Making "The Box" Yummy

So I know it has been a long while... Life just gets in the way. With two little boys under the age of two and two jobs, I always have good ideas for writing, but the time always disappears.  I wanted to share a quick and easy weekend morning recipe. This morning I wanted to make a nice breakfast for the boys and I without spending the whole morning in the kitchen. I immediately turned to the old standby of pancakes and even faster felt the guilt of making "box mix" pancakes. In my dreams I am one of those moms that walks around a perfect house and makes pancakes from scratch.... But reality is so far from that it's not even funny!!!  So I embraced the box and tried to think of a way to make it just a little yummier...  The result:

Sweet Apple Pancakes
(makes 5-7 pancakes)
1 cup instant pancake mix
3/4 cup water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. Sweet Apple Sprinkle (unfortunatley no longer available from The Pampered Chef - see variation below)
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Conf. Sugar
Sliced Apple


Mix pancake mix, water, vanilla, and apple sprinkle together.  Do not over mix as this can cause the pancakes to get heavy.  


Heat pan or griddle on medium low (until a splash of water will sizzle).  Spray pan liberally with olive oil.  Pour on batter to desired size.  When the top of the pancakes begin to bubble, its time to flip! Serve with sliced apples, chocolate chips, and dusted with confectioners sugar


Variation: If you don't have Sweet Apple Sprinkle (which sadly, I am running out of) replace the water with 3/4 cup of applesauce and 1 1/2 Tbsp of cinnamon and 1 Tbsp of sugar).




Making the pancakes this way, makes me feel a little less guilty about just "opening a box"!   ENJOY!!!