I make pancakes at least once every weekend. What’s not to love? Kids gobble them up, it’s really easy to double your recipe if you have a load of house-guests, and they keep really well in the refrigerator.

In fact, I make extra pancakes on purpose so that I have quick reheat-able pancakes for the kids before school. Let the leftover cakes cool completely after you’ve served up Sunday breakfast, then store them in a zip-top plastic bag in the fridge. On Monday morning all you need to do is wrap one or two pancakes in a damp paper towel, microwave for 20-30 seconds, and then add the requisite butter and syrup. Voila!

You see? It’s easy as pie pancakes to be just like “June Cleaver,” even if your mornings feel a little more like “Rosanne” most days. Here’s a favorite cold-weather “cardamom tweak” on my standard pancake recipe:

Vanilla Cardamom Pancakes

Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 20-25 minutes
Yields: 12 pancakes

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Directions
Place the butter in a large non-stick skillet to warm over medium heat while you make the batter.*

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

In a 2-cup glass measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg, oil and vanilla. Pour it into the flour mixture and whisk until it’s just combined.

Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour the batter 3 pancakes at a time into the skillet. Let cook for 3-4 minutes, or until bubbles appear uniformly across the pancake batter, and the edges start to look slightly firm. Flip each pancake over and continue cooking for another two minutes. Remove the pancakes to a plate, and tent with aluminum foil while you finish cooking the rest.

Serve warm with butter and maple syrup (the real stuff if you can get your hands on it).

*Note: Sometimes I start with the pan on medium-high, but after the first batch has been cooked and removed, I then reduce the heat down to medium. Also, as you get through the batches, the time they need to cook on each side can often be reduced by a minute.