much.
Verdict: Never Put This In Pancakes.
#7: Limoncello Chocolate
I used to develop recipes for Colavita and Perugina, and I still happen to have a bunch of product on hand. As such, I decided to try out some of the Limoncello chocolate in one of my pancakes. I pressed a square into the top of the batter once poured, then let it cook as the pancake was flipped. Unfortunately, a square of this flavored chocolate didn't do much for the pancake. It melted weirdly, and the lemon-chocolate flavor wasn't too hot with the pancake batter. I think that this concept could work, but not with this type of chocolate. I think that Perugina chocolate is great, btw, but a milk or white chocolate (meltier!) would have worked better.
Verdict: Put Other Chocolate In Pancakes, But Never Use This One.
I'd like to thank Krusteaz for sending me all of the awesome stuff (including a frying pan from T-fal) and for letting me have fun with their mix.