Buttermilk Pancakes

OK, everybody who likes pancakes raise your hand!  Well, I see lots of hands out there because just about everyone loves pancakes.  Golden brown, puffy, tender and tasty slathered in butter and syrup.  Sound good to you?  Yeah, me too.

But, where do you usually get pancakes like this?  Not at home.  You have to go to a someplace with a good griddle and the knack of cooking them up just right.

Over the years I’ve made some pretty good golden brown Frisbees.  If you use enough syrup they’re OK.  My kids would snarf them down along with sausage and scrambled eggs for “brinner” or breakfast.  But they weren’t that great.

One reason was that I always took the “easy” way out using “Pancake Mix” from a box—and there’s lots of different kinds from name brands to store brands.  What my tastebuds wanted and what these boxed mixes were able to provide were two different things.

So what’s the solution?  Well, you can make fantastic pancakes, just like the best cook at the greasiest greasy spoon diner whose pancakes you’ve ever loved.  It’s simple.  Make your own batter.  It takes about 5 minutes rather than the 3 minutes you spend dumping the stuff from the store-bought box into a bowl and adding water or milk according to directions.

What’s the secret?  There isn’t one!  But if you’re a Cheap Bastid like me, you’ve got all the ingredients at home right now to make tastier, fluffier pancakes cheaper than from a box.

So here’s my recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes.  You’ll see the “fizzy bubbles” in the batter—that’s good because it’s what makes for light, airy and tasty pancakes that will absorb the syrup and be really tasty.  You’ll see the golden color they get when you’re cooking them—turning to a nuttier brown if you leave them on the griddle a couple of extra minutes.

(Print version at bottom of post)

Buttermilk Pancakes

Ingredients
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups buttermilk*
• 2 tsp butter or margarine melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cooking oil

Instructions

• Get out 1 large bowl and 1 medium bowl, a spoon and small ladle as well as a 12” skillet.
  • In the medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt; set aside.
  • Combine 1 cup of the buttermilk with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, vanilla and the eggs.
  • Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Gently combine.
  • Here’s the trial and error part–add additional buttermilk as needed—you’ll probably use most, if not all, of the 2 cups.
  • The batter should be fairly thick and lumpy, but pourable. Don’t overmix—leave it just a bit lumpy.  Let it sit while you get the skillet set up on the stove.
  Heat a griddle or non-stick skillet over medium heat, add additional butter, non-stick spray or cooking oil to the pan.  Turn oven on to “warm”.  Get a platter with a papertowel on the bottom for the finished pancakes.
  • Check the batter.  It should be a bit bubbly and airy.  And it may have thickened a bit—if so add 1-2 final tbsp buttermilk.
  • How big do you want your pancakes?  About 1/3-1/2 cup will get you 6” pancakes—just about perfect! 
  • Use the ladle or a ½ cup measuring cup to gently pour batter into the skillet with a circular motion.
  • (Hint:  Do a half size “test pancake” to check the consistency of the batter and the heat of the skillet).
  • Flip the pancakes over when they begin to bubble up and the “shiney” starts to fade on the top.
  • These are going to only take a couple of minutes per side.  When done, put the pancakes on the serving platter and slide into the warm oven.
  • This should make about 10 or so 6-inch pancakes.
  • *Buttermilk—don’t have any?  Make your own.  It’s simple, just take a cup of milk and add about 1 ½ tbsp of white vinegar (or lemon juice) to it.

(print version at bottom of post)

These are going to be light and airy and tasty—if you cook them just a hint past golden brown they’ll get a bit of “nutty” flavor.

And you can customize your pancakes.  Drop some chocolate chips into the pancake when you first pour it into the skillet.  When you flip it, they’ll start to melt and will be really, really tasty—These have always been my daughter’s favorite.  Or you can take some drained, canned crushed pineapple and drop it on the top before flipping too.

You can make an apple topping by peeling and chopping a couple of apples and then tossing them into a skillet on medium for a few minutes with butter/margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon and a tablespoon of brown sugar.  Get creative!

And brown up some sausage patties or links.  Fry some bacon.  Make some scrambled eggs or fried eggs.   The pancakes will keep in the warm oven while you’re finishing off the meal.

This makes for a terrific breakfast of brunch AND we really love it for BRINNER!

The Cheap Bastid Test:  2 cups of flour costs about 30 cents.  2 eggs set us back about 40 cents.  That little bit of milk and margarine runs another 40 cents.  Call the whole thing $1.25.  Now that’s cheap and easy and tasty!  At a restaurant, you’d pay at least $3 per person for a short-stack of 6” pancakes.

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way:  Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!