Cream Cheese Pancakes

I know it's a little late, but I would like to share what we made for dinner on Mardis Gras!  I wanted something besides the usual plain pancakes, so I dug up this recipe from Southern Living.

Cream Cheese Pancakes
Makes: about 12 (4-inch) pancakes

Ingredients

• 2 C self-rising flour (or 2 C all-purpose flour, with 1 T baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt)
• 2 T sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 to 2 C milk
• 3oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 T butter or margarine, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.
2. Combine egg, cream cheese, butter or margarine, vanilla extract, and 1 1/2 C of milk in a small bowl, stirring well.
3. Stir wet mixture into dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened (you don't want to over mix your batter).  Add more milk if needed.
4. Pour 1/4 C batter for each  pancake onto a hot, lightly greased griddle.  Cook pancake until tops are bubbly; flip and cook the other side.
5. Serve with your favorite toppings and sides.

These pancakes were tasty!  They somehow seemed a little denser/thicker/creamier than my usual pancakes, but the difference was subtle.  I really didn't taste the cream cheese, until I hit a little lump of it, and then I would get a little burst of flavor.  But when I made the pancakes, the cream cheese wasn't as soft as it should have been, so it was lumpy in the batter instead of being creamy.

The Verdict
Good, but the difference between these and the usual plain pancakes was negligible.  I might give this recipe another shot, making sure I get the cream cheese softened enough to blend well.  Otherwise, it's not worth the extra effort to make these from scratch; I would rather use my homemade pancake mix that's ready to go.