Fresh Berry Pancakes

 I have rapidly made up for 22 years of hating pancakes.  Again, my gripe is with the overly sweet, artificial flavors, and fake syrup.  Once introduced to this yummy light maple organic syrup from target, we had a whole new ballgame on our hands.  I plan on trying the medium maple next to see if I prefer it to light.  So far I think light is delicious.

I had purchased a couple of packs of blueberries and raspberries from Meijer this week, as the razz were a buck for a pack.  I am such a sucker for things that are $1.  Except the pretty colored peppers.  Those are a rip off for a buck.

ANYWAY, the pancakes I decided to make stemmed from really needing to use up those berries before I go home for te weekend.  Here is what I did:

I let the berries sit overnight in about a tablespoon of sugar.  I would have liked to have added a little lemon juice, but I have none, and I probably should have mashed them but didn't.  They were really juicy like strawberries get, but it ended up not being an issue.

I used about a cup or slightly under of the berries, 1 cup of pancake mix (I am determined to use that box up before I start making my own), 3/4c almond milk, 1 TB brown sugar, and after mixing all this up and mashing in the berries (I used a fork to mash/stir) I decided that it needed a bit more liquid so I added another 1/4 c of water. 

I buttered up my favorite griddle, as seen in the first picture, and used a 1/4c scoop of batter for each pancake.  This recipe made about ten.  They only take a few minutes on each side to cook up, and while your second bunch is cooking you can make your eggs on the remaining part of the griddle.  No wonder it is one of my favorite kitchen tools- I love efficiency.
I don't honestly even worry about warming up my syrup, I simply drizzle it on when I take the last ones off the griddle and put them directly on my munching platter.  They are piping hot when they come off, and this seems to work just fine.

I actually added a handful of broken up pecans into mine for a little texture, but this is completely optional for those preferring just berries.  You could also use greek yogurt in this recipe, just add it before you add your liquids so that you can adjust them accordingly to get the right texture.  That is my next project, protein packed greek pancakes!