Pancakes
Some of us tend to shy away from pancakes because they take a bit of time -- and they do, but not as much as you might think! These would be great for a weekend morning, when you have a bit more time. This recipe makes light and fluffy pancakes with a minimum of ingredients.
The secret of successful pancakes is getting the pan to the right temperature, with the right amount of oil. Use a heavy skillet, and a very small amount of oil, which you then rub over the surface of the hot skillet with a paper towel.
Ingredients
Directions
Put the plates you will be serving pancakes on in a 180 degree F oven to warm. This is important, as pancakes cool down fast. You will also be putting the finished pancakes on one of the plates to keep warm until you have cooked them all.
Heat skillet over medium-high heat until quite hot. Pour in oil, then spread it around with a paper napkin or towel (it's best to use your spatula to do this, as that pan is HOT!). Keep the oily paper towel, as you will use it to regrease the skillet between batches of pancakes.
Combine flour and baking powder in a mixing bowl, stir thoroughly to evenly distribute baking powder.
Add egg and milk, stir well. Allow to sit for about fifteen seconds to let the baking powder start to "work". The mixture will look a little fizzy around the edges.
Make sure your skillet is well greased.
Pour a small amount of batter into the skillet, making a circle about three and one half inches in diameter. Repeat, but leave yourself plenty of room to flip the pancakes! I can get three efficiently into my 12 inch skillet.
Bubbles will start to rise in the top of the pancakes. When one pops and a hole remains, it's time to flip that pancake.
After the pancakes are flipped, watch them again. You will see the middle puff up slightly, as the underside is cooked. That's when it's time to take them off the heat.
Place the cooked pancakes on one of the plates in the warm oven.
Regrease your pan with the oily paper towel and repeat the entire process until all pancakes are cooked.
You're done! Serve with butter or margarine, syrup, honey, jam, whipped cream, whatever! See Variations for other suggestions.
Variations
If you wish you can omit the egg and add 1 teaspoon of yogurt instead. I do this when I'm out of eggs!
You can replace 1/3 to 1/2 of the all purpose flour with another flour, such as whole wheat or buckwheat. More than that proportion will make for heavy pancakes.
Pancakes don't have to be served only with honey or syrup for breakfast! These pancakes are thin and light, and can be served as a base for a savory meat dish as well. Try them sometime with creamed chicken, or another meat mixture of your choice. You can also serve them as a dessert, with a topping of jam and whipped cream or hot spiced cooked apples.