How to Make Pancakes

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“Selling like hot cakes” is a common phrase and for good reason. Pancakes are quick to make and delicious. If you are new to cooking, making pancakes from scratch is a great place to start. With a little mixing and a little cooking, you’ll be on your way to becoming a first-rate chef.

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There are many variations to the pancake recipe, but I bet you have the ingredients to make a decent pancake in your kitchen right now. A good basic recipe to start you on your way to making pancakes from scratch is this one:

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Mix the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. If you have a whisk, use it, and make sure the ingredients are well mixed otherwise you can use a fork.
In another bowl, beat the egg, then add the milk and oil. Mix until it is thoroughly combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk them together for about a minute. The mixture should be a bit lumpy.

Now the cooking part. If you have a griddle heat, it up or use a large cast iron skillet. If all else fails, just use the largest frying pan you have and heat it up. How Hot? Generally a medium flame will do. To test whether the pan or griddle is hot enough, just take a drop of water and drop it onto the hot surface, if it dances, you are good to go.

Now pour about a third of a cup of batter into the pan. This isn’t exact. If you want larger pancakes, pour more. For smaller pancakes pour less batter. It will take about two minutes to cook the first side. You will know when it is done when the bubbles that will form on the top pop. Flip it over and let it cook for a minute more. When the flap jacks, as pancakes are sometimes called, are golden brown, put them on a plate and enjoy.

Crepe Expectations

Now that you are an expert on making pancakes from scratch, it is time to move up to the fancy stuff. Crepes are very much like pancakes. They are flat. They are yummy, and if you want to impress people with your culinary expertise, there is no easier way than putting a plate of hot crepes in front of them. With some strawberries and a bit of powdered sugar, you have a gourmet breakfast.

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons whole milk
Pinch salt
4 1/2 teaspoons melted unsalted butter

Put the flour, eggs, milk, salt, and 4 1/2 teaspoons of butter in your blender and blend to form a smooth, thin batter. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before proceeding.

Heat up a crepe pan. If you don’t have a crepe pan, don’t panic. Use a 6-inch non-stick pan and heat it over a medium flame. When it is hot (see the method for testing if your pan is hot enough above), put a touch of butter in it and let it melt. Just a little butter goes a long way, you just want to coat the pan. Add enough batter to barely cover the bottom of the pan and cook it for 30 seconds. When the crepe is firm enough to flip, flip it over. Plan to throw this first crepe in the trash. Inevitably, the first crepe always falls apart.

In classic French cooking, a crepe should have no color, but in real life, that is just to insane to worry about. If your crepe is lightly browned, it is perfect. Make as many as you have batter for at one time, the batter won’t keep long, but the crepes freeze very well. You can fill them with Nutella or jam or just powder them with sugar. Crepes are rather versatile. They are even used to make manicotti in restaurants.

Adding Texture

Now that you can make pancakes from scratch and whip up a crepe with ease, it’s time to move away from things that are as flat as Kansas. Waffles are just another variation of the pancake from scratch recipe. You probably have a waffle iron in your kitchen. Plug it in, and while it heats, gather the following:

1 1/3 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups milk
½ cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

By now you should know the drill.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Add the wet to the dry all at one time.
Whisk until mixed but just a touch lumpy.
Pour about a cup of the batter onto the waffle iron and close.
When the waffle is golden brown, take it out, eat and repeat.

Making Pancakes from Scratch

The best part about learning how to make pancakes from scratch is that you pretty much always have the ingredients in your kitchen. They are great by themselves or you can drop some blueberries into the batter as they cook or serve them with eggs or use buckwheat flour or add bananas or...ok you get the point.

Now go play with your food!