Basic Pancakes

how many pancakes at what diameter does this recipe create?

p.s. pictures are not coming up.

Fortunately my mother taught me how to cook. All I usally need is a push toward an idea.

Buttermilk,
a) use week old milk, that has just spoilt to taste. If there are chucks it is way to late. Just the bad tasting milk.
b) Or add roughly a tablespoon of vinger to a cup of milk. and leave out for 10-20 minutes(I usally set up the milk, then prep and use the other ingredients).

It's good to point out that you should mix the wet and dry ingredients together as little as possible to avoid producing making them tough. The batter should be quite lumpy and if there are lumps of dry, don't worry, they will cook out. Ten seconds is about as much as you need to mix, and use more of a folding action than a stir.

Also, if you want to substitute buttermilk or soured milk (see your recipe substitutions page) reduce the baking powder to about 1t and add about 1/4t of baking soda to counter the added acidity.

For a lighter pancake, try separating the eggs. Use the yolks as per normal, beat the whites until thickened and glossy.

Then fold in 1/3rd of the white into the pancake batter to lighten it, then the next 1/3rd and the final third.

You can freeze buttermilk for later use. I freeze in 1/2 cup increments, using freezer baggies. Works like a charm! I never throw unused buttermilk away, and no more running to the grocery store at 7 am on a Saturday, either!

Instead of buttermilk, I squeeze half a lemon in the milk - be sure to use a large cup because it get bubbly and rises.

I guess that there is a mistake in the summary at the end. Instead of "3 tsp. sugar" it should be "3 Tbs. sugar".

power topping: tiny bits of apple, salami and cheese

also, this recipe works in my waffle maker

This was super to read! We are going to make this recipe tomorrow morning for sure! Nothing better then planning your Breky for Sat. morning on the night before! Wish us luck, ( though not needed with this Kickin' run down).

8P hey this is really kool. i can understand it and everything.. its real simple.. thanx alot.. hope it nice gonna go make it now... try to anyways.. :D

I've been using this pancake recipe for a while now, and I always add some Cinnamon to it. I never measure how much I put in, I just add it to the dry ingredients before mixing with the wet ingredients, enough so it discolours the mixture a bit.

The result is the best cinnamon pancakes ever!!! Awsome with just some syrup.

Just wanted to say as an Expat now living in The Netherlands that I went looking for what we at home would assume was a "Basic"(baking soda and baking powder) remembering from Sunday mornings with Mom that I needed one or the other to make mouth watering pancakes...Several hours later, I'm now looking at a familiar mustard colored box of baking soda(The funny thing is all of the writing...is in CHINESE, seriously!!) and the familiar maroon can of baking powder is now contained in a plastic jar with some oddly sounding chemical name. (but I was assured that the was the real deal), so Now looking foreward to next Sunday's breakfast now that I have your recipe in hand. Thanks, Mike
PS I also have a serious craving for freezer jam, any suggestions for Certo? Written to Kraft to see if they can give me another name here, but as of yet, no reply...

the best way i found to sour milk is to use fresh lemon juice. it adds a beautiful flavor and tartness to the batter. i would never use spoiled milk.

mix 1tablespoon fresh lemon juice into 1 cup of milk. Let is 'sour" for 20 minutes. i prefer this to buttermilk.

Hay guys you can use self raising flour in stead of plain flour & baking soda any way good cooking all the best CJ :)

This has been my basic recipe for pancakes for years, since the 70's. One tip that I just learned, is to wait until the griddle is almost hot to mix the dry and wet ingredients together. The chemical reaction starts then, so the first batch or two will be the fluffiest pancakes. I made these last night for supper, and they were great.
I also make a compote of mixed berries for on the top - strawberries, blueberries, and black raspberries, with a touch of sugar. Maple syrup is then optional.
Enjoy!

Two things that make great additions to any pancake recipe:
[list:8814a1253a]Black Pepper
Bacon Grease[/list:u:8814a1253a]
Just add to taste, I always add some to my buttermilk pancakes

I made my own version of this recipe a week ago, with a few substitutions:

[color=red:300a2ffd96]1/2 cup rye flour, 1/2 cup oat flour, 1/2 cup barley flour sifted together
5 packets Splenda
1/4 tsp salt (not 1/2)
1-1/2 cups unsweetened soy milk (Silk or Vitasoy)
3 Tbs melted Earth Balance margarine (vegan)
Egg Replacer (by Ener-G) for 2 eggs[/color:300a2ffd96]

Other ingredients remain the same, and prep & cooking are the same as well. They were phenomenal! I didn't put anything on them, and they were the best pancakes I've ever tasted. FYI: You can also sour soy milk with vinegar or lemon juice to use as a buttermilk substitute for baking.

I tried this with some sourcream last year with good results. I wanted the buttermilk tartness and had some sourcream in the fridge. Alone the sourcream is a bit thick for the recipe, so I use a mix of sourcream and milk (2% or less) to thin. This mixture should equal the ammount of regular milk the original recipe calls for.

I've also inadvertantly left out the butter before, and been pleased with the results. Both of these variations do affect the texture, something you may or may not like. Specifically, the sourcream variation makes the cakes a little denser but with more lasting moisture than regular pancakes. (Think poundcake verses genoise.) This makes them really wondeful when you plan on saving some for later in the day.


S

I don't use any baking powder or sour the milk, and my pancakes taste great. I come from England and so I serve them the British way, sprinkled with caster sugar and drenched with fresh lemon juice then rolled up.

i substitute some oat flour too; it gives them a great texture.



sounds like some good crepes (:

I've been using the "Joy of Cooking" pancake recipe for many years, and have adjusted it to my taste by trial and error. I think that 3 Tbs sugar is far too sweet; i use only 1 Tbs. Since i use a soapstone griddle I also reduce the butter to a single Tbs; this should also work well for other non-stick cooking surfaces. The reduced butter makes for a fluffier texture.

I tried this recipe this morning with very good results. The pancakes were light and fluffy, but still firm. They were sweet, but not overwhelmingly so and there was a nice taste from the butter. There was a noticable egg flavor to the pancakes, but since I like egg, this wasn't an issue. However, serving these to someone who doesn't like eggs might not be a good idea.

I froze the leftovers and plan on heating them in my Hello Kitty toaster for quick breakfast.

I'm never using pancake mix ever again.

YUM! I made these pancakes this morning but I substituted .5 cups of flour for whole wheat flour. They turned out wonderfully and my husband thought they tasted like french toast-pancakes. Oh and your site rocks!

One great way I've found to make somewhat heartier pancakes is to use whole wheat flour and some rolled oats instead of all purpose flour as well as using brown sugar instead of normal granulated sugar. Also if you add some cinnamon to taste and about 1/2 to 3/4 of finely chopped apple (use a tart apple such as a granny smith) it makes a great addition. This is a great meal that will stick to your ribs.

This recipe should be called "Pancakes" instead of "Basic Pancakes". It will be easier to find when the amount of recipes grows.
The blueberries are not listed under ingredients. Why? Why? Why?
And it's much better to use frozen blueberries (unless you actually [u:0fec031caa]want[/u:0fec031caa] blue pancakes)

I've been making an older version of this recipe for years with great results. However, it's much better if you separate the eggs. Add the yolks to the melted butter, milk, etc., and then combine with the dry ingredients. Whip the egg whites with a mixer until stiff and then fold into the mixture. I add banana slices and/or chocolate chips after pouring the batter onto the griddle. I find that if I use a teflon or other non-stick surfance, I don't need to butter it.

if you want to mix the blueberries evenly in the batter, crush them in a separate bowl before mixing them in.

two comments

(1) my favorite "fruity" pancakes are apple-cakes. They're fabulous. You can either dump finely chopped apples right into the batter, or, better yet, slice apples super thin and place them on top of the uncooked pancake side once you've already poured the batter. You can also sprinkle a little sugar (just a tad) on the thin apple slices, then flip and wait for the pancakes to cook. They're fabulous. The apple gets carmelized and melty, and now I'm almost drooling just thinking about it. I prefer having sugar/sweet stuff as a topping, so I skip any sugar in the batter and just sprinkle it on the apple sided cake.

(2) my favorite substitution is to use plain yogurt instead of milk. I got this idea after eating some really delicious "ricotta pancakes" at a restaurant - they have a dense, almost chewy texture with lemon that is quite nice. I haven't tried ricotta at home, but I have found that the plain yogurt duplicates this dense texture quite nicely. How the substitution goes depends on the brand of yogurt (some are more watery than others) - use your best guess and dilute with a little milk. Typically I do about 1:1 and add a tablespoon or milk. Alternately, if you make apple cakes with yogurt, add a little applesauce too. That's yummy. I've also found when I'm not in the mood for maple syrup, mixing a little yogurt and jam makes a good topping too.

When using a non-stick pan or griddle, I have found it totally unnecessary to butter or grease the pan. The amount of butter in the batter is more than enough to do the job.

Also, when melting the butter in the microwave, try putting the milk in along side. You then get warm milk and melted butter to mix together and it keeps the butter from congealing (as it does when you mix it with cold milk).

I have been delegated the role of making pancakes on sunday mornings, and have had the following finds
Use of wholmeal self raising flour gives a stronger flavour
Add a bit of olive oil instead of butter for a bit of oomph
Prepare the batter the night before - allows it to relax
I prefer vegetarian fed eggs

In addition I will try the apple recipe this sunday it sounds really good, but the girls like theirs with yougurt ice cream

when adding any berry to a batter.muffin, pancake, etc. Do not unthaw them the heat in the pan or oven will defrost them. your first mistake was thawing them in water, this thinned your batter. Second, a baker taught me that if you shake the berries in a little flour before you put them in the batter this will allow the berries to latch to the batter instead of falling to the bottom."

Anyone know what determines whether or not you get an even color on your pancakes? I tend to get the splotchy surfaces with bubble-shaped areas like here.

What I'm looking for are:

http://www.pmachinehowto.com/howtogallery/pancakes.jpg
http://www.sportalicious.com/Images/pancakes.jpg

That kind of even browning. Is it simply finding the right temperature?

Wow, these pancakes were amazing! I'm a 16 year old with possibly no cooking skills what-so-ever and I tried your recipe because everyone was out of the house when I woke up and I wanted food. :] Now, I am unoffically the Pancake King of the house. >_>

My guess is the uneven browning is caused by uneven bubbling of the batter and loss of surface contact with the pan as it cooks and starts to rise. I believe you didn't have the baking powder evenly mixed into your batter.

Did both your sides look like that? Most pancakes have a pretty side (the side that hit the griddle first) and a not as pretty side.

i tried to solve the "blueberries being unevenly distributed among pancakes" problem by dropping blueberries on the batter after it's poured on the frying pan....and the berries ended up getting singed when i turned the pancakes over, because the berries stuck out above the batter, and had no coating of batter to protect them.

After many years of cooking pancakes using plain mixes, "doctored up" mixes, and "from scratch" recipes (as presented here) I have found that they can produce a wide variety of pancakes textures. In my experience, the variation is color I find is caused by three factors: temperature, grease and batter viscosity.

1) Temperature of the griddle. Your picture looks as if the pancakes were fried at high temperature. I use an electric griddle and keep it set 375-400F. When I have tried to make pancakes while camping (where the temperature is difficult to control), mine frequently come out looking like your picture.

2) Amount of grease. Remember that the recipe said, "You don't want too much fat on the griddle or you'll be frying the pancakes"? I take a paper towel and put a small amount of vegetable oil on it (I presume you could do the same with any fat - i.e. butter, margarine, etc.), then thinly coat the griddle. Do this before it gets hot and you'll find that it take a very small amount of oil indeed (especially if your recipe already includes a fat - i.e. oil or butter).

3) Thickness of the batter. I find this to be the most variable thing about pancake batter. A thick batter will produce very thick, fluffy (sometime crumbly or cake-y) pancakes, whereas a thin batter will produce thin, tougher pancakes (a very thin batter will make a crepe!). In general, the thicker batter pancakes will brown more evenly (notice in your pictures that the 'even color' pancakes are all thicker?) The key that I have found is that the difference between "thick" and "thin" batter can be as little as 1-2 Tbsp of liquid (milk is usually what I use to thin). So, after I make up the batter, I take a look at the viscosity and add a SMALL amount of milk if necessary.

Of course, this is very subjective and requires some experience as "how thin" the batter should be (not to mention variability in personal preferences), but hopefully some of this will be useful.

Good luck, and I love the site. Reminds me a lot of AB's GEs!

Excellent,Michael. Looks great. Will try to do. :D

My wife used to complain to no end how I would buy buttermilk, use a little for some recipe, and then the rest would spoil in the fridge (spoiling bittermilk takes a long time, but I use it so rarely that it happens). I was having a tough time keeping buttermilk in the house for the once-in-a-blue-moon that I needed it.

The America's Test kitchen cookbook had a great suggestion to use dried buttermilk as a substitute in baked goods. I've only been able to find a single company that makes it (the same one they show), but fortunately it seems to be almost universally available in grocery stores (at least in Cleveland, OH and Seattle, WA).

I can notice no difference at all when I use it in baked goods (pancakes, bread, biscuits etc), but I would not recomend using it if you are making a dressing or something, as the texture is off.

Once opened, the package says that you need to keep it in the fridge, but it should keep indefinately (I suppose).

It comes in a cylindrical white container found in the baking aisle, and has a chef face on it. Sorry I can't remember the brand.

Anyways, this is a great way to keep buttermilk on hand to make wonderfull pancakes without having to worry about actual buttermilk or squeezing lemons into normal milk.

Yep, you are right, man.

I've used that recipe for years. It works fine with a seasoned steel pan or stainless or anodized aluminum. It needs a bit of butter in the pan to get started, but after that the butter in the recipe is enough to keep it from sticking even when I reduce the butter by half.

I agree that uneven browning can be caused by too much grease on the pan. The first pan full usually comes out a little uneven (but I haven't been toweling off the pan as Michael suggests) but it still tastes good.

When my kids were little, I would sometimes make a simple design like a smiley face by pouring the eyes and smile first than pouring the pancake around it so it the color difference makes the design.

This recipe from [u:a3de008bf9]The Joy of Cooking[/u:a3de008bf9] has been a family favourite for three generations. I've never found a better recipe!

BTW, who doesn't[u:a3de008bf9] like blue pancakes?[/u:a3de008bf9]

Ijust tried thesespancake and they did noy turn out good. I cooked them to dark brown and there still not done in the middle. there gos my breakfast.

How much batter did you use for each pancake? Thick batter works best with smaller sized pancakes (6-8 inches). Also, how high was your heat? (How long did it take to brown the pancakes?) If the heat is too high, the pancakes will brown faster than it can cook through. The first side should take about 2-3 minutes (before bubbles cover the top).

My experience with buttermilk has been that it keeps very well in the fridge, much longer than the date printed on carton, maybe one month more. Even so we get a quart, and use about 1/2 or 1 cup for pancakes each weekend and it is hard to use it up. But I agree I wouldn't use milk soured by whatever organism happened to be in your milk (and which had survived pasteurization), and using vinegar or lemon juice, although it works well is not really the same...

I used it in Denver, which we cool high altitude. It worked great. They were on the thin side but very tasty.

It makes about 12patties 6" Inch in Diameter Pancakes

Almost my recipe. I have developed a pancake recipe that my family and friends covet. The Basic Pancake recipe you used would be altered a bit.

Increase the Baking Powder to 2 teaspoons
Add 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar

Do use 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk

Add 2 Tablespoons of Real Sour Cream. Do Not use low/non fat versions
Instead of the butter use 3 Tablesppons of vegetable oil

I always have all my dry ingredients in one larger bowl and mix all the wet ingreients in another bowl thoroughly then pour all at once into the dry, then blend well and let sit about 3 minutes. The batter will kind of fluff and get a touch airy, don't stir it down. Just ladle out the batter on your griddle and cook as usual.

These pancakes properly made are fluffy and light with a wonderful flavor.