Snickerdoodles Pancakes and Cinnamon Syrup for a Sprained Ankle?

Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright; it promised to be a great day for a 2-on-2 volleyball tournament with my fave partner. All was going smashingly well, for a while anyway. Then I twisted my ankle when I landed on the foot of my opponent while blocking. [For anyone who knows me, you might wonder why, at 5-foot-3, I was bothering to block at all, and honestly I can’t argue with you except to say that when I actually DO get a block I feel pretty darn huge!] My poor judgment aside, the ankle hurt like the dickens. For that first minute of shock and pain it felt like I was down and out for the day, but within minutes I was walking around, though gingerly. Wise or not, I decided to play on – in an ankle brace – and chalked up yet another semi-final loss after finishing first in our pool. Sigh.

Still, a bad day on the volleyball court is better than a good day on the couch 🙂

Throughout the evening I glumly watched as my ankle swelled and turned all kinds of purple. Today I am dutifully parked on the couch implementing the standard treatment for an ankle sprain — RICE (rest, ice, compression, and elevation). I’m restless but doing my best to keep busy. It’s only 10:20 a.m. and I’ve already finished reading the latest John Grisham, disciplined my youngest for some crass – though impressive – name-calling (thank you, Mrs. Doubtfire), and spent much quality time with my Words With Friends opponents. But my greatest non-achievement was coaching Mark through the making of a new twist on pancakes, our family’s favorite breakfast. Our love of cinnamon and Snickerdoodle cookies is well-documented, and so it was time to make…Snickerdoodle pancakes!

We morphed our Pumpkin Spice Pancakes for this recipe, ditched the allspice and ginger, and doubled up on the cinnamon. Then, we topped it with some homemade cinnamon syrup, and…POW! Miraculously, my ankle felt better. Well, maybe not better, but for those few minutes of cinnamony bliss, I sure wasn’t thinking about my ankle. So, whatever ails you, I guarantee this little stack of sweetness will make it all better.

Snickerdoodle Pancakes with Cinnamon Syrup
Makes 12-14 small pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups nonfat milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar

1) Preheat non-stick griddle or large pan to medium heat.
2) Put all dry ingredients (flours through salt) in a large mixing bowl and combine well.
3) In a separate bowl, add the milk, applesauce, egg, oil, and vinegar. Stir until well combined.
4) Add wet ingredients all at once to dry ingredients, and stir with a large spoon just until moistened.
5) Prepare pre-heated griddle with spray oil. Spoon about 1/3 cup of batter onto griddle. Cook just until pancake is lightly browned, then turn and cook 2-3 minutes more. Serve with cinnamon syrup (recipe below).

Cinnamon Syrup
Recipe from Allrecipes.com

1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup water