Confession: I don’t really like pancakes.
If there was a war and on one side were the brave and gallant waffles and on the other side were the puny, wussy pancakes, well… Waffles would win every time. The flavor, the texture, those fun little waffle iron grid marks? Waffles are so completely full of win, and pancakes? Well, psh. Pancakes are just… flimsy, fleeting moments of breakfast that could be made better by SERVING WITH WAFFLES.
But, the exception to the rule is my dad’s pancake recipe. It’s a variation on a standard buttermilk pancake recipe, only it’s just AH-MAZE-ING, and even me, the pancake hater LOVES these.
According to my dad – the number one secret to good pancakes is a HEAVY skillet heated at about medium til a few drops of water tossed in the pan will “ball up” and skitter around the pan like little marbles. It takes a few minutes to get it to this temp, so get the pan started early, while you’re getting your stuff mixed together.
INTO A MIXING BOWL PUT:
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/3 cup wheat bran
- 1 heaping tbsp corn meal (you can leave it out – but it’s SO GOOD with)
- 1 heaping tbsp cream of rice (again, this is optional, but seriously… add it)
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
and stir it all up really nicely til it’s mixed the way you like it.
THEN.
IN YOUR BLENDER JAR PUT:
- 2 eggs (or 1 egg and up to 2 or 3 egg whites — it’s a protein thang)
- 1 cup buttermilk (lowfat is a-okay)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (or butter, BUT NOT MARGARINE. Dad says it’ll clog your veins and make your circulatory activities more difficult in years to come, and I’m gonna listen to him)
Whirl it around until the color is uniform.
NOW.
Pour the liquid from the blender into your mixing bowl and mix until JUST blended.
OKAY, HERE YOU GO.
Film the frying pan with vegetable oil, says my dad. I say cooking spray works just fine. Pour about 3 tbsp of batther from the tip of a spoon or pitcher into the hot skillet. If you stop here, you’ll only have one pancake so… repeat until you just can’t repeat anymore.
They’re ready to turn when bubbles have formed on the top – almost the entire surface will have bubbles – and the other side cooks in about half the time.
And finally, if you’re gonna use syrup, make sure it’s the REAL stuff.
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“If you screw up, you can sometimes learn just as much from the experience… but you have to be willing to laugh about it for years and have oatmeal for breakfast.”
-My dad
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