Spiced Tea Infused Vanilla Pancakes

So now that it's down to 60 degrees in LA (brrr says the Boston girl - how did that happen?), I decided to spend my Sunday morning making a hot cozy breakfast with -you guessed it- tea. There was talk of pumpkin pancakes and all sorts of yummy Thanksgiving varieties last week, but I wanted to try something different for December. I used a standard pancake mix since I figured that's what most people do (?) but you can also just substitute the tea for milk in your favorite homemade recipe with a few additions noted below.

Spiced Tea Infused Vanilla Pancakes

Your favorite pancake recipe without the milk
3/4 c water
1-2 StripTeas tea strips (combination of Kashmiri Kahwa and Masala Chai is nice)
1/4 c milk
1 t vanilla
1 T sugar or 1.5 t Splenda

Make your mix as usual, but while you combine the ingredients (aka mix, egg, perhaps oil), make a cup of strong tea that will be your substitute for the milk called for in your recipe. I used one strip of Kashmiri Kahwa and one strip of Masala Chai in 3/4 cup water. Once they steep about 6 minutes and make a nice dark tea, add 1/4 c milk to the mug and let it sit another few minutes, swirling the strip a few times while your griddle or pan heats up. Add the vanilla and the sweetener to the bowl.

Once the tea mixture is fragrant and strong, pour over the other ingredients and whisk. Once pan is hot, cook your pancakes as you usually do. The pancakes will be slightly darker in color due mostly to the vanilla, but the texture will be light and fluffy as usual.

Serve hot with your favorite toppings. I prefer applesauce, but maple syrup or plain yogurt sprinkled with slivered almonds is delicious too.

Enjoy!