Pancakes

 

In all honesty, this is a tough one for me.  I know, it's just Pancakes, simply a food, right, and this recipe is mad delicious.

And, in all honesty, I never once expected in my life to have strong emotions tied to a particular food either.  I suppose I'm a sensitive sort.

Given our current situation, I'm feeling hesitant to share this Pancakes recipe too for fear of Murphy's Law-ing or hexing myself as I am the walking definition of Murphy's Law.

See, I love Pancakes.  Always have.  Out to breakfast growing up?  Pancakes.  Special occasion or holiday growing up?  Pancakes.  Out to breakfast as an adult?  Pancakes.  Breakfast for dinner?  Pancakes.  You get the gist.  Pancakes.  All in.

I used to buy the box of Bisquick and that was certainly good.  Sometimes I or we weirdly just couldn't get through the box fast enough though and for whatever reason, it had to be wastefully tossed.

One day I came across this recipe and thought huh, well, that sounds incredibly easy, I have everything on hand, it's just as effortless to pull together, and bonus, doing-ahead a small batch of mix at a time eliminates wasted stuff.  Win all around!

We tried it and in my opinion, it's the best.  Infinitely better than Bisquick, or out I dare say, hands down.

Yes, it's winter light.  Yes I made these for dinner so it was dark.  Sorry about the photos but try the pancakes!

Now indeed, this recipe does call for buttermilk.  Pick up a jug and if you have leftovers, I've got plenty of other recipes here to help you use it up.  Or, and I haven't tried it, you can do the tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar then fill the measuring cup up to one cup with milk and let sit five minutes trick among others.

Or, if you're ready for some power baking (yes!) or desire a larger quantity of buttermilk around, make it yourself!

Or, skip the buttermilk.  This recipe works with solely milk but I'd encourage you the buttermilk route for tastier, fluffier, and better results.

So.  Ok.  Now for what I alluded to above.  Feel free to skip ahead to where you see "anyway."

I stopped eating Pancakes for over six and a half years.  Could barely even look at them.

In July 2014, one normal Sunday morning, Mike just finished making breakfast consisting of these Pancakes, a forkful touching my lips when suddenly and unexpectedly, my sweet pea Hailey died right under my feet.  It was traumatizing to say the very least.

Since that awful day that still rips my heart out to think of, the mere thought of Pancakes brought tears to my eyes.  My lips curling in if Mike offered me a bite.  Pancakes were a solid no.

I tried all sorts of workarounds over the years, dancing close but not quite like Welsh Cakes (which mmm, outstanding, yum) or Dutch babies or other closely tied breakfast items. 

Eventually, one morning in 2021 I said to Mike, ok, I think I can try Pancakes again.  "Are you sure?" he gently queried.  He'd been immensely patient with me.  I said yes, let's try.  I struggled, it was a quiet breakfast, I felt tears welling, but I was ok. 

Not gonna lie, I still feel a tinge of pain and sadness every time we have them but they are back in rotation.

So why is this Pancakes post hard today?  Well, I'm still damaged over that day, Hailey's loss, and surely always will be.  But Finn.  Now it's Finn's cancer and the intense trials of this year with this health.  I don't want to lose him by saying any of this.

Again, I'm panicked I'm cursing myself by these words in print, bringing to light the sad feelings around Pancakes.  I'm not a superstitious person but I feel it sometimes.

Why am I sharing all this if it's unnerving?  Maybe I'm hoping to neutralize bad juju, flip the script.  Bring luck and good.

And right, yes, I know, it's just a food.  A good food.  Get over it!   But.  I am who I am.  Truth be told, I have similar issues with Hot Chocolate and workplaces but less, shall we say, mortal.

The human brain, 'tis a whack-a-do funny thing.

Anyway. 

Not to freak you out and turn you off.  Probably too late.  Apologies if I have.  I'm merely human.  But these Pancakes, they are delectable.

Originally I found the recipe eons ago in a Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine and I'm having the absolute worst time finding a link online.  As in, I can't.

The recipe makes a double-ish batch of dry mix though I fill an airtight container* with several batches, multiply the double-ish batch by three or four at a time, whatever fits.  Scoop out whatcha need and whisk it up.

Right, very simple.  So, do the do-ahead and the rest is cake.

Grab a medium sized mixing bowl* or I like to use a glass four cup measuring cup* and let's get mixing.

First, let's melt the butter so it is melted and has a spot of time to slightly cool.  You can use oil if you rather but I'm a butter gal, prefer the flavor and the end result so I haven't tried oil.

Crack your egg into your mixing vessel, give that a light whisk* around. 

Go scoop out a cup and a quarter of the dry pancake mix and toss it in.

Next, pour in your buttermilk and milk, gently whisk-stir then stream in the melted butter while mixing.  Now, be sure to not over-mix here; a few small balls of flour are no biggie.

The way I like the finished batter to be?  Thick.  If it's thicker, the Pancakes are taller and fluffier.  If it's thin, so will be the Pancakes so very much resist the urge to thin the batter.

Here, this is where Mike takes over as he's the Breakfast King.  He uses a flat skillet* or reversible flat griddle pan* on the stove, heats it up, gives a light cooking oil spray, and pours out dollops, cooking until the edges are dry and bubbles appear throughout.

When I make them, I usually screw up the first one hence only one here, heh.  Bubbles forming!

Flip,* flop onto plates, grab the syrup, it's breakfast time!

But!  I didn't screw it up!  Woot!

Play with them at will; drop in some berries, chocolate chips, spice them up, what-have-you but I consider them perfect as-is with just some real maple syrup.  Preferably Mike's Uncle Bill's upper Michigan homemade syrup but that is a rare, highly sought-after commodity!

Yum yum, my friends!  Hope you love these as much as I do.  And, too thanks for allowing me to share some human stuff with you.

*The airtight food containers, mixing bowls, four cup measuring cups, whisks, flat skillets, reversible flat griddle pans, and spatulas are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.