Restaurant Pancakes

Our family is big on breakfast and I have tried a lot of pancake mixes and recipes. A lot. I've even spent $10 on a mix hoping it would be worth it. It wasn't. I never could seem to find a pancake recipe or mix that created the perfect pancake (the kind you get a restaurant) and we used to have to go out to eat to get our fix. Until now. This is now my go-to recipe for pancakes. Enjoy!

1 1/2 cups milk (I use skim)
2 TBSPs white vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1/4 cups butter, melted
cooking spray

In a large bowl, combine milk with the vinegar and set aside. (I usually give it at least 5 minutes to "sour" while I'm getting all of the other ingredients together.) In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk eggs and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. Coat a large skillet (or griddle) with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Pour 1/3 cupfuls (or a bit more if you want larger pancakes) onto skillet and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula and cook until browned on other side.

Cinnamon Baked French Toast

I recently came across this recipe and knew I needed to try it. I'm glad I did! It's also a great dish if you have guests over since you do all the prep work in advance. Enjoy!

FRENCH TOAST

• 1 loaf French bread
• 8 eggs
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 TBSP vanilla extract

CINNAMON TOPPING

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Tear bread into chunks (about bite-sized) and evenly distribute in the dish. Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread chunks. Cover tightly and store in the fridge several hours or overnight. In a separate bowl, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Add butter pieces and cut into the dry mixture until mixture resembles fine pebbles. Store cinnamon mixture covered in the fridge. When you're ready to bake the casserole, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove casserole from fridge and sprinkle crumb mixture over the top. Bake for approximately 1 hour. Scoop out individual portions. You can top each portion with butter and drizzle with maple syrup, but I like it just fine the way it is right out of the oven!

(Recipe very slightly adapted from The Pioneer Woman.)

Cheesy Ham and Hash Brown Casserole

I made these hash browns for a brunch recently...delicious! This recipe can be prepared the night before so all you have to do in the morning is pop it in the oven.

1 (32 oz) pkg frozen hash browns (southern style type)
1/2 lb cooked, diced ham (I used Black Forest from the deli)
2 (10.75 oz) cans cream of potato soup
1 (16 oz) container sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups grated/shredded Parmesan cheese (I used the kind sold in a bag near all the other shredded cheeses)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 dish. In a large bowl, mix hash browns, ham, soup, sour cream and cheddar cheese. Spread evenly into prepared dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake approximately 1 hour in preheated oven until bubbly and lightly browned.

(Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.)