All of that brought me to Krusteaz buttermilk mix. Really, truly. Just add water. That's all it NEEDS to make pancakes that are light, fluffy and nearly always turn out perfect. However, don't think that you have to stop there. Just because a mix "needs" only water doesn't mean you can't still make really tasty pancakes with it. Sometimes, I add fruit - fresh blueberries are my favorite, but diced apples, bananas and peaches work equally well. If I want savory, I add garlic or corn, diced peppers or sometimes cheese!! The options are as limitless as your imagination!
The other piece to adding stuff is that I am not a huge fan of pancake syrups - they're sweet, often too sweet for me to start my day with... and they're just so.... normal. This probably goes back to when I was a little girl and my grandpa made pancakes differently than most other folks. Often, we had them with light corn syrup vs pancake syrup, which isn't as sweet and certainly is NOT maple flavored. Other times, butter was all that was needed, or maybe a touch of powdered sugar.
Today, because it was SNOWING, I wanted a warm breakfast. Yesterday exhausted me. The running around in frantic wind and rain, trying to clean up the messes that Mother Nature was making.... So I wasn't really in a mood to make a full on "mountain man" breakfast (steak, hash browns etc). The solution? Easy pancakes. I did up the ante just a bit by adding 2 tbsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the mix. It was perfect. Even LD who loves syrup on his pancakes, opted NOT to dip most of them in the syrup, butter was enough.
Cooking perfect pancakes is not as difficult, messy or labor intensive as you may think. However, it largely depends on your definition of "perfect." Around here, that translates into, more often than not, NO crispy edges, and a thinner pancake that is less cake-like than others. I'm not here to berate anyone who loves crispy edges on their pancakes. Nor am I begrudging anyone who wants thick cake-like pancakes. They're just not for us at breakfast time. There is one exception to the "no crispy edges" rule - and that is when it comes to the savory pancakes. But there's also the rule around here, that savory pancakes aren't breakfast pancakes. So for the purposes of this post, here's what you need for our version of perfect breakfast pancakes:
1 large, nonstick, electric griddle. The bigger the better - also helps warm plates!
Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix & your choice of additives
A place to warm your plates
A good, sturdy, yet flexible spatula - should be wide enough to fit under your WHOLE pancake. The other key to a perfect pancake is that your spatula should be THIN - too thick and you can damage the edge when you're trying to slide it under the pancake. Mine is plastic and VERY thin... almost like a metal one.
Notice anything missing? such as OIL or some sort of cooking spray? That's right... with these, there's NO NEED for any of that stuff!!
For today's pancakes, I cooked them on a preheated griddle at about 280 degrees. As the griddle is preheating sick a couple of your plates under it - that's right, under it. The heating element will warm your plates at the same time as it's cooking your pancakes. And, it doesn't warm them so much that they'll burn little fingers - just enough that they don't chill your pancakes before you serve them.
Add the water to the Krusteaz mix as directed on the package. Once mixed, throw in your "additives" which can be as simple as a little sugar & vanilla or as complex as several fruits. If you opt for NO additives, which we sometimes do, you can cook at a higher heat. Ladle the pancake mix onto the griddle, spacing them so they don't run and stick together. I make 4-5 inch pancakes for most of the family and cooking them 8 at once which means two people get to eat at the same time.
Your other option, for "same time" eating for the masses, is to place your pancakes on a tray or cookie sheet in the oven on the lowest setting - use caution though, you can easily dry them out and they can stick to the tray.
Making smaller pancakes has several advantages;
1. No need to go looking for a crazy large spatula
2. They're easier to maneuver and you don't get uncooked batter flying everywhere as you turn them
3. You can cook 8 or more at a time, depending on the size of your griddle - which translates to quicker service to the children swarming around your ankles.
4. They fit in the toaster - that's right - these are GREAT frozen and toasted some other morning when you want pancakes but want them even easier! Better yet, this is perfect when only ONE member of the family wants pancakes.
Here is what they look like right before they're ready to be turned - you know they're ready when about 70% of the bubbles have popped:
And after turning - what "our" perfect breakfast pancakes look like - evenly golden, with a nice creamy colored edge. They're about 1/3 of an inch thick. Because cooking times vary due to mix consistency & additives, elevation, humidity etc, you'll have to play around till you figure out what works for you. In general though, it only takes a few minutes to create a perfect pancake:
And because my little monkey likes to dip his pancakes in a cup of syrup, I always make him some that are about the size of a dollar coin (If I'm not exhausted, I sometimes make them as small as nickels!):
Here's my "short stack" complete with melted butter and a little drizzle of corn syrup... YUM!!
Today I made the smallest batch of batter based on the directions on the Krusteaz bag - 1 c of mix and 3/4 c of water. It made 13 4-5 inch pancakes and a half dozen little dippers for LD. I had 9 pancakes left over which I placed in between sheets of parchment and then into a zip lock bag and into the freezer. I now have them available when someone says, "I want pancakes," at a time when I really don't feel like cooking or cleaning up after cooking, or when no one else wants them. A short stint in the toaster makes them nearly identical to FRESH. You can even make a big batch of these over the weekend and freeze them for pancakes during the week!
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