TCD...here's what works for me, as DD7 and DD9 love "shaped" pancakes. Those are not molds for the pancakes, they're cutters! (at least at our house) Make bigger round pancakes, and cut the shapes out after they are done. Works every time. Oh...and at our house, daddy's breakfast (that would be mine) consists of the pancake "scraps" cut off during the all-important shaping...