I’m baaack!

My trip to Columbus, OH was awesome as always. Obviously I spent time with great friends, but what else did my journey contain?  For starters, cooked lots of great food (starting with these pancakes), and also took advantage of many great food places in town. We watched the PhD movie, which was highly entertaining, in the insanely fabulous new Student Union that was just beginning to be built when I left there 4 years ago (I kept waiting for a flash mob to start). Attended the OSU vs Indiana football game which of course took place in my most favorite structure in the entire country – The Horseshoe. Also watched Tangled for the first time which was a lot better than I expected. Especially since the credits started a completely sober dance party in Christina’s living room. Basically it was a perfectly wonderful long weekend.

Even though I did not anticipate cooking much while I was gone I did manage to whip up a couple things. Christina was really excited when I told her I planned to make gluten free pancakes one morning (since she cannot have gluten). And that they were going to be cake batter flavored! They turned out great, not too sweet but still tasted like funfetti – the best cake to ever be made.

GLUTEN FREE CAKE BATTER PANCAKES

Makes about 12 pancakes

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups gluten free all purpose flour

2/3 cup gluten free yellow cake mix (such as Betty Crocker)

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 cups milk

Assorted sprinkles

Directions:

1. Combine flour, cake mix, xanthan gum, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth. You want the batter to look like regular pancake batter; not too thin, not too thick. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. I suggest a small taste test as well to see if the pancakes are flavored enough.
2. Preheat a skillet on medium heat (I use an electric grilled and turn it to 250 degrees). Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more. Serve with favorite toppings or vanilla glaze.

Source: Adapted from How Sweet It Is.