The Decadent Way To Make Boxed Pancake Mix More Flavorful

If you haven't heard already, there's one simple swap you can make to take boxed pancake mix to the next level. Like so many absurdly simple and tasty recipes, it's going viral on TikTok. The idea is to mix together an equal portion of your favorite boxed pancake mix and your favorite (melted) ice cream, and use the resulting batter to make pancakes. The result is a fluffy, moist, and deeply delicious griddled pastry that you can easily justify eating for breakfast, brinner, or dessert. Plus, it's a tasty, easy swap if you're craving pancakes, but find you're running low on the add-ins called for on the back of the box.

Typically, most pancake mixes call for a certain amount of milk, oil, and eggs. Since ice cream is usually made from milk and cream whipped and frozen into a thick consistency, it contains enough fat and richness to replace these traditional add-ins. Even melted, ice cream retains a lushness that lends itself perfectly to binding with the pancake mix and making a pourable batter. It may be even better than a traditional pancake because the flavor of the ice cream also comes through. Since you can taste it, it's crucial to choose a high-quality vanilla ice cream for your pancakes.

Though pancake mix is most often used in this recipe, you can also swap it for the same amount of self-rising flour, which is simply all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt added. In fact, you can make your own self-rising flour with these simple pantry staples. You might even prefer using self-rising flour over pancake mix since pancake mix usually contains sugar, as does ice cream. Using self-rising flour, which is sugar-free, means your pancakes will be less intensely sweet.

It's also fun to experiment with different ice cream flavors. Vanilla offers the most traditional results, but chocolate is also delicious, as is strawberry or even pistachio, especially combined with corresponding add-ins such as chocolate chips, freeze-dried strawberry pieces, or real crushed pistachios. You might also mix and match flavors by putting peanut butter and white chocolate chips in strawberry ice cream pancakes, or adding candied orange peel to batter infused with chocolate ice cream.

It's important to note that this recipe works best with ice cream that melts smoothly. Something like peanut butter swirl with nearly solid peanut butter or huge pieces of fudge doesn't offer the smooth consistency you need. However, cookies and cream could work, provided the cookie pieces are fairly small and mix easily into the batter. This could even be ideal since they offer a light, crunchy texture to the end result.