What I Made Wednesday {Best Pancakes from Scratch}

Some of you are probably thinking, "Yeah, right! Like I have time to make pancakes in the morning that doesn't come out of a box found in the freezer section." Or, maybe your thinking, "I make pancakes. Me and my box of Bisquick do just fine, thank you." Ready-made mixes from a box? Homemade, maybe. From scratch, not a chance! Unless, of course you have Dextrose, Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, or Monocalcium Phosphate hiding on your baking shelf? 

Delicious pancakes come from simple ingredients. This recipe is taken from Where's Mom Now That I Need Her (great graduation gift, by the way), and has never failed in producing the fluffiest, tastiest pancakes ever. Don't buy another manufactured pancake ever again! Make a double batch of this recipe and freeze them for those hurried mornings. It's less expensive and doesn't contain any ingredients found in a science lab.

What You'll Need

2 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup milk
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar





What You'll Do

Pre-heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees F. These work best! If on the stovetop, pre-heat a non-stick pan to medium heat (stoves can vary).

  1. Beat the eggs, milk, and oil together until well-combined.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Mix gently until just combined.

3. Allow batter to sit for 5-minutes. I find this time activates the baking powder for the fluffiest pancakes!

4. Pour your pancake batter onto the hot griddle. Make huge pancakes, make silver dollars. You control the size!

Do you know the trick to baking THE.BEST.pancakes? If you don't already know, I'm about to tell you one of the wonders of the baking world. Ready? You can't time a good pancake. I can't tell you "after 2 minutes flip the pancake". Why? Because pancakes are like your kids - they are all different even though they came from the same batter.

So, how does one know when to flip? You watch for the bubbles! The bubbles that begin to surface through the batter and on top of the pancake is your signal to flip. Got it? The secret is in the bubbles. Once a good amount of popped bubbles fill the surface, go ahead and flip it over.

Then, you only need no more than a minute on the other side. Some people like their pancakes dark and crispy, some light and soft. The other side is up to you.

What You Need to Know to Finish

Before you start warming up that maple syrup (don't talk to me if you use that watered down sugar water companies try to pass off as syrup), let's get creative!

Think about other ways you can make your pancakes your own. I like to put chocolate chips in mine! As soon as I pour the batter, I plop down several chips scattered across the top of the batter. I still look for the bubbles to pop, then I flip.

Try blueberries. Try cranberries. So yummy. And, sometimes, when I'm in a real hurry, I warm up a pancake in the morning and spread Nutella on it like it was toast. So good, and portable.

I have a family of 3 and the batch above usually leaves us with no pancakes leftover. If I want to freeze some, I always make a double batch. It comes out great! If freezing is your intention, be sure to cool down the pancakes completely. Then, grab a freezer bag, stack the pancakes, and place in the freezer. When you're ready, re-heat the pancakes in a toaster oven on 300 degrees F for 5 minutes. So good, so quick, so cheap, and made with ingredients you can pronounce.

Come on, you can do this!