Cheesecake Pancakes—REALLY? Members of our staff read about them on the Bettycrocker.com message boards and from the comments on the boards, we learned that they are a new item on the menu at a popular pancake restaurant. They sounded so good to us, we decided to develop our own recipe for them. This, as they say, was “easier said than done.”
When we did an online search, we found recipes using cottage cheese. SO not an ingredient in cheesecakes! We all know that cheesecakes start with cream cheese—lots of it. And often times, they have a graham cracker crust. How to get that yummy flavor into a pancake?
We put Jackie to work in the kitchens on our quest for developing a mouth-watering recipe for Cheesecake Pancakes. She tried adding cream cheese to the batter which resulted in a very gummy and heavy pancake. When she cut the cream cheese into small chunks (which isn't easy to do) she ended up with a mess. Finally, we discovered, by accident, that if the cream cheese was frozen, we could chop it into chucks more easily. And finally, we added some sugar and graham cracker crumbs to the batter for lots more flavor.
Cheesecake Pancakes
Start to Finish: 8 Hours 30 Minutes
Pancakes
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese
2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
Strawberry Syrup
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup strawberry syrup for pancakes
1. Slice cream cheese lengthwise into four pieces. Place on ungreased cookie sheet; cover and freeze 8 hours or overnight.
2. Brush griddle or skillet with vegetable oil, or spray with cooking spray; heat griddle to 375°F or heat skillet over medium heat.
3. Cut cream cheese into bite-size pieces; set aside. In large bowl, stir Bisquick mix, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, milk and eggs with whisk or fork until blended. Stir in cream cheese.
4. For each pancake, pour slightly less than 1/3 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until edges are dry. Turn; cook other sides until golden brown.
5. In small bowl, mix strawberries and syrup; top pancakes with strawberry mixture.
5 servings (3 pancakes and 3 tablespoons syrup each)