National Pancake Day

I read in the TBT yesterday that today is National Pancake Day. In my attempt to find out more details about this day, I found out that IHOP celebrates National Pancake Day on February 24th. Shrove Tuesday is the day before the beginning of Lent, also known as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday and Pancake Day. Shrove Tuesday was Tuesday, February 24, 2009
this year. I'm not sure exactly where the TBT got its information, but I definitely enjoyed the idea! In honor of one of my favorite foods, I decided to take National Pancake Day one step further. Instead of just having the expected pancakes for breakfast or brunch, I made pancakes for breakfast, lunch and dinner! To keep things interesting, I made different versions of this cheap and versatile food. For breakfast, we had banana walnut pancakes, made with buttermilk and coconut oil in the batter. They were splendid! For lunch, I decided to try my hand at pineapple upside down pancakes. The idea came from an IHOP commercial. I've never eaten this particular pancake at IHOP (I've always liked my homemade pancakes better anyway...), but I knew I wanted to try to make them some day. And what better day than today? (Recipe below.) They were a huge hit and definitely called for a repeat visit some time soon. For dinner, I made some corn pancakes. These had a mixture of pancake better and corn bread mix, with thawed frozen corn kernels, and honey butter instead of syrup. My family loved the variety and eating pancakes all day was great fun! My daughter even asked for chocolate pancakes for dessert! Maybe next time. I definitely won't wait til next year.

Marcy's Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes

1/2 C lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 C butter
1 large can pineapple slices in 100% pure pineapple juice
1/2 C pineapple juice (reserve from pineapples)
1 3/4 C favorite dry pancake mix (I used a combination of two gluten free flours.)
3/4 C almond milk (I used Almond Breeze Original)
1/4 C ground raw almonds or almond meal
2 T ground flax seeds or flax meal
1 egg
1 T coconut oil
2 packets Stevia sweetener
4 or 5 drops almond extract/flavoring
salt to taste

1. Melt together first two ingredients. Keep on low heat.
2. Depending on size of pot, place 2 or more pineapple slices into above mixture to simmer.
3. Mix together dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients. If batter is too thick, add more almond milk. If too thin, add a bit more dry mix. Allow to sit for a few minutes so bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the batter.
4. Heat skillet on medium low heat.
5. Take one pineapple slice from simmering pot and place on skillet, and pour 1/4 C (I use a spring-hinge ice cream scoop to measure out and pour batter) pancake batter in the middle of the pineapple slice. The batter will spread over and around to cover the pineapple.
6. When small holes form around the edge of the pancake, carefully turn over.
7. Pancake is done when bottom is a light golden brown.
8. Continue with remaining pineapples and batter.
9. Serve with syrup. (I like grade B maple syrup or maple flavored agave nectar.)

ENJOY!!