Whether it's sticky toffee, potato, double chocolate — or an un-godly amount of sprinkles
— these chain pancakes are selling like…well, hotcakes!
"Hello folks!
I'm Bob Evans."
Even by the standards of most restaurant pancakes — which commonly walk the line between breakfast
and dessert — Bob Evans Double Blueberry Pancakes are completely overloaded with sugar
and sodium.
For one Yelp reviewer, it seems that the restaurant switched things up at one location, serving
a greater number of smaller pancakes, and with just a few blueberries to show for it.
Even if it came down to one randomly bad pancake platter, it isn't exactly the treat to be
looking for if you're thinking of an all-out cheat day.
If you've got a hankering to indulge, you could easily do better.
And, lucky you, we've got some ideas.
Well, it's another blueberry pancake disappointment!
And this time, it comes courtesy of the International House of Pancakes.
According to Insider, out of their seemingly endless pancake options, this one sits firmly
at the bottom.
"It's like breakfast and dessert in one."
When it comes to the culinary art of blueberry pancakes, some chefs incorporate the berries
into the batter, often right onto the pancake as it's frying.
But sometimes speed wins out over quality.
According to the outlet, IHOP's so-called "double blueberry" translates to a big ol'
dollop of cold blueberry compote atop a hot stack of pancakes with hardly any blueberries.
That chilled compote quickly turned hotcakes into a lukewarm flop.
Room temp mushy pancakes?
Always a no-go.
When you call yourself the International House of Pancakes, well…let's just say they can't
all be winners.
This recipe sounds like a sure-fire hit.
It's hard to go wrong with chocolate chip pancakes.
And adding even more chocolate seems to make sense in a "more is more" kind of way.
Cocoa batter pancakes, whipped cream, chocolate chips, and occasionally a slather of chocolate
syrup.
How can a national restaurant chain screw that up?
Well, they found a way.
"Is that a cat face?"
"Yep!
It's a chocolate chocolate chip pancake."
So, for one thing, they're a little hard to swallow and taste a bit "chalky."
And while chocolate chip pancakes are going to be sweet, IHOP's take took it way over
the line.
We got a cavity just thinking about it.
One sure killer of a good flapjack is an excessive amount of sugar.
Whether it's from compotes, candy, or whipped cream, those extra toppings quickly tip the
scales on a balanced breakfast when you pour on the syrup.
Case in point are the Oreo Cookie Crush Pancakes from Huddle House, which feature Oreo crumbles
added to the batter, with whipped cream, all topped with even more cookies.
"All of a sudden, we have pancakes on the menu!"
As you can imagine, these things are sickeningly sweet, and packed with 58 grams of sugar.
For reference, their original buttermilk pancakes clock in at around 14 grams of sugar.
But wait!
The sodium count is even worse at 1120 milligrams.
That's 47% of your daily recommended allowance!
According to Nutritionix, to burn all of that off, it would take you well over an hour of
walking, running, or biking.
But if you've just polished off a stack of these suckers, it sounds like you'd be lucky
to be able to move at all.
Another beloved pancake house is Cracker Barrel.
But despite the home-cooked feel, not all of their recipes are winners.
The chain's most notorious offender is their Pecan Pancakes, a platter that might beat
out IHOP and Huddle House for the title of "most unhealthy."
Just three of these pancakes are loaded not just with calories but also a massive amount
of sodium.
About 2,720 milligrams, to be precise.
In addition to 70 grams worth of fat, you're getting more than your daily intake with a
carb-y dish that'll likely leave you feeling hungry again before you can get your butt
off that Cracker Barrel rocker.
Marie Callender's does to its banana cream pie pancakes what it does to its famous pies:
tops them with a dollop of whipped cream and pudding.
Any nutritional value of the bananas and almonds is quickly overwhelmed by whipped topping
and a rich creamy filling.
They're basically Marie Callender's pie ... but for breakfast — and with a side of bacon.
Of course, breakfast doesn't need to be something it's not, but maybe it shouldn't give you
diabetes on the spot.
"Aaah!
Free pie!"
This deconstructed dessert packs 800 calories, 28 grams of fat, 64 grams of sugar and only
5 grams of fiber.
These kinds of high numbers make these griddle cakes a better fit for the dessert menu.
They're delicious, but not everything has to be pie, Marie.
Bob Evans' double chocolate hotcakes literally double down on the cocoa with chocolate sauce
drizzle and chocolate chips sprinkled over four innocent-looking pancakes.
There are birthday cakes that never see this much chocolate action, and those are shared
by a whole party of people.
This is an order for a single diner.
Sugar much, Bob?
This plate can clock in at 1440 calories — easily covering more than half of the average human's
suggested intake.
Then there are the 27 grams of fat, and a whopping 74 grams of sugar.
That's almost double what you should realistically eat in a day.
Are they delicious?
Of course they are!
But so are ice cream sundaes and you don't see those on the breakfast menu.
The trend in sticky-sweet hotcakes leans closer to breakfast with Denny's cinnamon roll pancakes.
At least this sugary concoction is related to morning pastries.
While Cinnabon may have spoiled diners with the idea that cinnamon rolls should be the
size of a cabbage head, it doesn't mean everything has to be that ginormous.
Denny's has rolled out these heartstoppers with a smear of cinnamon and sugar topped
with a drizzle of cream cheese icing.
Because too much of a good thing must make it even better, right?
"I'm a monster!"
This breakfast combo comes with your choice of eggs, hash browns, and bacon.
But even if you stick to just two pancakes with cream cheese icing, you're looking at
990 calories and a mandatory food coma.
Sure there are 21 grams of fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,660 milligrams of sodium,
and 125 grams of sugar.
But hey, you get 10 grams of protein too!
Thinking at all about your future health?
You're better off ordering something else.
For many American kids, the first introduction to diner pancakes came courtesy of none other
than the golden arches.
McDonald's Hotcakes were almost transcendent for young taste buds.
But after a couple of decades, and a few changes to the recipe, do McDonald's pancakes still
hold up for nostalgic adults?
"Feels like home every time.
Breakfast at McDonald's."
Freezyboys gave McDonald's Hotcakes the prized title of "above average."
Which actually doesn't sound too bad for a fast food stack.
While they're smaller than typical diner-style offerings, McDonald's offers that same appetizing
golden brown hue.
And their middle-of-the-road flavor is helped by a little butter and syrup.
If you're looking for simple pancakes served fast, you could do a whole lot worse.
Finding good potato pancakes can be tricky.
Often when a place claims to serve them, they're really just talking about hash browns.
But we did the grunt work to find easily-accessible actual potato pancakes — with the right
ingredients, at the right price.
When it comes to what Perkins is cooking up, one Tripadvisor reviewer had nothing but praise
for their potato pancakes.
Not only are they a hit with travelers and locals, they're affordable as well.
If you've got spud fever, there's only one cure.
A piping hot plate of the good stuff.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are cleared for pancakes."
It's the stack that became the cornerstone of a restaurant empire.
Yes, some days you wanna skip the fruit, the candy, the sprinkles, whipped cream and chocolate
syrup.
Instead all you need to do is order yourself a simple, satisfyingly delicious plate of
IHOP's original buttermilk pancakes.
Restaurant Clicks placed this O.G.
stack on their list of IHOP's best menu items, and with good reason.
The chain may be known for its wild toppings or bake-ins when it comes to its pancake lineup,
but it wouldn't be possible without such a buttery, fluffy foundation.
No other pancake dish would be possible without that perfect original recipe — and you owe
it to yourself to taste where it all began.
When it comes to the chain's buttermilk pancakes, the setup couldn't be any simpler.
Choose a short stack, or more, and then add all the sweet syrup your lil pancake-lovin'
heart desires.
Denny's is a longstanding staple of "breakfast anytime" diners.
And it's obvious why; their menu stands out the most when it comes to that first meal
— whatever time of day you like it!
Most significantly, they seem to have reached a kind of symmetry of sweetness with their
Choconana Pancake Breakfast.
Unlike IHOP, which made the mistake of adding way too much extra chocolate, Denny's features
the chocolate chips baked in the batter while topping that off with a sliced banana and
sometimes a dollop of whip and a few more chips.
It almost sounds way too simple, yet it completely works.
Yes, we agree that you might have to giggle at the name when you order it out loud, but
you'll be all smiles when it comes to the taste.
It's easily one of the best kinds of dessert pancakes you could ask for.
And since it's still technically a breakfast platter, you also get a side of hash browns,
eggs, and sausage.
And as Livestrong notes, that protein helps balance out all those carbs, preventing a
spike in your blood sugar.
Sounds like a win-win to us.
Apparently you can have your dessert pancakes and eat them too!
Ok, people! Dust off those taste buds and smuggle in your favorite syrup.
These are the best pancakes of any restaurant chain EVER.
If IHOP built its foundation on its buttermilk stack, then the Original Pancake House made
its claim to diner food fame with its star attraction, the Apple Pancake.
What makes their dish so unique is that it's not the kind of pancake you fry on a griddle;
it's one you bake in a Dutch oven.
And while it takes at least 20-minutes to do its thing, what comes out is something
sweet, syrupy, eggy, and covered with perfectly baked apples.
The chain's signature dish features Granny Smith apples and a mouth-watering cinnamon
butter glaze.
And it's easily the best reason to visit the Original Pancake House.
Of course, it's an indulgence for the most special of breakfasts.
But once you taste your first bite, the Apple Pancake is one of those treats you'll never
forget.