I'll Make You [Chocolate] Pancakes, Pretend Like it's the Weekend...

Sunday is one of the few days that I involve the oven/stovetop in my breakfast preparations. I'm more of a night time cooker--for various reasons.

I actually love breakfast foods. I think they're best prepared on lazy weekends and for evening meals. I've heard there are people out there that don't fall victim to the spell of pancakes, waffles, hash browns, bacon, omelets, french toast, cinnamon toast, fresh orange juice, muffins in varying flavors and nutrition levels, flavored syrups, need I go on? Breakfast foods are the simplest preparation for the greatest satisfaction. I must not be the only person in love with this genre of food or we wouldn't see nearly so many Denny's, IHOP's or Waffle Houses dotting the country--and those are subpar at best.

This morning was going to be a pancake breakfast. Nothing too fancy, but my regular recipe was ruined by my own frequent use and some errant drips that stuck the recipe to another page and ripped the ingredient list to shreds. I don't like those Bisquick pancakes. They're such a poor imitation. Growing up my grandma never one time made me pancakes from a mix. She only does them from scratch and boy are they de-lish!

Since my regular recipe had gone the way of the Earth, I had to find another recipe. Enter the chocolate pancake recipe. It still has all the healthfulness that a regular pancake can provide (as my grandma would be quick to cite butter was a member of the dairy group and all-purpose flour as a member of the grain family). It just adds a little bit of cocoa to make chocolate pancakes!!!

My kids love pancakes and when I asked them if they'd like chocolate pancakes, it was a bit like asking them if they'd like me to take them to Disneyland. Owen started chanting, "Chocolate cake, chocolate cake, chocolate cake!" and I was left remembering the Bill Cosby routine where his children championed him with, "Dad is great! Give us the chocolate cake!"

I probably should've put raspberries, strawberries or a banana as a garnish, but I didn't. The kids were in heaven and Owen even requested a leftover pancake for lunch. Children after my own heart--obsessed with chocolate and sweets.

***Editor's Note: Is the lighting in that picture of Ryanna just awesome? (I have to point that out because my pictures always look so completely subpar next to so many of my amazing picture taking blogger friends. That's right and only 4.0 megapixels to work with.)