What Is Pancake Cereal and Does It Hold Up with Milk?

During the pandemic, I sat in my apartment for six months and crocheted while watching 500 movies. I counted them. Am I proud of that? In some ways, yes. In others, no, absolutely not. But I, like so many others, was desperately searching for something, anything to give me an outlet for the persistent boredom I was experiencing. Many people used TikTok for that outlet. Some were brilliant. And then there was pancake cereal TikTok. 

What is pancake cereal?

Pancake cereal is simply very small pancakes, made with normal pancake batter, then put in a bowl and doused in either maple syrup or milk. It is a TikTok trend from 2020, when we were losing our collective minds. It’s a nothing thing, the result of an end-of-the-world scenario in which no one can buy bottled water or toilet paper at their grocery stores. “We must do something… let’s ruin pancakes!”

Here’s the thing: If you make very tiny pancakes, coat them in syrup, and put them in a bowl, it’s not cereal. It’s still pancakes. And if you add milk to a bowl of tiny pancakes, in my opinion, you are ruining pancakes.. 

There’s no amount of convincing in the world that could make me believe that tiny pancakes could stand up to the weight and moisture of milk. They are going to sop it all up so quickly that they will turn to mush. 

Also, pancake cereal doesn’t even capture the simple joys of cereal. The best thing about cereal is the pleasing combination of crunch mixed with creamy, cold milk. But if your cereal sits in milk for too long, it gets soggy and isn’t as good. 

All around, pancake cereal is a bad idea.

What is Belgian Boys pancake cereal?

In the grand tradition of capitalism, of course, someone jumped on the trend and brought the concept of mini pancake cereal to the grocery store. The Belgian Boys (an ironically named women-owned company) got their own, Target-exclusive version of pancake cereal faster than you can flip a flapjack.

Internet trends are fickle mistress, however, and as fast as they come, they are replaced by hot chocolate bombs or carrot bacon or pink sauce. If you weren’t heavily into TikTok in early 2020 and you see pancake cereal on the shelves (in the refrigerated breakfast aisle, no less), you’d be left wondering, “What madness is this?!” The limited edition mini pancake cereal seems to be no longer available, but you can still buy Belgian Boys’ bite-sized pancakes, which you can still put into a bowl and douse with milk and call it cereal, if you so choose. 

How to make pancake cereal at home?

Well, my first suggestion would be the following: Don’t. Just have pancakes. Or cereal. Never the two shall meet again.

If you simply MUST try your own, just get your preferred pancake mix box, slap it together, and make ‘em real small. Toss them in a bowl, add milk, and live with your life decisions.