My New Pancake Tradition: Banana Walnut, Strawberry Banana, Apple Pecan and More!

I'm starting to love my pancakes.

It's now a tradition in my small family - myself, my husband and my chihuahua (who, to be clear, sticks with dog food and only gets to watch us eat pancakes) - to have pancakes on Saturday or Sunday mornings. It heralds in the weekend. It's a nice lazy, relaxing food to cook as I drink my first cup of coffee.


I eat gluten-free as much as possible, so I have used the Bella's all-purpose baking mix, which I've found to be excellent for things like cookies or really as a 1:1 substitution for anything requiring flour.

But for pancakes Bella's is a little thick or dense for me.

So I use Pamela's baking and pancake mix. Following the recipes on the bag, it comes out a lot closer to what I know and love to be pancakes. I've served these to many a gluten-loving person, and they have enjoyed them. So I stick with Pamela's.

My favorite ways to do pancakes, because you can't just do it plain:

• Banana walnut - chop up one banana per batch (I usually slice and then cut those slices in half), and add about a quarter to half cup chopped walnuts. Mix into the batter. I usually have a bag of pre-chopped walnuts in my pantry at all times. Add cinnamon. It adds something.
• Strawberry banana - I don't do this one very often if only because I usually buy strawberries when they are on sale and only when I have plans to cook with them (or they don't get fully eaten). I use a little more than half a banana and 3-4 strawberries chopped up and mix it into the batter.
• Apple pecan - Yum! I also add cinnamon to this one because cinnamon and apple go together. I often have chopped pecans in my pantry. I've also done apple walnut. There are two ways to do apples. 
• Chop them and pat them with a paper towel to get rid of extra moisture.
• Shred them and again pat them heavily with a paper towel to get rid of extra moisture. After trying both of these methods, I usually shred now. Results in a better textured pancake.
• And of course, blueberry! I just add the blueberries when we have them. No additional ingredients needed. Love blueberry pancakes. I believe I add about a half a cup to the batter. It's really a case of personal preference how many blueberries you add, but don't overdo it or you'll have blueberries dotted by pancake batter. I prefer my blueberries a little on the heavy side.

Enjoy and happy eating!