Today is Saturday...and my birthday! Happy Birthday Me! I remember being a kid and thinking how awesome it was when my birthday fell on the weekend. Ya know what? That frame of mind never went away for me. In fact, I think it's even better the older you get. No work. All play.

I'm probably one of the few women that enjoy receiving gifts with cords. I don't get too upset about things like that. I'm a pretty practical person. I don't care for jewelry, shellfish is my kryptonite, I don't drink alcohol, and I'm housebroken. I'm a cheap date overall. As long as I get a spectacular cake I don't have to make and spend the day with those I love most, I'm super happy.

Saturdays are known in our house as Pancake Saturdays. (Although, sometimes it's french toast Saturday, depending on the mood, but for the most part, pancakes take precedence). Birthdays don't alter that fact, so I was looking for a special pancake to make and found these. God bless the internet. 

They are intense. This is one of those ideas that I wish I would have thought of, but thankfully, didn't need to and can make anytime I want despite the fact. 

I think I have a new favorite birthday breakfast.

As well as every Saturday morning. 

CAKE BATTER PANCAKES

Recipe adapted and modified from How Sweet It Is

1½ cups all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cake mix - I used Betty Crocker

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons ground flax seed- this is totally optional, but I put it in everything!

1 egg

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups milk

assorted sprinkles* - I tried a few different varieties of sprinkles and found that nonpareils are the best. Jimmies made a mess and didn't look very pretty due to size and sugary sprinkles (not sanding sugar, but the sort that are the same taste and texture of candy cigarettes - if that makes ANY sense) did nothing but add crunch.

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar, ground flax seed, if using, and salt in a bowl.


Add egg, vanilla and start with 1 cup of milk when mixing and gradually add more until 2 cups, if needed. I used the 2 full cups once I revised the recipe. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; uniform in consistency.

According to How Sweet...'s post, this will depend on the brand of cake mix you use. Do a quick taste test to see if the pancakes are flavored enough for your liking. I did and found my version was high-fiving my taste buds. I figure, if I'm going to do it, I might as well go big.

This photo was using 1 cup milk. It's still pretty thick.


Preheat a frying pan - or electric griddle, (which I need, HINT HINT lover) - on medium heat. Original recipe calls for the sprinkles to be folded in. I did so and started with only a small amount, but they dissolved into the batter, changing the color, and defeated the purpose, so I opted to add them after batter was poured in the frying pan. Done and done.

Pour batter in ¼ cup measurements onto frying pan/griddle and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for an additional minute more.


Serve with vanilla glaze below if desired. Again, I went for the gold and wasn't disappointed.

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

½ Tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

assorted sprinkles

Mix milk, extract and powdered sugar until glaze forms. You may need to add a little more sugar or milk to reach desired consistency. Mix into glaze and drizzle on pancakes.

Yields: About festive 20-25 pancakes

Happy Baking!