Valentine’s Day Breakfast

Valentine’s Day Breakfast Starts the Day Out Special ♥

When the boys were really little, I started making a big deal of the lesser holidays, mostly because they enjoyed it so much – and so did we. I wasn’t the mom bringing the most beautiful Valentine’s to school, especially if they were supposed to be homemade (Hello, DIY FAIL), but I rocked a celebratory Valentine’s Day Breakfast meal. The dining room got decorated, the table was set, and theme meals were the plan.

Valentine’s Day Breakfast menu is a perfect example. Once the boys got to school, I knew they would probably be eating candy all day, so I tried to set up a fairly healthy breakfast with some protein for a base.

We also tried to get as much done the night before as we could.  We set the table, prepped the dry ingredients for the Heart-Cakes and decorated. Part of the decorations were, of course, a little heart box of candy from Bert and I. So we could get them started out right. I got up a half hour early, and the boys got up 15 minutes early. I always tried to get them to school on time.

Pink and Red were the go-to colors, although we didn’t color the food the way we do at Halloween.

(Pink milk is, apparently, much more palatable than green. FYI.)

Heart shaped food is just fun. So pancakes became Heart-Cakes. The recipe is similar to a favorite IHOP meal of mine – multi-grain pancakes. Yum. Sweet but not too sweet. Good for you, but not too good for you.

Making heart shaped anything takes practice, but you know what happens if they don’t actually look like hearts? Yep.

Not much.

You can always use a heart shaped cookie cutter (affiliate link) and cut them into Heart-Cakes when they’re done if you don’t want to free hand it.

This recipe has a lot of ingredients, but it comes together fast and works every time.

Multigrain Heart-Cakes

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Multi-Grain Heart Cakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 18 pancakes

For a subtly sweet breakfast treat that’s crunchy and hearty, plus it’s good for you!

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
• 3/4 cup All Purpose, Unbleached Flour
• 1/3 cup Yellow Cornmeal
• 1/3 cup Old Fashioned Oatmeal
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

WET INGREDIENTS

• 1-3/4 cup Skim or 1% Milk
• 4 tbsp Melted Butter
• 2 tbsp Honey
• 3 Large Eggs

OPTIONAL (but suggested) INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Coarsely Chopped Nuts
• 2 tbsp Pumpkin or Sunflower Seeds
• 1 tbsp Poppy Seeds

Instructions

• Combine all dry ingredients in large bowl.
  
• Combine all wet ingredients in small bowl or large measuring cup. Mix well, making sure egg is fully incorporated.
  
• Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and combine until just mixed.
  
• Preheat griddle pan or skillet over medium to medium high heat.
  
• Spray pan with cooking spray. Put two spoonfuls of batter (about 1/8 cup each) directly next to each other on the griddle, and use a spoon to swirl them together before swooping down and creating a narrow area for the bottom of the heart. 
  
• Cook until the top of the pancake has some popped bubbles. Flip and continue cooking until the underside is light brown.
  
• Keep warm in a 200 degree F oven while preparing the rest of the pancakes.
  

Notes

Adapted from “Four-Grain Flapjacks” in  The Joy of Cooking

How to pull this meal together in a hurry:

Prep the night before:

1. Combine all dry ingredients for Heart-Cake in mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap
2. Make Strawberry Milk. Taste same. Shake head at memories.
3. Make Triple Berry Fruit Salad but keep dressing separate. Refrigerate.
4. Set table and decorate

Valentine’s Day Morning:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. Separate bacon (BACON!) and spread out on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse ground black pepper.
3. Preheat griddle pan (affiliate link) or skillet over medium – medium high heat
4. Preheat non-stick pan (affiliate link)  for eggs to medium, add 1 tablespoon of butter
5. Put bacon in oven
6. Break eggs directly into non-stick pan, scramble eggs. Add herbs. Turn down heat to low, stir occasionally
7. Combine wet ingredients for Heart-Cakes
8. Add wet ingredients to Heart-Cakes dry mix and combine until just mixed
9. Spray griddle well
10. Start cooking Heart-Cakes, testing one to start, tossing it when it doesn’t work
11. Take Prepared Strawberry Milk out of fridge (Hello Strawberry Quick!)
12. Pour cranberry juice in a champagne flute halfway and finish with seltzer
13. Put dressing on Triple Berry Fruit Salad
14. Put food on table or individual plates: don’t forget Maple Syrup!
15. Eat!

This menu also works perfectly for breakfast in bed. Added bonus: no decorating!

It’s so much fun to make such a special memory. And the best Valentine’s Dinner?

Pizza. ♥