Pancakes have recently become a favorite meal in our household.  Thankfully we’re only cooking for two, because making pancakes with our medium-sized frying pan on an electric stove-top was a slow process and sometimes disastrous process.  While I loved the idea of an electric griddle, I was concerned about storage space.  My husband was pretty gung-ho about the whole thing, but understood my hesitation.  As Christmas approached and I brainstormed ideas for my husband, I thought of his desire for a griddle and mentioned it to my parents.  They picked one out for him.  Imagine my surprise when I opened a rather large, oblong box on Christmas morning and found an electric griddle inside.  My husband opened his a few hours later when my parents came for dinner.  What can I say, great minds think alike?  Oh, and our griddle goes quite nicely with my husband’s Darth Vadar spatula (a great stocking stuffer!)

Now, we’re happily griddling away and pancakes seem to have become a Sunday night tradition.  We whip up a batch of pancakes and lounge in front of the fireplace for the evening.  Alton Brown’s recipe for “Instant” Pancake Mix makes it easy to throw together a tasty batch of pancakes in no time.   After mixing a large batch of dry ingredients ahead of time (keeps for about 3 months), all you have to do is add butter, eggs and buttermilk and you’re good to do.  The resulting pancakes are far superior and far cheaper than any mix you can buy at the store.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, never faear,  you can still make these pancakes by using an easy substitution (details below).  They’re delicious either way, but wow, real buttermilk really takes them to the next level!

Homemade Pancake Mix

6 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix.

Use the mix within 3 months.

Make the Pancakes
Yields 12 pancakes

2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk *
4 tbsp melted butter
2 cups homemade pancake mix, recipe above
1 stick butter, for greasing the pan
2 cups fresh fruit such as blueberries, if desired

1. Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F.
2.  In a small bowl, whisk together the eggwhites and buttermilk. **
3. In large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.
4. Add the buttermilk mixture to the large bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined.
5. Add pancake mix to the large bowl and mix the batter until just combined. Don’t try to work out all of the lumps.
6. Once the griddle is heated, butter it lightly and wipe off with a paper towel. No butter should be visible.
7. Ladle the batter onto the griddle and sprinkle with fruit, if desired.
8. Flip the pancake once the bubbles around the edges of the pancake begin to set, and the griddle-side of the pancake is golden.
9. Continue to cook until the pancake has set completely.

* Don’t have any buttermilk? Make your own! Add one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to one cup of milk and let sit for a few minutes. Mix well and use in any recipe that calls for buttermilk.

** Looking to cut down on dishes? Measure the buttermilk into a liquid measuring cup. Melt the butter in a microwave safe mixing bowl that’s large enough for your dry ingredients. When you crack the eggs, separate them directly into the liquid measuring cup and large mixing bowl.

Tags: Pancakes

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 20th, 2011 at 9:13 pm and is filed under Breakfast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.