Pamcake Cakes

As a working mom, I know how hard it can be to get yourself ready in the morning and get your kids ready for the day, too.  I've packed lunches and put on mascara at the same time.  I've tossed Pop Tarts at my kids and turned on the Disney Channel just to give myself a few extra minutes to try and look presentable before rushing out the door.  Those mornings usually result in raised voices and tears...mostly for me :)  Whether you're a working mom who heads to the office...a working mom working from home...or just a working mom taking care of your kids all day {HELLO!!!  That's HARD work!!!!}...mornings can be tough!  

Now that my schedule is a bit more flexible, I've made it a point to get up a little earlier and make breakfast for my boys.  This doesn't seem like a big deal, but for two kids who started the day with Pop Tarts, donuts, and muffins for the last two years, it's a HUGE deal for me!  Don't get me wrong.  I don't think there's anything wrong with fast & convenient breakfasts...especially when your sanity is involved...but I really do love being able to make things my boys love to eat.   After all, they don't always love what I cook for dinner, so I'll happily make them breakfast just to tell myself that they really do love my cooking ;)

My boys love pancakes.  We love them so much we'll even have breakfast for dinner some nights.  I don't make the best pancakes.  They always end up burnt and runny in the middle.  Mr. Spouse is the household pancake maker in the house.  Since he isn't home in the mornings I knew I had to figure out this pancake thing on my own.  While I was thumbing through one of my old church cookbooks a couple of weeks ago, I stumbled upon this gem.  Baked pancakes?!?!  I knew I couldn't screw that up.

This has quickly become my boys' favorite breakfast.  My littlest love, Grant, affectionately refers to them as "Pamcake Cakes" and I'm pretty sure that name will stick for a lifetime.  I love that I can prep the ingredients before going to bed and then wake up, pop it in the oven, and have breakfast ready before the boys wake up.  The extra addition of chocolate chips doesn't hurt the cause either ;)  

BAKED PANCAKE BITES {aka "PAMCAKE CAKES}

2 TBSP. granulated sugar

2 C. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 TBSP. butter, melted

1 1/2 C. milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Melt your butter and set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside.

Get ready to dirty up another bowl.  This time make it a large one.  Silently groan as you think about doing dishes.  Groan even louder when you realize your dishwasher is full and you'll have to empty it and put all the dishes away before cleaning the ones you're currently dirtying.  {{sigh}}

In the large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and vanilla.  Then go ahead and stir in the melted butter you set aside earlier.

Pour the flour mixture into the large bowl full of milk/eggs/vanilla/butter and mix until combined.  Make sure not to OVER stir.  Your batter will be lumpy and that's OKAY :)

Pour the batter into the greased baking dish and cook at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Here's what you'll get when it's all baked and ready to go...

You can top your little bites with a pat of butter and then drizzle a little warm syrup over the top.

You can even add a generous helping of semi sweet chocolate morsels to the batter before baking and end up with these delectable pieces of heaven.

Can you guess what my boys preferred?!?!  Pamcake cakes with chocolate chips, please!!!

Either way you go, you can't go wrong!  You probably have all the ingredients on hand.  You can even store the leftovers in an airtight container for about 3ish days and serve them again.   Talk about a quick and easy breakfast!!  Definitely the best part of waking up ;)