“What are other creative ways to use cookie cutters?” I asked my sons one afternoon.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” answered my oldest son. “Haven’t you done enough with a cookie cutter?”
“Nope. Think of something else we can do.”
“Pancakes!” shouted my youngest son.
“Brilliant!” I shouted back. I thought I would be able to pour the pancake batter into the cookie cutter sitting directly on an oiled frying pan. But no. Don’t even try it. It sticks to the cookie cutter.
On my second attempt, I oiled the cookie cutter, and the pancake came out, only to spill the upper contents onto the pan, looking like the melting witch in The Wizard of Oz. Not a very pleasing shape.
My third attempt was to make the pancake thinner, and it was barely okay. I thought, “I’m writing this blog post series for tired moms to impress their children. They are not going to want to work this hard for a tiny, thin pancake.”
So I scratched my head in thought. I made a regular pancake and threw it on a plate. “Eureka!” I shouted to myself as I used the cookie cutter AFTER making the pancake. That was SUPER easy for a haggard mom to make. Slam dunk.
The flower shape came out without much of a problem. The gingerbread man shape needed help with a table knife to pull the scraps away from the cookie cutter. It only took a few seconds and was not frustrating like the previous procedure with the cookie cutter inside the pan.
Decorate the pancakes however you want. I used chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons of the pancake man, and chocolate syrup for the mouth and background. For the flowers, I put a cherry in the middle of each flower and drizzled maple syrup over them. The children munched on them happily.
Stay tuned for “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #6.” Hint: Something fun to do outside on a spring day after a rain.
Tags: breakfast, cookie cutter, food, pancakes, spring
I love this, Susan! When I read the title I was wondering how you would do it. Most of my cookie cutters are plastic, so putting them on the griddle is not an option. But even my plastic cookie cutters can be used on the pancake after it’s cooked! Tell your son that using cookie cutters on pancakes is a brilliant idea 🙂 And tell you other son that I’m loving this series and hope they keep the good ideas coming!
My kids loved making these, but it seems like I had more scraps left over than shaped pancakes! I just put strawberry syrup over the scraps and ate them myself!