Pancakes

My mom started a tradition (many moons ago) making pancakes for breakfast every Saturday. It stuck, although each daughter has adjusted it slightly. Emily's a waffle woman, Sarah is a biscuit maker, and I make on Friday, the start of the weekend if you're a pastor's family.

Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, and pancakes are one of my specialities. This morning, we had buttermilk buckwheat pancakes with blueberries. They were fabulous. As you might imagine, I make them from scratch. I'm not opposed to Bisquick; I just prefer the flexibility of flour, sugar and baking soda.

The Recipe:

4 T butter, melted
1 1/2 c milk
2 eggs
Beat together.

2 1/4 c all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
Mix together with a fork, beating as little as possible. Cook on a greased skillet over medium heat, turning once. Keep warm and serve hot.

In general, people make two common mistakes with pancakes. 1. They over mix the batter and try to remove all the lumps. This makes the pancakes tough/rubbery. Even pressing pancakes with a spatula increases toughness. 2. They set the stove too high, overcooking the outside and leaving the inside runny. You wouldn't crank the oven up to 425 to bake bread faster. The pancakes are baking just like any other quick bread, and they deserve the correct temperature.

Like most doughs/batters, once you've made this recipe a few times, you should get a feel for the consistency and how to adjust or add to it. My favorite adjustments:

• Whole wheat and/or buckwheat flour instead of all-purpose - requires an extra 1/4 - 1/2 c milk. This makes very filling pancakes.
• 1 t vanilla
• 1-2 c fruit - bananas, shredded apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc...
• 1/2-1 t cinnamon - I really like cinnamon, so I use a lot
• 1 c chocolate chips or chopped nuts
• 1/4 c wheat bran or 1/4 c rolled oats - again, you must increase the liquid
• Buttermilk instead of milk - this makes your pancakes fluffier. You can make buttermilk by adding 1 T of lemon juice per 1 c of milk. 
• 1 c mashed sweet potatoes - remove 1 c of flour, add cinnamon and nutmeg. These are delicious!

Feel free to be creative. I'm considering adding cheese and layering them for a dinner dish, in the spirit of crepes. I made crepes a little while back from The Art of French Cooking. Tim was nuts about them, but they were a little intense to make. Adding extra liquid to pancake batter would achieve roughly the same thing. Hmm...


Bon Appétit!