Monday, December 26, 2011

High Caliber Pancakes

I wasn't much in the mood to do a recipe post today, but Mrs. 45er gave me a cute pancake tracer to make fun shapes, letters and numbers for the kids.  Of course, it took a turn and I thought it would be a fun post.  Why not throw in the recipe for the good old fashioned pancakes while I'm at it?

Chernobyl Zoo
It started with requested animals.  That's a lion and giraffe in case you couldn't tell.  I guess not a bad attempt for a first time.  So, the kids got theirs and I had some time to play with extra batter.

But, of course
Lesson learned, do the shape backwards and the nice looking side will be up for viewing.

Just so we don't have to have that debate
I had to hurry on these because the kids were almost finished eating.  This means everything stops again.  I just had to do 9mm so we didn't have to argue about whether or not the 9mm pancake was filling enough to stop you from eating vs just one .45 pancake or if you needed more 9mm pancakes.

So, now for the recipe.  This is an easy one and I highly recommend it over the box mix.  It's especially nice to have around in case you are used to using instant but just don't have any.  You'll find it isn't that much harder to do and has pretty much the same ingredients.

High Caliber Pancakes


1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter or margarine (melted)
1 large egg

Large Bowl
Large Whisk or fork for mixing

The key to light, fluffy pancakes that are not too tough is to mix the batter as little as possible after wet and dry ingredients are mixed.  Stirring works the gluten in the flour and toughens the pancakes.  This is why restaurants that make large batches and have to keep stirring them end up serving tough pancakes.

Pour flour, baking powder, salt and sugar into large bowl.  Use whisk or fork to incorporate ingredients together before mixing in wet ingredients.  Melting butter in the microwave is very fast.  3 Tbsp melts in about 20 seconds in a small bowl.  Swirl if there are small pieces that haven't melted.  For wet ingredients, I recommend starting with at least a 2 cup measuring cup.  Pour in milk, crack the egg into a separate bowl to make sure it is good and there are no shell pieces.  Put egg into measuring cup with milk.  Use whisk or fork to premix these ingredients and break up the egg (less stirring of the batter).  Pour the milk/egg mixture and melted butter into the bowl at the same time.  Use the large whisk to incorporate the ingredients (a spoon is ok for this process, I find the whisk incorporates the ingredients quicker for less stirring).  All you are looking for is that the dry ingredients are mixed in and there are no huge clumps.  This will be only 7 or 8 stirs.  The batter will be lumpy and that's ok.  Do not keep mixing.  Let the batter rest for a couple of minutes before cooking.

Set flat top griddle (recommended ) at about 275 - 300 F.  A pan is obviously fine for this (medium heat), but makes cooking slow since fewer can be done at the same time.  Some recipes call for brushing oil or butter on your cooking surface.  I'm not a fan of this if you have good non-stick cookware.  The butter/oil just causes the first couple of pancakes to look funny.  Pour batter using ladle or cup with a spout into 3 - 4 inch rounds.  Cook a minute or two on the first side (until bubbles start to form and the edges are dry).  When edges are dry and underside is golden brown, flip pancake.  Cook until other side is golden brown.  Butter them up and pour on your favorite syrup.  Enjoy!

Recommended pairings - BACON.

4 comments:

  1. LOL, love the pancakes, I just cheat and use Bisquick :-)

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  2. Consider this an unpaid endorsement- I have had 45er's pancakes, and they are outstanding.

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  3. There is nothing like homemade pancakes! Good job on your lion.

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  4. NFO - It's, honestly not much different. It's like using cake mix. The dry ingredients are just mixed together for you. I will say, though, that these seem to be more moist and you use less syrup. The pancake maker is actually measured for Bisquick and you can mix it in the container.

    That Guy - an unpaid endorsement - paid for with pancakes :)

    LB - These are great for a regular weekend morning with the kids. For a real special occasion (or if I'm just feeling saucy) I go with the buttermilk pancakes (Bad Milk Pancakes recipe in the sidebar). Thanks. The lion was my youngest's request. I'm going to practice more next time. It's actually pretty fun. The maker is made by Good Cook and I got it from the wife for Xmas (FCC disclaimer there).

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