Pizza Pancakes And A Site Makeover

Notice anything different?  Anything at all?

In case not, I’ll be Captain Obvious.  My site has undergone a makeover!

Sure, it’s a long ways from perfect.  There are still many things on my “to-do” list in terms of blog development.  However, the overall effect is certainly better than it once was.  I wanted to achieve a more professional, clean, and stylish look without paying an arm and a leg.  Over the past few months I’ve browsed countless blog designer sites and viewed a lot of fantastic work.  But, there’s a “but.”

Call me a stubborn cheapskate, but I didn’t want to invest hundreds of dollars if I could struggle through it on my own.  With help from the Thesis theme (no CSS coding knowledge necessary!), some extensive fiddling with Adobe Photoshop Elements, and more Google-ing than I’d like to admit, the new site is up. 

Finally…after much ado. 

Its simple appearance is deceiving.  So much time was devoted to that dang header!  Besides, it had to be “just right.”  I know what you’re thinking.  No, I’m not always neurotic…just sometimes.

To celebrate this large step my wee little blog has taken, something cheesy was in order.  Why not?  Everyone (save vegans, non-lacto-vegetarians, and lactose-intolerants) loves cheese.  So I made deep dish pizza pancakes.  Cold-pizza-for-breakfast lovers of the world, rejoice.

The all-powerful Internet has one unfortunate limitation, though: there’s no virtual confetti.  But we all have imaginations, no?  I’d love to hear what you think of the new blog look.  Feel free to leave uncensored comments, including likes, dislikes, constructive criticism, and/or ideas for improvement.  I have broad (virtual) shoulders and love receiving feedback.

In the mean time, bear with me.  If, upon traveling to this site, you encounter an error page, don’t worry.  Just know I’ve probably made a (hopefully reversible) coding error that will be fixed ASAP.  While you’re waiting for it to be fixed, make some pizza pancakes. 

Deep Dish Pizza Pancakes

Yield: 3-6 pancakes, depending on size

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sweet basil
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon skim milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil 
• Six-cheese blend, shredded
• Turkey pepperoni
• Vegetable oil for cooking

1. You’ll need at least one large circular cookie cutter, about 4.5 inches in diameter.*  You may need more if you’re crunched for time and plan to make several at once.  Tape two toothpicks to the exterior of two opposite sides of the cookie cutter.  Grease inside of cookie cutter with cooking spray.
2. Pre-heat electric griddle to 350 degrees or place a heavy frying pan over low to medium heat.  Lightly grease frying pan or griddle with vegetable oil.
3. Sift together dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  In a small separate bowl, combine wet ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined.  Batter will be slightly thicker than typical pancake batter consistency.
4. Place cookie cutter onto griddle and pour pancake batter into it.  Generously sprinkle cheese atop pancake.  Continue cooking pancake until edges look more dry and pull away slightly from cookie cutter.
5. Before flipping pancake, place 2-4 pepperoni pieces on a separate place of the griddle.  Pull cookie cutter up and away from pancake.  Aim and flip pancake onto pepperoni pieces.  Continue cooking until done.
6. Repeat steps 4-5 with remaining batter.  Serve pancakes plain or with warm pizza sauce.

*Note: Cookie cutter is intended to give pancakes a “deep dish” effect.  Refraining from using a cookie cutter will allow batter to spread much more and produce more pancake-like results.

Tagged as: Breakfast, cheese, cornmeal, Main Dishes, pancakes, pizza, whole wheat