How to make pancakes from scratch like a badass pro

November 10th, 2015

Appliance Talk Humour Ovens & Cooking Recipes

Roaming the aisles of my local supermarket the other day, hunting and gathering my household’s weekly food supply, I was struck by a sudden craving.

A craving for something sweet, or maybe something savoury. A craving for a breakfast treat that goes beyond mere toast and coffee.

A craving… for pancakes.

What inspired this craving? Why, a fully-loaded shelf of pre-packaged pancake mix, available in all manner of flavours.

These weren’t the mixes I saw (here in ‘straya, “Hungry Jacks” means something VERY different, but you get the idea (source: Mike Mozart on Flickr)

I found myself reaching for one of these bad boys when my brain kicked in and brought me to a halt. Why should I make pancakes with a pre-made mix when all the ingredients I needed were also available in the same building?*

The question had to be asked… was I a bad enough dude to make my own pancakes?

If you’re feeling brave, bold and badass, here’s what you’ll need to make pancakes from scratch**:

Basic pancake recipe

source: Brandon Martin-Anderson on Flickr

(sourced with love from Louise at Best Home Chef):

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tspn baking powder
• 100g unsalted butter (melted)
• 3 tspn sugar
• 2 x eggs
• 2 cups milk

Method

(15 mins prep time, 20 mins cooking time)

1. Combine flour, baking powder and sugar in a bowl (your pancakes will be extra fluffy if you sift the flour first).

2. Add eggs, milk, and butter and whisk.

3. For best results, let your batter thicken up in the fridge for 1 hour. You can even make the batter ahead of time and store overnight. However, this step is not strictly necessary – it’s a matter of personal preference.

4. Heat your pan on your cooktop or stove (alternatively, it is possible to cook pancakes on a clean barbeque, or one with its flat plate covered in greaseproof paper) and add a little extra butter to make sure the pancakes don’t stick. Ladle about 1/3 cup of pancake batter into the pan. When you see the bubbles come through, flip the pancake over with a spatula, then cook for a further 3 minutes, or until both sides are evenly brown.

5. Repeat with remaining batter. Cooked pancakes can be placed on a plate and wrapped in a tea towel to keep warm. Alternatively, place in the oven on a low heat (about 100°C) until ready to serve.

Beyond the basics – pancake variations to try

Savoury style

If you are planning to make savoury pancakes, just omit the sugar from the standard recipe to prevent too much clashing of flavours… unless you’re into that sort of thing (more on this later!).

Pikelets

The Aussie pikelet is essentially just a miniature pancake, so just use the standard pancake recipe above and pour it out in smaller servings. Easy.

Substituting buttermilk

This ingredient’s name may imply a thick milk, full of fat and oil, but that’s a falsehood. Instead, it’s a tart and tangy by-product of butter production, which can give your pancakes a noticeably different (and delicious) flavour. Plus, mildly acidic buttermilk will react with the baking powder in your pancake recipe, producing more carbon dioxide for bigger air bubbles, giving you thicker, fluffier results!

The buttermilk is on the right – see the residue? (source: Ukko-we on Wikimedia Commons)

You can buy buttermilk at the supermarket, but if you’re commited to this “from scratch” concept, an alternative idea would be to pick up some heavy cream instead, and churn the heck out of it until its buttermilk content separates from it. Plus, as a bonus, you get free butter!

How to make crepes

A flatter version of the pancake, the crepe can be found at any number of market stalls around the world, and now, in your very own home!

source: Wikimedia Commons

To make crepes, prepare a thinner version of the pancake batter above. Use one less egg, one less cup of flour, and get rid of the sugar entirely, and you’ll end up with crisp, savoury crepes… though adding sweet toppings remains 100% valid!

Speaking of which…

Pancake topping ideas

Pancakes by themselves? What’s the point? Seriously?

source: Japanexperterna.se on Wikimedia Commons

Here’s a short list of ideas for things to go on your pancakes, so you can create taste sensations to sweep the nation:

• Cream
• Jam
• Honey
• Maple/Golden syrup
• Fruit (banana, berries, citrus, even pineapple!)
• Bacon (bacon pancakes, makin’ bacon pancakes… this actually combines surprisingly well with sweet pancakes, and maple syrup)
• Nuts (macadamias! almonds! peanuts!)

Don’t be afraid to mix, match and combine differnt toppings into strange and wonderful new flavour combinations. I once demolished a plate of hotcakes in a Hobart cafe that were topped with pear, syrup and peanuts, making it like eating some kind of fluffy peanut brittle with a tangy chaser. *drools*

Enjoy pancakes responsibly, you magnificent badass!

*Well, convenience, obviously. Using a mix saves a fair amount of time and effort when it comes to making pancakes. There’s no shame in resorting to a box or bottle of this stuff if that makes things easier.

**Okay, technically not from scratch. We’re not going to grow wheat and grind it into flour, or hatch eggs into chickens and raise them to lay more eggs, like that guy who made that sandwich from scratch.