Tuesday was Mardi Gras. The kick-off to Lent. Which is the road to Easter. Which can be a big thing to Americans. Certainly, it is the gateway to Spring Break. A traditional week-long vacation in the middle of the school year.
Tuesday was also Shrove Tuesday, a less well-known, at least to Americans, holiday where prior to starting the Lenten period. For some, it is the confession day before the Lenten period. For others, it is the opportunity to use up eggs and butter, and sugar before they went bad. And for others, it is the excuse and the opportunity to eat, drink, and be merry.
It is also International Pancake day. Because pancakes are the easiest way to use up these ingredients.
I am not going to be at the hospital working like a line cook, flipping pancakes. I have a project due tomorrow.
Instead, I pulled out a sheet pan pancake recipe that I made a couple of years ago. Made and baked the batter in a sheet pan and used a pizza slicer to cut them up into bite-sized pieces. Pancake bites is must less of a mouthful than sheet pan pancakes. There is something about the double use of the word pan in the middle of the phrase.
One good thing about these pancake bites is that they are quick and easy to make. And they are not sweet as the recipe uses no added sugar. You could top these with anything prior to baking.
I had mini chocolate chips. And I used those.
I was glad to see that the slight sweetness of the chocolate chips offset the rather plain-tasting pancake.
Because pancakes are traditionally served with syrup, but the logistics of that were not good.
There are only 4 ingredients in the recipe.
Oven 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Line the sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
2 cups pancake mix
1 c milk
3 eggs
Mix well and pour into the prepared pan and tilt to level. Top with whatever is desired: bananas, strawberries, chocolate chips. Bake until browned. Cool in pan. The pancake bites can be lifted out with the parchment paper or left as is. I found it easiest to cut with a pizza cutter.
Pancake bites, doing double and triple duty for Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, and Internation Pancake Day.
Kind of like nurses being utility players, able to do all the things.
Dispatches from the Evening Shift 