Denny’s Strawberry Pancake Puppies are scrumptious homemade donuts. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and best of all there is a cheesecake dipping sauce to dunk these into!
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Denny’s are known for serving up their popular pancake puppies for breakfast. Flavors can vary with the seasons, so sometimes you get blueberry ones, Red Velvet Puppies, or strawberry ones. (You can find copycat recipes below for these puppies).
What are Pancake Puppies?
Denny’s Strawberry Pancake Puppies are their round, bite-sized pancakes made even more delicious with the addition of strawberry bits and white chocolate. They even come with a cheesecake frosting that you can dip your puppies into.
These little puppies will just melt in your mouth. The strawberries add a tart flavor to these small doughnuts and the white chocolate adds a touch of warm sweetness. Finally, the cream cheese frosting is the perfect tangy and sweet topping for these delicious treats.
I fry these puppies in vegetable oil that I get at Costco. If you don’t have a deep fryer, I recommend the one I use – the T-fal fryer. This fryer has a great basket and lets you strain the oil so you can reuse it. It makes deep frying very easy.
When Your Kids Ask You “Why Are They Called Puppies,” Do You Have an Answer?
Kids are fascinated by the idea that they are eating food called puppies. Most people know about hushpuppies, so it follows that other small fried-dough foods would also be called puppies. There are lots of different and amusing ideas out there to explain the name hushpuppy, including:
- Hush, Dog!: Fishermen would be frying up their catch, and their dogs (not necessarily puppies!) would be setting up a hullabaloo in anticipation. To hush up the “puppies,” the fishermen would fry up some small pieces of dough for them.
- It was in the Civil War: Rebel soldiers frying up their dinner around their campfire heard sounds that could be approaching Yankees. To quiet their barking dogs, they tossed them some fried cornmeal bits and ordered them to “hush puppies!”
- It Was Them There Lizards: This might take the cake for the most bizarre origin tale. In Southern Louisiana, Cajuns liked to deep fry mudpuppies (a kind of salamander) in a batter. However, eating mudpuppies was considered low class, so everyone kept hush about it.
You can read more stories about food “puppies”.
What you need to make Strawberry Pancake Puppies
This recipe has very common ingredients in it, so you won’t need to run to the store to find exotic ingredients. You will need:
- Pancake Mix
- Vegetable oil
- Strawberry preserves
- Cream cheese
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla
- Milk
Love Denny’s Puppies? Satisfy your puppy love with these copykat Denny’s recipes. Let me know how much you enjoy these copykat puppy recipes.
Denny’s Pancake Puppies
Denny’s Red Velvet Puppies
Denny’s Blueberry and White Chocolate Pancake Puppies
Denny's Strawberry Pancake Puppies
Ingredients
Pancake Puppies
- 2 cups pancake mix the kind you only need to add water
- 1 cup water
- 3 tablespoons strawberry preserves
- 2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
- oil for frying
Cheesecake Dip
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 ounces butter
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
Pancake Puppies
- Heat vegetable oil to 350 degrees.
- Place the strawberry preserves in a fine wire sieve. Run water over the preserves until only the fruit is left. Mince the strawberries into small pieces.
- In a medium-sized bowl combine pancake mix, water, strawberry preserves, and white chocolate chips. Stir just until blended.
- Use a 1-ounce cookie scoop to drop portions of batter into the oil. Cook until browned on the bottom, then flip over and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Remove from oil, and drain. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired. Serve with cream cheese frosting.
Cheesecake Dip
- Combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Mix ingredients with a mixer until the frosting is smooth
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