Buttermilk Pancakes

Pancakes are an easy breakfast food to develop a love-hate relationship with. For one, the first couple times you make them, you are bound to attempt to flip them too early.  Then, after you have rearranged the batter and splatter into coherent blobs, you will likely cook them for too long on the other side, and they will then be burnt. It is also easy to skimp on the butter and oil that should be applied to the pan LIBERALLY, resulting in a residual mess that burns to a char and stick to the final batches mercilessly.

Most recent batch of blueberry guys

However, once you get the hang of it, and find a pancake recipe you like, things get easier. Confident in your mastery of the hot stack, you may even be tempted to venture into the realm of healthy pancakes---made from scratch! After mastering that mix that was in your Christmas stocking, and had a nightmare about the nutrition label, you become obsessed with adding protein, cutting a couple grams of fat, and infusing some whole grains.  Why not substitute the eggs with low-fat yogurt? Gluten-free flour blend? Sure!

Healthy(ish) pumpkin pancakes

After forcing your hung-over body to suffer through a few Sunday morning rounds of gummy, lackluster, healthy pancakes, you finally sober up and reach for your copy of Joy of Cooking.  The page with the recipe for Buttermilk Pancakes calls your name and begs for batter stains and grease spots.   Exhausted, and hungry, you collapse into its arms. Voila. It’s love.

Buttermilk pancakes

I believe the key to great pancakes is using a combination of oil and butter to fry them in, and lots of it. If you are worried about fat, don’t eat these every weekend, and for God’s sake don’t put more butter on them when you add syrup!  

I was inspired to make these most recently when S and C were describing a breakfast they had down the shore at Gilchrist’s in Atlantic City. Diner/breakfast spot pancakes are such a treat. They are light and fluffy, yet crisp around the edges. They are never under cooked,  and have a nice brown on them that provides a warm, toasty edge.  A good diner is always going to have a competitive advantage with a huge flat top to cook, grease supplies, and the perennial all-star that has been flipping flapjacks every morning for 30 years, but you can do pretty well for yourself at home and avoid a 2 hour wait.

Best breakfast spot in Margate

Buttermilk Pancakes (adapted from Joy of Cooking) 4 hearty servings

Lots of butter and canola oil for frying

2 ¼ cups of flour

4 ½ tbs sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp of baking soda

1 ½ tsp salt

2 ¼ cups of buttermilk

4 ½ tbs butter, melted

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

Have the butter cut up into tabs and the oil available near to where you are frying. I use about 1 tbs butter to a tbs of oil per batch (although I don’t always need to re-up between batches). Use your judgment, just don’t be stingy.

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Lightly beat the eggs in the bottom of another, and mix in the rest of the wet ingredients, until just combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and again, mix until just combined. 

Heat the butter and the oil over med-high heat in the skillet. Once it’s melted, and foaming just a bit, add the batter in ¼ cup portions. Cook on one side until bubbles form on the surface, and the edges have browned a little. Watch the heat, and before you flip, you may consider lowering it to medium.

Cook through on the second side, which will likely have a shorter cooking time than the first. Make sure you manage the temperature of the pan. I generally alternate between medium and medium high heat.

Serve sprinkled with powdered sugar or warm maple syrup.