Crockpot Pancakes FTW

Picture a pancake.  I'm talking about the perfect kind that diners get right every time and that are so freaking hard to replicate at home.  You know -- light golden brown on both sides, about a quarter of an inch to a half an inch thick, about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.  Soft.  Fluffy.  Perfectly stackable.  Mmm.  Now tweak that picture in your mind a little bit.  Instead of a half an inch thick, think about 2 inches.  Instead of 6 inches across, make it about 8.  Kind of like a pancake-cake.  Still fluffy but a little more dense and a lot more substance to it.  A little lighter in color but still a nice, light brown.


Enter, crockpot pancake!  I made it this morning for a brunch I hosted and it came out perfectly -- so much better than I expected!  Although to be honest, I didn't really know what to expect.  All the recipes I found were very loose and really left a lot of room for creativity (i.e., a lot of room to screw up).  So although my fingers were crossed that something good would emerge from my crockpot, I really had no idea what was going to happen.  Lucky for me, crockpot pancakes are super easy and uber delicious!!  I really should call it a "crockpot pancake" instead of "crockpot pancakes" because it comes out like a pancake-cake, in the singular.  After it's done, you slice it into pieces (kind of like a pound cake) and serve it just like you would regular pancakes -- with butter, a fruit garnish and/or maple syrup.  SO YUMMY!  Here's the recipe:


Crockpot Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:
Pancake ingredients (I used Reduced Fat Bisquick, skim milk and eggs.)

1.  Make pancake batter like you would for stove-top pancakes.  (In other words, follow the recipe on the Bisquick box or be like Alton Brown and make them from scratch.)

2.  Grease inside of crockpot with nonstick cooking spray.  As usual, I used EVOO cooking spray.

3.  Pour all of the batter into the greased crockpot.  Cook on HIGH for 2 hours.  When toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, it's done.  The edges will be browned by then (it's totally normal for them to be a much darker brown than the rest of the pancake) and the batter will have fully solidified.

That's it!  It's super easy and super delicious.  Wait about 10 minutes for it to cool, then remove it from the crockpot and place it on a plate.  Serve while warm.  It's perfect for brunch parties or your everyday breakfast.  Enjoy!