Batter Up!

Last night the missus was looking for something simple for dinner. I've been wanting to make something from my brand new copy of The New Best Recipe. And we all love us some pancakes.

So "Light and Fluffy Pancakes" it was. I've had a copy of Alton Brown's pancake recipe on the fridge for years, but it calls for buttermilk. Buttermilk. As much as I usually love Alton's know-it-all food snootiness, buttermilk's just not very practical. The Best Recipe people realize that pancakes are often made on the spur of the moment, and replaces the buttermilk with regular milk with some lemon juice in it for that tangy kick. Sorry, Alton.

The results were probably the best pancakes I have ever made - very close to what you (or at least I) expect from a diner. And I added some thawed blueberries to them while pre-flip, which only increased my self-satisfaction.

I've experimented with other from-scratch flapjack recipes before, but lately the closest I had come to scratch has been using box mixes that weren't the "just add water" type. I'm so happy that I can finally skip all of those bland mixes for the real thing, and without much time or effort.

Below is pretty much what appears in the Best Recipe cookbook. I copied it from Recipezaar since America's Test Kitchen has it hidden behind its pay wall and I'm way too lazy busy to type out the whole recipe myself.

Enjoy!

• 2 cups milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

4-6 servings of 2 pancakes each / 20 minutes to make

1. Whisk milk and lemon juice in a medium bowl and set aside to let thicken.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together - flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt.
3. Whisk the egg and melted butter into the milk mixture.
4. Create a little "well" in the center of dry ingredient bowl and pour the milky mixture in the center.
5. Whisk gently until just combined, there should still be lumps.
6. Heat a pan or griddle to medium heat and coat with butter or vegetable oil.
7. Pour pancake mixture by 1/4 cups and heat until large bubbles come to the top (about 1-2 minutes).
8. Flip the pancake and wait another 1-2 minutes.

D'oh, I forgot to take a picture! Can I assume that you all know what pancakes look like?

[Photo credit: Barb Henry (flickr)]

Comments

[Donna]

The girls would like these for breakfast the next time they babysit. It will prove to them that you stock more than organic granola and soy in your kitchen.

[paige]

Mmm. Pancakes. Makes me wish I got up a little earlier this morning.

[Karen]

Just so's you know:
1. Saco buttermilk powder is a great product and it keeps forever. You include the powder with your dry ingredients and the water that would reconstitute it with your wet ingredients. Works like a dream.
2. If you ever do buy real (wet) buttermilk, I've just learned that you can freeze it successfully. I use it for soaking chicken for deep-frying, stuff like that. I freeze leftovers in 1-cup containers for future use.

[albert]

i never understood the allure of pancakes or waffles. never liked them really. only when i was younger and my older sister used to make chocolate chip pancakes did i like them and that was only because i was eating chunks of chocolate for breakfast. i'm a cereal or omelette person. i make some killer omelettes.