Waking up with a craving for pancakes is no unusual thing for me. When it happens, if we have time and want to spend the money on a meal out, we rouse the child (she sleeps until 9 AM!) and cart her to our local breakfast chain. Until recently, this worked like a charm; I’d leave the restaurant with my quarterly pancake craving satiated. But lately I’ve been super unimpressed with restaurant pancakes. I eat them, I eat the egg or the bacon or whatever they come with and I just walk away feeling…full. At first I thought it was circumstantial, like maybe I was just eating "emotionally" and not even a delicious pancake could make me feel satisfied. Then I thought all the Barefoot Contessa and Gwyneth Paltrow recipes I’ve been preparing have turned me into a food-elitist and I’ll never be satisfied by a chain restaurant pancake again. Then I thought it might be the fake Aunt Jemima-ish syrup most restaurants serve instead of real maple syrup, but upon further reflection, I don’t think the syrup can make or break the pancake. Finally I thought it might be the chain. Perhaps they changed their recipe? I’ve been around long enough to see really popular products change their packaging or their recipes and to see well-loved cosmetics inexplicably discontinued, so I really thought I might have found my solution: I’d try a place in San Antonio famous for its pancakes and abandon my attempt to find a great pancake at a chain.
Ivory and I drove 15 minutes outside of town for this pancake. It wasn’t a big deal at the time, but to see it in writing makes it seem like I may have been a teensy bit obsessed. Anyway – the restaurant smelled like the nail salon next door, which automatically registered as not great. We shared a short stack and scrambled eggs and…. Nothing. I was amazed that people wait in line for hours on the weekends for these pancakes.
So, it finally dawned on me that I should try to make the darn things at home. I’d made pancakes at home before, but I’d always thought restaurant pancakes were better. Since that was obviously no longer the case, I decided I should up the ante and buy a deluxe pancake mix hoping to match the restaurant quality of yore. I bought a brand that looked pretty fancy to me and proceeded to make several batches of pancakes on several mornings spread out over a period of several weeks, each one more disappointing than the last. I didn’t think it could be the mix because a pancake is a tricky thing to get just right. I assumed I had been cooking them too long on one side or not long enough on the other or mixing the batter too thick or too thin or using too much or too little heat. Then one morning, I decided to pull out all the stops and make them from scratch. Also, I was out of pancake mix.
I Googled a recipe and found one that looked simple enough and which didn’t require buttermilk, since I never keep it in the house. Unfortunately I don’t have the link for the recipe because I can’t remember where I found it, but if the person who came up with it happens upon this blog (sha right) I will gladly give him or her credit if he or she should email me demanding it.
Anyway, I cannot tell you (though I will proceed to try) how delicious these pancakes were. (Take that last statement to heart or not, depending on your sensitivity to too high expectations.) Though the original recipe did not call for using one, I buttered up my cast iron skillet on medium-high heat and cooked each quarter-cupful for 2 minutes on either side. The result was a freaking awesome pancake with a slightly crunchy, buttery shell and a deliciously fluffy interior. Holy cow, folks, welcome to breakfast. Seriously amazing. Michael and Ivory inhaled them and I had to restrain myself from having seconds (I’m trying to eat like a French person because I heard they don’t get fat).
I tried making them a second time in a regular non-stick skillet and let me tell you, the difference was noticeable. They were still delicious, but not blog-worthy delicious.
You’re probably wishing I had pictures of these pancakes so you could verify their existence, but unfortunately, I just started this blog and the pancake-making took place a couple of weeks ago. Next time I make them I’ll post pictures.
It’s so wonderful that the solution to my pancake dilemma ended up being something so simple. It’s way cheaper to make them from home. And it’s totally satisfying on a non-edible level to make something from scratch and have it turn out well. Who knew the satisfying-on-all-levels pancake was just a bowl full of batter away the whole time?
So, voila, here it is, the culmination of months and months of searching:
Delicious, easy, cheap, Perfect Pancakes:
In addition to the edible ingredients, you will need:
Cast-iron skillet (buy a pre-seasoned one or season it yourself. Google can tell you how to do that - Google's such a genius!)
Sifter
(You’ll also need a large bowl, liquid and dry measuring cups -if you make the distinction- and measuring spoons)
3 T. butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1 ½ c. White Flour (you could use wheat, but after you taste them you probably won’t want to risk altering the texture)
3 ½ t. Baking Powder
1 T. White sugar
1 ¼c. Milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1. Pour dry ingredients into a sifter and sift into a large bowl.
2. Using the bottom of a ¼ cup measure, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients & pour in wet ingredients. You can either pour them in all at once if you’ve mixed them together already or you can pour them in one at a time, it makes no difference.
3. Stir until well mixed. Batter will be a little lumpy.
4. Heat your "seasoned" cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for a few minutes and then melt 1 Tablespoon of butter in the pan.
4. Pour ¼ c. batter onto heated, buttered skillet. (If you’re using a griddle, it should be at 375, but don’t use a griddle) Add 1 T of butter to the pan between batches as needed.
5. Cook pancakes for about 2 minutes on one side (until small bubbles form and pop on the surface of the pancake) and about 2 minutes on the flip side.
6. Drizzle with real Maple Syrup and consume with reckless abandon.
Makes about 10 pancakes.
I hope you enjoy these as much as I have.
Love,
Katherine
