10 Ways to Eat Pancakes for Dinner

Tara Donne, Food Network: 2012, Television Food Network, G.P.
Ah, pancakes. Glorious pancakes. Whether you stuff them with chocolate chips, drown them in maple syrup or bury them in a wintry pile of powdered sugar, pancakes are a downright indulgent, endlessly customizable and filling breakfast favorite — so filling, in fact, that you might consider enjoying them at a time of day when your appetite is a little more stoked.
Give "breakfast for dinner" new meaning by filling your supper plate with flapjacks, and check that guilt at the door when pilling on the toppings — it’s dinner, after all.
Start with a classic stack (shown above). Nutmeg adds a hint of spice to these straight-up pancakes that are meant to be speckled with the filling of your choosing (or keep them plain to appreciate their cakey glory). Serve with plenty of maple syrup for the authentic experience.

Matt Armendariz, 2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
The genius of this Chocolate-Banana Pancake Breakfast Casserole is that the banana slices and chocolate chips are added in between shingled pancakes along with a creamy egg custard. The pancakes themselves are pure fluff — unmarred by fillings — but they sandwich a bevy of melty toppings. It’s the best of both worlds.

Renee Comet, 2013, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
The star of this show is the blueberry compote spooned over the ricotta-filled hotcakes. Lemon zest and sugar add brightness and zing to the syrupy topping. Make sure to watch the berries so they don’t become too mushy and lose their beautiful shape.

Matt Armendariz, 2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
Much like its chocolate-banana sister, this pancake casserole starts with plain pancakes that are then stacked with a cinnamon-spiked custard. A quickly simmered pecan-maple syrup drives home the Southern twinge these pancakes possess.

Renee Comet, 2013, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
If you’re trying to sneak vegetables into your little ones’ diets (or maybe just your own), these masters of disguise are your ticket to eating well. Carrots, spinach and apples are blended (along with yogurt, oats, cocoa, milk, honey and vanilla) before being mixed with the rest of the pancake ingredients and chocolate chips. Once they're cooked, you’d never know the nutritional power these puppies are packing.

Try this atypical recipe for hands-off pancake preparation. Cook apples slowly with sugar and butter in a nonstick skillet, then pour blended pancake batter over the fruit and bake in the oven. Whole-wheat pastry flour gives the pancakes more substantial texture and a slightly nutty flavor.

These Greek yogurt-filled, protein-packed pancakes are like a cross between flapjacks and crepes, and they are low in both calories and fat. Offset their tangier flavor with a blueberry-peach sauce cooked only in a can of unsweetened pineapple juice — no added sugar.

Matt Armendariz, 2014, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
This totally twisted take on pancakes serves all of breakfast’s bests — sausage, cheese and eggs — in a casserole dish along with the layers of hotcakes. When the meaty, cheesy, scallion-speckled topping has cooled, dig into the most-unique sweet-and-savory dish you’ve ever dared to make.

Food Stylist: Anne Disrude Prop Stylist: Pamela Duncan Silver
A sourdough starter lends its yeasty flavor to these pancakes that are filled with chunks of tart green apples. Embrace their bite by serving them dry, or douse them in syrup to add sweetness.

Marshall Troy, 2012, Television Food Network, G.P. All Rights Reserved
Mix cinnamon, oats, raisins and chopped walnuts into pancake batter for the sweet, nutty flavor and chewy texture of oatmeal-raisin cookies, then add mashed bananas to ensure that these flapjacks are as moist as a fresh-out-of-the-oven batch.