Quarantiny pancake cereal

So here we are, several weeks into our respective lockdowns and maybe we need a breakfast to brighten our day without breaking the bank.

I am lucky to be sharing my ‘stay at home’ covid experience with my family, who like to eat healthily, but also enjoy experimenting with new recipe ideas. Not that pancakes are necessarily healthy or a new idea, but I encourage you to read on, as this is an old favourite with a new twist.

We are a family with three young adults living at home, so even under normal circumstances, when everyone is out at work or college, the grocery shopping can get quite expensive each week. Now that we are in lockdown, I have come to realise just how much a family of five will eat if they are all at home all day.

Keeping the cupboards stocked, can currently be a bit of a challenge.

If, where you live, is like us, then you are probably being encouraged to only shop when necessary and to try and reduce the frequency of grocery shopping trips. On the one hand I don’t mind sticking to this advice, as venturing out to the shops is not without peril. As we all try to avoid catching or spreading covid-19, there is the decision to glove or not to glove, the paranoia about whether to scratch that annoying itch on your face and fighting the urge to quickly check your phone, for fear of contaminating it. There are lengthy queues and the delicate balance of remaining civil and conversing with fellow shoppers, whilst awkwardly dodging into doorways or aisle spaces giving each other a polite, but wide berth, as if, well as if they have the plague.

But I digress; let’s get back to breakfast and making something to lift the spirits and break the monotony.

Cupboards may be looking a little thin and it can be tricky keeping up with the cereal and bread demand, especially in a house full of teens, but you only need a few simple ingredients for pancakes. Pancakes are super easy and always feel a treat to start the day with. The added twist of mini-pancake cereal really ups their charm.

Just miniaturising things seems to evoke joy – the aww factor; deeply rooted in our human psyche. Mini-pancake cereal offers excitement of new uncharted territory and yet with the comfort of familiarity.

Definitely a feel-good factor to start the day.

I have my daughter to thank for introducing us to this tasty idea for our family breakfast. In fact, even better than that, she persuaded her older brother to make them with her as a ‘sibling bonding’ experience.

My daughter is vegan, so we used the following ingredients to make the pancake batter, but I have also included a regular, non-vegan recipe that can be used.

For a fluffy vegan pancake batter, that really works (trust me, we have experimented with quite a few variations that haven’t), you will need:

Serves a grown-up (or a bit childish) family of five

Vegan pancake batter

• 250g plain flour (2 cups)

• 50g sugar (4 tbsp)

• 25g baking powder (2 tbsp)

• 8g salt (1 tsp)

• 480ml non-dairy milk (2 cups)

• 30ml apple cider vinegar (2 tbsp)

• 10ml vanilla extract (2 tsp)

Regular, non-vegan pancake batter

• 250g plain flour (2 cups)

• 50g sugar (4 tbsp)

• 16g baking powder (4 tsp)

• 8g salt (1 tsp)

• 480ml milk (2 cups)

• 2 large eggs

• 60g melted butter or oil (4 tbsp)

Directions

Mix all the dry ingredients; flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl or measuring jug combine all the remaining wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes.

Now for the flippin’ fun part.

Put a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and heat. Use a teaspoon, or if you find it easier a piping bag, to drop lots of small portions of the pancake batter into the pan. How small you want your quarantiny pancakes is up to you. As you add your mixture to the pan, bear in mind if they go in penny sized, they will expand a little as the batter cooks, so allow some space between the quarantinies so they do not stick together.

Flip the pancakes when you see them start to bubble. A spatula can be used to flip several min-pancakes at a time. As they are small, the pancakes cook very quickly and are done when they turn golden brown. Remove from the pan, place in a dish and keep them warm in the oven as you cook the rest of the mixture.

How to serve

To add to the idea of starting the day with something new, we laid our table with a variety of toppings and accompaniments, found in the cupboards, so that full experimentation possibilities could be had by all. The dish of mini-pancakes was brought to the table, as well as the all-important freshly brewed coffee and tea.

For the adventurous - quarantiny pancake cereal is served as you would other cereal; in a bowl with milk and topped with sugar or maple syrup. I’m not sure about this option, but my children liked it and it seems much talked about on social media as a way to go.

For those with something healthier in mind – a bowl full of quarantiny mini-pancakes can simply be topped with fruit and yoghurt. I enjoyed mine with strawberries, blueberries and vanilla yoghurt, it got even tastier (and admittedly slightly less healthy) when I added a squirt of golden syrup.

For the traditionalists – these delicious fluffy mini-pancakes can be enjoyed as you would regular pancakes with sugar and lemon, honey and banana, whipped cream and chocolate chips or to be honest, whatever you have in the cupboard and fancy.

Our quarantiny pancake breakfast was a resounding hit. So good to spend some family time together, before we go about our day.

How ever you choose to enjoy them, these tiny treats will definitely lift the mood and brighten the start of your family’s day.

Super cute and super tasty!