Moseying over to casual dining experiences, breakfast style this time, we are heading toward the uniquely named, but acronym-ly referred to IHOP - International House of Pancakes. When you crave pancakes, I suppose this is a great place to head to! Oh! Except, it is off-limits to vegans, unless they are in the mood for a piece of dry toast.
Maybe, grits.
Making this one over is such a pleasure because it still baffles me that eggs and dairy are used in making pancakes; I love to show that pancakes and eggs are not a match made in heaven. Not to mention that all of my kids are pancake fiends.
I decided to remake their self-appointed healthy pancake, Harvest Grain 'N Nut and their special seasonal Pumpkin Pancake. The Harvest Grain has great flavor, although it is not solely made of whole grains, and the pumpkin one was a surprise hit for the family; just enough pumpkin flavor without crossing over into pumpkin pie land.
While maple syrup is a nice addition to pour on the pancakes, IHOP is very worried that syrup alone won't be enough to sweeten your breakfast. To ensure you receive your proper intake of sugar, they add ample amounts to the batter. What I'm saying is, go easy on the syrup. I added flax meal to the pancakes, not because I thought the pancakes needed anything to "bind" them (flour does that), but because it adds nutrition.
Both are easy enough to make, just keep the temperature of the pan on medium to medium-low to allow the inside of the pancake to cook through.
Cost Breakdown
Harvest Grain:
flour, oats, milk, baking powder: $1.25
nuts, flax, vinegar, oil: $1.50
milk, sugar, syrup: $1.50
Total to make 12 pancakes:
$4.25
Their cost per order: $6.00
(Originally it is $8.30 per order with topping.)
Make Over Cost per Serving: $1.10
Pumpkin:
flour, milk, baking powder: $1.25
pumpkin, vinegar: $.50
flax, sugar, spices, syrup: $1.50
Total to make 10 pancakes:
$3.25
Their cost per order: $6.00
Make Over Cost per Serving: $.82
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| Harvest Grain and Nut |
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| Pumpkin |
The stacks of pancakes... oh they are glorious.
ReplyDeleteI've never been to IHOP (I went vegan before they came to Canada) but the commercials with flapjacks being slathered with syrup are hard to miss.
Looking forward to the recipes - I'll bookmark this for my partner - he is the pancake expert at our house. :)
I have posted them so the pancake expert can get stacking :) I worked at IHOP - for an entire week. The ads seem so much nicer than what the chain actually serves; but I guess you can sum that up to commercialism.
DeleteHave fun cooking and thanks for visiting.
Yummmmmm. I could eat pancakes (pumpkin or no) for every meal of every day.
ReplyDeleteI too am always perplexed by why no chain restaurant offers vegan pancakes. They are kind of ridiculously easy to veganize... They don't require any ingredients that wouldn't already be in other products, and the mix could be shelf stable too. Crazy.
I suspect it has to do with subsidizing of eggs. Same deal as with dairy. It sickens me to know that as vegans we HAVE to pay for this with our taxes. I say there should be a vegan exemption - watch how many people would go vegan just for the tax break. But I guess that would defeat the subsidizing purpose itself. (I am off my soap box now ;)
DeleteThanks for the comment!
What perfect looking pancakes. I really want some now!!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
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