Williams Sonoma Transportation Pancake Molds review
Pancakes are a given most weekends in our household, courtesy of Trader Joe's easy pancake mix (also comes in a whole grain variety). I add extra egg and whole milk to beef up the calories (M is a light eater) as well as a mashed banana to the batter. To make things more fun, we got these pancake molds from Williams Sonoma ($16). I think they are overpriced, but they are non-stick and make really cute pancakes. It takes a few tries to get them just right, but I think I have the hang of it now.
Below the company image (are those real?), you'll see the result of the train mold, before I figured out the best way to cook them. Even though they are non-stick, the pancake tended to stick a bit and I needed to run a knife along the edge to loosen it up - in doing so, the pancake cooked a little bit longer and got pretty dark. Now I spray on some cooking spray before pouring the batter in and it works much better. As expected, the windows and holes in the mold are a bit tricky, especially if the batter is particularly thick, but a bit of jiggling and they pop right out.
My only gripe is that the little handles that fold up to help you lift them off get hot after a while, so you may have to use mitts or a paper towel to protect your fingers. Also, the instructions state they should be hand washed (we don't have a dishwasher, so that's a non-issue for us).
M loves the fun-shaped pancakes, and I believe he tends to eat a bit more - definitely worth the $16 if you ask me.
Useful Links
Williams Sonoma Transportation Pancake Molds site