Use any pancake batter you like to make this adorable mini pancake cereal! The small size makes these pancakes extra crispy on the outside. Serve plain, with maple syrup, or even with milk.
These mini pancakes are such a cute way to enjoy breakfast! I'll be honest, making pancake cereal is a labor of love. You need to have a good amount of time on your hands and an even greater amount of patience to make this new mashup of pancakes and cereal.
The end result? Totally worth it! I absolutely loved how these mini pancakes turned out. Their small size means that they crisp up on the outside (more than a standard sized pancake) and they're so so cute! I would make these everyday if I had the time.
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What pancake batter to use for mini pancake cereal:
For these pancakes, you can use any pancake batter that you love. I used my go-to pancake batter for this recipe, but you can use it, your own favorite recipe, or even just a standard boxed mix.
All you need to keep in mind is that you'll need the batter to be thick enough to hold its shape, but loose enough to spread it out into mini pancakes. The perfect consistency is when you can draw a figure 8 very smoothly and quickly with the batter, but it takes a few seconds to disappear.
If you're worried about getting the right consistency, I recommend erring on the side of overly thick. You can test a few pancakes by cooking them (and eating them in the name of science), and if you find the batter is too thick, it's always easier to add milk than it is to add flour.
Pancake cereal skillet:
For making pancake cereal, you can use either a special pancake griddle or just a regular frying pan. Make sure to grease whatever you're using very well with some sort of neutral flavored oil (I used vegetable oil) because the pancakes love to stick.
I don't recommend using butter just because of how many batches these take. Butter has a very low smoking point so it is a bit of a headache because it starts to burn very early on. This can really hurt the flavor of your pancakes as well as the color on the pancakes.
If you want the flavor of butter, I recommend melting some and pouring it over the pancakes once they're all cooked.
How to pour pancake cereal:
There are three main ways to portion out your pancake batter into mini pancakes on your skillet.
The first option is to fill a squeeze bottle with batter and squeeze out mini pancakes into your skillet. I personally haven't tried this method myself, but it does seem like a very quick and easy method. You would also get a lot more control and precision with the squeeze bottle as opposed to the other two methods.
Method number 2 involves filling a piping bag or plastic bag with the batter and piping it into small pancakes. This method may take some getting used to, but with a bit of practice, it's a good way to portion out the batter quickly and easily. This ended up being my personal favorite way.
The last method is to use a teaspoon to portion out ¼ teaspoon sized pancakes. This method is fantastic because there's no transferring needed, making it the easiest to prep. The only problem with this option is it is a bit more difficult to get circular pancakes and it does take a bit longer to portion out the pancakes.
How to cook pancake cereal:
Cooking pancake cereal is not too different from regular pancakes, except for the size. Since these are going to be very small (about the size of a dime), it's important to work fast and to keep an eye out for the heat of your pan or griddle.
If you find it's taking too long to portion out the mini pancakes, I recommend turning off the heat under your pan while you pour out your batter. This will help give you time to finish portioning without having the first pancake you poured out burning.
I also recommend keeping track of which pancakes you poured out first. These will usually end up being fully cooked on one side while you're still pouring out the last of your pancakes for the batch. So you would need to flip them early on.
When it's time to flip, I found it easiest to use 2 butter spreaders because they were the perfect size! You can also just use 2 forks or mini spatulas. I've seen people use chopsticks as well to flip these over (which I will never in a million years be able to do!)
I recommend using 2 utensils to come at it from both sides to make it easier. But you can also just use one large spatula and flip several pancakes over at once.
How to keep mini pancakes warm:
Mini pancakes taste best when they're still warm, but since they're so small and it takes so many batches to make these, the first batch can turn ice cold before that last batch is done cooking.
So if you want to keep these pancakes warm, you can place cooked pancakes onto a baking sheet and keep in a 200°F oven until all the pancakes are cooked. Alternatively, you can cook all of your pancakes, then melt some butter in a large skillet and toss your cooked pancakes in the butter to warm before serving.
If you liked these mini pancakes, you may also like some of these other recipes:
Watch: How to make mini pancakes:
Mini Pancake Cereal
Ingredients
- 1 & ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 & ¼ cups milk
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons neutral flavored oil, plus more for cooking
Instructions
- Make the pancake batter: If using this pancake batter, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine milk, egg, and oil in a separate medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix. Whisk pancake batter until you no longer see any dry ingredients (some lumps are fine).
- Make the mini pancakes: Grease a large skillet or a pancake griddle generously with neutral flavored oil (vegetable, peanut, canola, etc.) and heat over low heat. Transfer your batter to a piping bag or plastic bag. Cut a very small hole in the bag for the batter. You can also use a squeeze bottle or a teaspoon to portion out the pancakes.
- Pipe, squeeze, or pour pancake batter onto your skillet or griddle, making them about the size of a dime. Cook your mini pancakes until golden brown on one side (about 1 to 2 minutes). Flip and cook until golden on the other side (about 1 minute). Repeat until all the batter is used up.
Notes
Enjoy!
