I’m going to bump this for the sake of the OP, and for my related question.
I’m interested in how to make pancakes that have the texture and flavor found in pancake houses and good diners. No fruits, no spices, nothing fancy or special - just plain, ordinary pancakes to be eaten with butter and maple syrup. I’ve been using Krusteaz, sometimes with 2% milk instead of water, and the ones I make at home are okay, but they seem heavy (dense?) compared to restaurant pancakes, and I think don’t quite have the same flavor. Anyone know how to duplicate “professional grade” pancakes?
I have an absolutely fail-safe, perfect buttermilk pancake recipe that Mr. Bunny filched from an old job at a restaurant, but of course it’s at home. I’ll bring it by tomorrow.
I’m a Swede by heritage, and we take our pancakes very seriously. Mine can only take one form: very very thin. No add-ins. No fanciness. Here’s how you make 'em:
1 c. Bisquick (I like reduced-fat)
1 egg
About 1 1/4 c. milk (maybe a tablespoon or so less)
Mix all together until minimal lumps remain. Cook on griddle at approx. 350 degrees (when you flick the griddle or frying pan with water, it sizzles). When bubbles in pancakes pop, flip em. Your pancakes shouldn’t be thicker than about two or three quarters stacked on top of each other, or they’re too thick.
I eat mine with lingonberries and butter or else powdered sugar and strawberry jam. Or maple syrup and butter works too.
1 cup sifted flour
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 TBSP sugar
pinch of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (or a bit less)
1/2 TBSP cooking oil, such as canola
Mix together until not smooth. Adjust the consistency by adding either more buttermilk or more flour. Fry in a bit of butter/oil mix for that nice crunchy surface.
I also like to add a tsp of vanilla and a half tsp. of Penzey’s Baking Spice, but if you think that’s foo-foo, then forget it. Add blueberries also and you have heaven.
Thanks for bumping this, GaryT. I think NailBunny is right. Buttermilk pancakes are really really light when they’re made correctly.
The blueberry pancakes I love are buttermilk ones; don’t know how they compare to the ones that NailBunny promised, but here they are:
Blueberry Pancakes
1 egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (or about 1 cup yogurt + 1/2 cup milk)
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Beat the egg well. Add remaining ingredients, beating until smooth. Batter should be fairly thick.
Make small pancakes, sprinkling blueberries onto uncooked tops. As batter begins to bubble and edges turn slightly yellow, flip and finish cooking.
The original recipe says it makes 24 4-inch pancakes, but I don’t think I’ve ever made that many. I’ve also added pieces of peaches with the blueberries. They’re fine plain as well.
On preview, I see Chefguy’s recipe. I made apple pancakes for lunch using the Joy of Cooking recipe (it needed extra milk today); I added Penzey’s baking spice to the batter as well and have to agree…yummy.
I always found that pancakes with stuff like oil and eggs in them were heavy. I pared them down until I found my faves to be pancake mix plus milk plus fruit (banana, apple, blueberry, strawberry, or a real popular strawberry/apple/banana). Serve them with yogurt instead of pancake syrup - deeelish.
Does anyone have a recipe for pumpkin pancakes? There is a place in Cleveland, OH called Inn on Coventry that makes these and I swear, they are worth the airfare to Cleveland all by themselves.
I pound tart apples (3 or 4) 1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter or 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose
margarine flour
1/3 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg 5 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or margarine
2 large eggs 1/4 cup sugar
Pare and core apples; cut in thin slices; cook in 113 cup butter or margarine 5 minutes. Combine sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon; add to apples; cover; cook over low heat 10 minutes longer, or until apples are crisply tender. Remove from heat; cool to lukewarm. Combine eggs, milk, flour and salt; beat with rotary egg beater or electric mixer about 2 minutes (batter will be very thin). Heat I tablespoon of remaining butter or margarine in 10-inch frying pan. When hot, pour batter into pan. Bake at 450’ for 15 minutes. As soon as batter puffs up in center (about 3 minutes) puncture with skewer or fork, repeating as often as necessary. Lower beat to 350’ and bake 10 minutes longer, or until golden brown and crisp. (Batter will creep up on sides of pan, forming a shell.) Remove from oven; pour half the remaining butter or margarine over surface, sprinkle with half the remaining sugar. Spread apple mixture over half the surface; fold as for an omelet; remove to hot platter. Pour remaining butter on top; sprinkle with remaining sugar. Makes 6 servings.
Use your favorite pancake recipe, but then mash up a banana or two with a fork and whip it into the batter.
That having been said, I’ve been looking for a way to incorporate apples into our pancakes, and Christopher’s recipe is verryyyy intriguing, must try it soon.
No, no, no! Pancakes are meant to be plain, not destroyed with wishy washy ingredients:
3 dl plain normal flour, 5 dl real milk, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 3-4 eggs. Mix and let rest for half an hour. Then get the butter (real dairy salty butter) and and fryingpan and make them as thick as you want. And, you have to flip them over with the pan. I like mine a little thick, because they better soak up the juices if squishing an orange over them.
I use the basic recipe from Joy of Cooking (it’s copyrighted, so I won’t reproduce it here) with a couple of changes.
I use buttermilk, 1t baking powder, and 1t baking soda.
I also separate the eggs and whip the whites then fold them into the batter.
Things Never to forget: Sift. Use real butter in the batter. Sift. Don’t over stir the wet and the dry. Sift. Sift again for good measure. The pancakes end up extremely fluffy.
Mmm… pancakes. I know what I’m making for breakfast Saturday.
We use the buttermilk pancake recipe from The Joy Of Cooking.
I don’t have it with me, but it makes a good pancake.
That said, pancakes are one of those things where you should try a lot of different recipes, until one finally makes you go, “THIS is what I’ve been searching for.”
The waffle you showed was on what we call a waffle iron. Perhaps you call that a griddle. What she means by griddle is a large, flat pan meant to be laid on the stove, or perhaps an electric one. In either case, it really can’t be picked up for flipping.
Mine is an electric one, but yeah, definitely not a waffle iron (I have two of those, too… one regular, one Belgian). Seriously, who lives to adulthood not knowing the difference between a pancake and a waffle?! You implyin’ something about my mental state? :dubious: * Should I feel insulted here?*
