Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Pancakes

I love pancakes.  I didn't use to.  I merely tolerated them.  But all of the sudden, they are like manna and I am filled with great joy at the sight of them.  They are just what I want!

You could make pancake-like substances from that weird mix where you just add water and shake.  Or from that other weird mix where you open a box and add an egg or something (I forget).  Those aren't as tasty as the real thing.  And the real thing is actually easy to make.

This recipe reflects the fact that I have 4 pancake-loving children and a husband who also likes pancakes.  You may want to halve it if you are humans.  Then again, I should note that pancakes keep nicely in the fridge or freezer.  I always make extras so we can just microwave them the following day.  Bam.  Pancakes.



Pancakes
adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

4 large eggs
4 c. flour (I used white with the bran added back in, but wheat is fine, too)
3 c. milk (more for thinner pancakes)
3 tbsp. sugar
3/4 stick of butter, melted (if you use the whole thing, I won't tell)
3 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Beat eggs in large bowl with whisk, hand beater, fork, or sheer will.  Mix in remaining ingredients just until smooth.  Let it rest while you heat up your electric griddle (375 degrees) or frying pan.  You can grease your pan if you have to, but I don't.  If you can drop a few drops of water on the pan and it dances, then your pan is hot enough.  I use a 1/2 c. ladle (or just use your 1/2 c. measure) to scoop the batter onto the pan.  Let them cook until the edges start to look a little dried out.  Flip and cook the other side (it won't take as long).

You can keep them on a plate in a warm oven if you want to serve everyone at once.

You can adjust what you put in these little gems.  When you pour the batter out, you can sprinkle with frozen or fresh blueberries, chocolate chips, crumbled bacon, perhaps?  I am doing the bacon thing next time.  I've been dreaming about it for long enough.

I think it's pretty common practice that the pancake chef often jacks up the first pancake (too dark, too doughy in the middle, maybe both).  So don't be sad if it happens to you.  I have only recently gotten to where the first one is consistently good, and I have been making them since 1995, when my lovely friend Brenda taught me the ways of pancake-making.


What, you want a picture?  We ate the picture.

5 comments:

  1. I make them from Betty Crocker's 1971 cookbook that my mom used to use, obviously before she gave it to me! That recipe is not big enough for us any longer, even doubled. I make them once a week for dinner. It's a cheap way to go!

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  2. I LOVE whole wheat banana pancakes, chocolat chip pancakes and sometimes if I want something fast and different I'll add a package of muffin mix to my pancake batter.

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  3. bacon = pure genius. breakfast sausage would also be very good. really, anything covered in REAL maply syrup is outstanding.

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  4. Friend, I have been a fan of the pancake my whole life and I still will often jack of the first one and sometimes the last one because the griddle is too hot. Oh well, it's why I make enough for a small army.
    And you are right, this post DID make me very happy... and hungry.

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  5. I answered you on my blog, but wanted to make sure you got it so I will leave it here to.
    For our volcano unit:
    We watched the DK Eyewitness video which we got from the library and then there were two videos available for download from amazon. I got them for free (being a prime member) if you're not a prime member I believe they cost 1.00 to download.

    ReplyDelete

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