Shamrock Pancakes {Breakfast for Dinner}

This post is sponsored by Krusteaz. I was given free products to try, but all opinions are my own.

Did you know that February is National Hot Breakfast Month? Unless you count hot chocolate, my kids rarely get a hot breakfast, but we do love breakfast for dinner. I've teamed up with Krusteaz to turn Wednesdays into Breakfast Night! Most of our hot breakfasts actually happen at night. Brinner? To make today's meal special, my family created some pancake art with these fun, green shamrock pancakes.  Want to see how we did it?

Nothing makes me happier on a busy day than grabbing a box of pancake mix instead of preparing a fancy dinner. Not only do the kids get a meal that they love, but they clean their plates. When they ask what's for dinner, I hear, "Yeah!" instead of "Yuck." (I do make pancakes from scratch, too, but on super busy days, I grab a mix. I love these Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes because they are low in carbs, but my kids prefer these Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Pancakes.)

RELATED: Tasty Cheesy Frittata with Zucchini and Red Peppers

My go-to mix is Krusteaz Gluten Free Buttermilk Pancake Mix. The pancakes taste just like the real thing, and they go together really fast. It will take some cooking lessons from Mom before my girls will be able to make my homemade gluten-free pancakes, but I think they'll be able to make the Krusteaz mix by themselves. (Yeah!) And, no, Krusteaz is not paying me to say that. They are providing the prize for the giveaway, but I'm providing the compliments on their mix because I really do love it!

Our other breakfast for dinner favorites include waffles and scrambled eggs and bacon. How about you? What's your go-to quick breakfast meal? (Cold cereal happens occasionally, too, but we'll all just pretend that doesn't happen very often. I'll pretend if you will!)

Pancake Art

The first trick to creating these fun Shamrock pancakes is adding a few drops of green food coloring to the mix. (Start by preparing your favorite pancake recipe or mix according to your regular instructions.) Be sure to let your kids help. That's half the fun. Nothing creates smiles quite like making colors swirl through the mix.

Once your mix is ready, fill a clean, dry squeeze bottle with pancake batter and heat your skillet. Prepare your skillet by covering it with melted butter or oil (I use oil) and then carefully blotting off the extra oil with paper towels. (Obviously, not a job to hand over to a child. Use thick paper towels and be careful!)

The secret to successful gluten-free pancakes is cooking them slowly over low heat. This allows them to cook evenly. I haven't had much trouble with the Krusteaz mix, but if you ever find that the inside of your pancakes is not cooking well, try lowering your heat.

Now's the fun part. Get drawing! For the shamrocks, draw three hearts close together, and add a stem. Finish by filling in the holes. Whatever you choose to draw, draw the outline first, and then fill it in. If you're wondering about the shapes on the top left, those are snails. I was just trying to use up the extra batter, but they ended up being a favorite shape.

For a more detailed explanation of pancake art, check out my heart-shaped pancakes post.

Pancake Bar

Once your pancakes are finished, move on to a pancake bar. My kids loved this. I've never let them have sprinkles and pancakes together before. Just be sure not to leave the sprinkles with the kiddos while you finish cooking, or you'll end up with this . . .

I think we probably used the entire jar of sprinkles on just a few pancakes. Oh, well. It was worth it. We don't get fancy like this very often. (Speaking of fancy, how do you like those plates? I think they've been around since the 1960's. Anyone else still have a set of those?)

Suggested toppings:  Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, whipped cream, sugar and cinnamon, powdered sugar, syrup, chocolate chips, sprinkles, etc! Have fun.

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