However you are entertaining today, big or small, I hope it is a sweet one!

I for one, prefer something simple, like pancakes (for breakfast, lunch or dinner).  This is a favourite recipe of mine that I go back to every year for Valentine’s Day.

SWEET-HEARTS!  By Norene Gilletz

“Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a heart-healthy breakfast and enjoy these scrumptious chocolate pancakes. You can mix up the batter the night before, then cook them up quickly for a special breakfast treat for your loved one(s). They also reheat in moments in the microwave.

Children (and grown-ups!) love it when you ‘write’ their initials with pancake batter! Pour the batter into the hot skillet to form the desired letters of the alphabet.

For Valentine’s Day, use a heart-shaped cookie cutter and trace the outline onto a piece of waxed paper to form a heart-shaped template. Place the template onto each pancake and sprinkle with icing sugar through a fine sieve. How sweet it is!”

CHOCOLATE PANCAKES

Adapted from Norene’s Healthy Kitchen by Norene Gilletz (Whitecap)
These pancakes taste like brownies – yum!

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch salt
2 large eggs
1 cup skim, 1 per cent or soy milk
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Fresh or frozen raspberries or strawberries, for garnish
Vanilla yogurt, for garnish

Icing sugar, for garnish

In a large mixing bowl or a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the flours, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add the eggs, milk water, oil and vanilla. Whisk together, or process for 8 to 10 seconds, until just smooth and blended. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.

Spray a large non-stick frying pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat for 2 minutes or until a drop of water skips on the surface. Drop the batter, using a scant 1/4 cup for each pancake, into the frying pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until bubbles appear on the top. Turn pancakes with a spatula and lightly brown the other side for 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the cooked pancakes to a plate and keep warm in a 200-degree F oven. Repeat with the remaining batter, spraying the pan between batches. Because chocolate chips tend to sink to the bottom of the bowl, stir batter often.

Serve pancakes warm with berries, yogurt and or icing sugar.

Makes about 16 3-inch pancakes

About Norene: Norene Gilletz is the leading author of kosher cookbooks in Canada. She divides her time between work as a food writer, culinary consultant, spokesperson, cooking instructor, lecturer and editor. Norene lives in Toronto, Canada and her motto is “Food that’s good for you should taste good!” Visit her website at www.gourmania.com

Other Chocolate Pancake Recipes Fit for Valentine’s Day or Any Other Chocolate Craving Over Breakfast:

• Bite Delite: Lace Heart Chocolate Pancakes
• Cooking Classy: Chocolate Pancakes with Chocolate Sauce, Strawberries and Bananas
• Set Meal: Chocolate Pancakes with Cherries and Vanilla Cream
• Apron and Sneakers: Green Tea and Chocolate Heart Pancakes with Pistachios and Chocolate