The other day I came across an 'instant pancake mix' at the supermarket. The instructions said to add eggs, milk, and melted butter. Come on, that's like 75% of the way to homemade! I can't in fairness criticize anyone too strongly for choosing the 'instant' option since many people don't have the time to take photos of their food let alone cook it, but who is so busy that the hassle of mixing together flour, baking powder, and sugar is worth trading for an overpriced box of self-raising flour with, inexplicably, added preservatives?
The fact is, if you have time to measure milk and eggs, heat a pan, and cook the things then you have time to make them from scratch. You could conceivably make these on a weekday morning, but why bother? Leave cereal and toast to the 7 am starts and save making pancakes for the weekend, when you can enjoy the luxury of being able to jump back into bed to eat your cooked breakfast. You don't need to get fancy with whisked egg whites or ricotta cheese to make great pancakes (by all means try them for a change), and I've settled on a recipe that is easy, consistent, and delicious.
Pancakes
Ingredients (makes 14 pancakes):
- 2 eggs
- 1 3/4 cups of milk
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 cups plain flour
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 60g melted butter
1. Whisk together the eggs and the milk. Add the caster sugar.
2. Sift in the plain flour and baking powder, then stir with a whisk to combine. Stir in the melted butter and let the mixture sit for at least 15 minutes before cooking the pancakes.
3. To cook, heat a non-stick pan1 to medium-hot and add about 1 tsp of butter. Pour 1/4 of a cup of batter into the pan2 per pancake and cook until bubbles appear on the upper surface (about 2-3 minutes). Flip and cook for a further 1-2 minutes.3
(1) You don't have to use non-stick but it makes things so much easier. Plus if you care about these sorts of things, you'll use less cooking oil/butter
(2) For round pancakes, pour the batter quickly and into the center of the pan, letting it pool into a circle naturally.
(3) It's important to wait until the pan is hot enough before you start cooking to avoid 'the second pancake' (hey, that's the name of this site!) syndrome. The heavier the pan, the longer it will need to be preheated (but the better it'll retain heat). Medium hot works on my stove with by pan, but yours may differ. If they're getting too dark on the bottom before the top bubbles, turn it down. If they're pale and slow to cook, turn it up.
wow, those are some fantastic looking pancakes. Beautiful picture. I'm on a gluten free diet, so we've been having gluten free pancakes on Saturday mornings now, everyone loves them. A great weekend breakfast indeed. :)