I've only been to IHOP twice, and I indulged in calorific sugar overload both times. I always thought there wasn't much you could do to jazz up pancakes, but they proved me wrong. These pancakes were inspired by one of the IHOP varieties, and in my opinion, they're as gourmet as it gets with a few simple ingredients. Make these on a night you need to treat yourself or as a weekend breakfast for that special someone.
See the cream cheese oozing out? Yum! These are soft, fluffy, and undeniably rich. I could only eat one. Feel free to halve the recipe, or make them all and freeze what's left.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Cream Cheese Stuffed Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup - - Pancakes: flour, oats (ground into flour using a food processor), baking powder, salt, sugar, buttermilk, low-fat milk, eggs, Cream Cheese Filling: cream cheese (softened), sugar, Strawberry Sauce: strawberries, corn starch, sugar, cold water, Combine flour, ground oats, baking powder, 1/4 C sugar, and salt. Add buttermilk, milk, and eggs and mix well. Stir in melted butter.; In a separate bowl, stir together cream cheese and 1/4 C sugar until thoroughly combined. Drop cream cheese mixture by teaspoons into pancake batter. Stir gently. You want the cream cheese to remain in lumps and not mix in.; Pour 1/2 C batter onto hot griddle and cook 1-2 minutes per side, until golden.; Meanwhile, make strawberry sauce. Cut tops off of strawberries and slice as you like. Place in a saucepan and sprinkle cornstarch and 3 T sugar over strawberries. Pour cold water over top and stir until cornstarch and sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 5-10 minutes, until strawberries are soft and syrup is thickened.; Serve pancakes with strawberry sauce and a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.; - [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
