Sure, they're kind of a kitchen uni-tasker, but who doesn't love a nice heart-shaped pancake for breakfast? Or how about a cow? A space alien, perhaps? There are so many fun pancake molds these days, it's hard to choose!
And we suppose they're not entirely a unitasker! We can also use them as molds for eggs, english muffins, or any kind of dropped biscuit made on the stove top. But we all know the real reason for pancake molds is for a little breakfast fun - and there's nothing wrong with that!
Here are a few molds that we've been drawn to:
• Outer Space Pancake Molds, $18 for a set of 3 from Williams Sonoma
• Truck and Plane Pancake Molds, $11.99 for a set of 2 from Bed Bath & Beyond
• Butterfly and Flower Pancake Molds, $5.95 each from Crate & Barrel
• Nopro Heart-Shaped Pancake Molds, $7 from Amazon.com
• Farm Animal Pancake Molds, $5.95 for 2 from War Eagle Mill
If you're feeling crafty, you could also try making your own pancake mold following this basic tutorial for making cookie cutters!
Do you have a favorite pancake mold in your house?
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I have a bee and hive set that is really cute.
The only issue is that I have to remember to make the batter a little thicker than usual or they don't turn out well.
I have snowflakes but they have never come out in one piece =(
I have Christmas ones and no matter what I do (make thicker batter, don't fill it up all the way, spray them down, heat them up before I add batter) they never ever come out in one piece. Such a waste of money.
I'm sure the simple ones like the heart, pigs and flowers would turn out better than the more detailed ones.
I bought a couple because they were so cute and whimsical - but alas, like tjsm says, they never come out in one piece :(
Wouldn't it just be easier to cut out butterfly shapes after you've made the pancakes? Especially if the molds more often than not lead to pancakes/eggs that don't stay in one piece or aren't shaped like the mold because the batter leaked? Not a fan.
I bought heart ones out of the dollar bin section at Target. I was glad they were only a buck because they don't work at all. Perhaps it's because I bought cheap ones but no matter how thick or thin the batter, the heart shape just looked sad.
I have heart-shaped ones that I got as a gift and they work perfectly. I actually prefer using them over just pouring the batter willy nilly because they stay in place and make a nice little heart pancake.
I just make hearts myself, and Micky Mouse heads. They really aren't very hard to just pour that way without a mold.
The ones in the photos are cute but they look a bit thick to me.
my mom used to write our initials in pancakes: pour batter from a small ladle in the shape of the letter - BUT BACKWARDS, let cook for about 45 seconds, then pour more batter over the top to form the usual pancake shape. ta-da! initial pancakes! nom nom!
Hamburgers and celestial shaped pancakes! My favorite breakfast. :-)
The ones in the photograph look like they were cut out, or at least improved with a knife. The sides don't look like cooked pancakes, do they?
I have done well with the "initial" method Rebecca_F described. It's fun and works well when you learn to let the initial or heart cook enough before pouring the rest of the pancake.