let’s talk about pancakes

Sunday mornings meant pancakes when I was growing up. We made the same pancakes every week from a recipe that was printed in pencil on the inside of an old copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I made those pancakes so many times that I didn’t need the recipe. I didn’t even measure. I could make pancakes by feel. When I would visit my grandmother in Louisiana, I would always make pancakes for supper at least once. I’m pretty sure it was her favorite supper. She ate them loaded with butter and drowning in cane syrup.

Pancakes have always been comfort food for me. My ideal breakfast is banana pancakes with extra crispy bacon and a hot, milky cup of coffee. It is not surprising that I’ve transferred my love of pancakes to my youngest children. I make them pancakes at least once a week, and often on a school day. But somewhere along the way, I forgot how to make pancakes from scratch. Somewhere along the way, we started buying pancake mix in bulk.

Evidently, my griddle is a bit uneven. 

Confession time: I’ve been making waffles since January but most of the time, I use grocery store mix to make them. And I always use mix for pancakes. Really, I don’t see how this is any better than buying Eggos. It’s time to go back to real food in the morning. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the recipe that I used growing up and the cookbook is long since gone. So I’ve begun exploring pancake and waffle mixes that are simple enough for a weekday and don’t require buttermilk (which I never have on hand).

Last week, we tried two pancake recipes. The first recipe, from Williams Sonoma’s Cooking Together, was simple enough for a weekday and called for regular milk rather than buttermilk. The kids loved these pancakes. I thought they were a bit eggy. And thin.

The second recipe that I used last week was a close approximation of the recipe that I used growing up. It comes from a 1945 copy of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. I don’t actually own the Fannie Farmer Cookbook so I don’t know how much this recipe has changed in the current version. I’m tempted to make a trip to the library. Or the bookstore. Research. Anyway, this recipe was excellent. Fluffy, tasty pancakes simple enough for a weekday and without buttermilk. I did have to add more milk than the recipe called for, but otherwise made no further adjustments. I made one batch with mashed bananas to approximate the pancakes (from mix) that the kids are used to eating, but they actually preferred the plain pancakes with this recipe. I may stop exploring. This recipe was a hit.

There is one other thing that I would like to try – making a pancake mix that I can keep in my pantry. I’ve found two that seem worth trying. Better Homes and Gardens has a recipe for a mix that includes buttermilk powder and Country Living published a recipe a LONG time ago that I cut out to make but still haven’t tried. This recipe calls for buttermilk when making the pancakes though. Maybe I can combine these? I’ll let you know how it goes. And if you have any pancake recipes or mix recipes that I should try, please, I’m all ears. And mouth.