Anytime is a good time for PANCAKES

Here are the rules...these pancakes contain chocolate and butterscotch chips so no syrup needed.  Since no syrup needed, no silverware needed.  Serve on paper plates and eat with your hands.  And leftovers the next day can be heated in the microwave for 12 seconds.  I use the large glass measuring cup to melt my butter and then I add the milk and egg directly to the butter and mix.  Once bowl for dry ingredients and no other dishes needed.  I have a panini press than opens flat with griddle plates that serve as the best non stick platform ever (plus clean up is simply a wet paper towel).  I use a fork to mix pancake bater, an ice cream scoop to pour and a spatula to flip.  When was the last time you had pancakes for dinner......

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Celeste's Favorite Pancakes 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 teaspoon kosher salt 

3 Tablespoons sugar 

1 egg 

3 Tablespoons butter, melted 

1 1/4 cup milk 

(I have used whole, buttermilk and 

lowfat milk with a splash of heavy cream) 

Optional:  Mini chocolate chips and butterscotch chips 

Directions:

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar, stir 

In a heatproof glass bowl, melt the butter, add the milk, crack the egg and mix until well blended. 

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until blended.  

At this point I add the mini chocolate chips to the batter and mix.  I add the butterscotch chips when I pour in pan.  

Ladle pancakes onto hot non-stick pan or griddle (this way you don’t have to use butter) 

Add butterscotch chips before you flip, a few per pancake

Cook on both sides until golden brown 

We serve these hot, without syrup and we eat with our hands.  

Note:  If you have a glass measuring cup, use that to melt your butter first, than pour milk in directly and crack your egg.  Makes for less dishes to clean.  

Bored?

OK....let's do some crafting.   These salt ornaments are super easy to make, really fun to paint and will use only pantry ingredients.  Make the dough, form the ornaments with cookie cutters and then bake them to harden.  Spread out an old sheet or towel on the kitchen table and paint away as a family.   My family has made these as Christmas ornaments and gift tags.  One year my Dad helped paint (see below) and his ornament is our most treasured...it's also really good!  You can use circles to make monogram wine tags, use Halloween cutters to create spooky ornaments you can hang on a branch for your October table or get a head start on the Christmas holiday ornament exchange.   Be sure to make a hole in the ornament before you bake...we use a new pencil to poke a hole.  

Click here to print my Salt Ornaments  Recipe 

or follow along below 

Salt Ornaments

Recipe courtesy of Celeste Podojil

2 cups salt (not kosher salt)

4 cups all purpose flour

2 cups luke warm tap water
(I also add lavender or grapefruit extract, peppermint would be fun too) 

In the bowl on a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (this works best) combine the salt and flour.  

Turn on medium setting and slowly add the water.  

Mix/knead for about 5 minutes.  

The dough will be soft and shouldn’t be sticky.  

If too sticky you can add more flour, 

a Tablespoon at a time.  

After using the stand mixer, I hand knead as well.  

You can do this by hand but add kneading time by 

hands to 7 minutes or until dough is soft to the 

touch and not sticky.  Start in a bowl with a wooden 

spoon and add to a floured surface to knead until soft. 

You can store it in a Ziploc at this point to use in a few days. 

If you are ready to go, flour your surface and roll the dough out to about ¼ inch thick.  

Cut shapes with cookie cutters and place on a cookie sheet over parchment paper.   

If you want to use as ornaments at this point take a new pencil and poke a hole in the top of the ornament for your hook (use the unsharpened side of a pencil).  

You can dry them for a few days or bake them at 200 degrees for 45 minutes-3 hours or until they harden.

You can paint them with craft paint (don’t forget the back) and when dry modge podge both sides….you can also use a spray polyurethane but it turns white paint yellow after some time. 

You can add to your tree, gifts, wine bottles, use as tags (write on back with sharpie) or they make cute placeholders at your holiday table.