Sunday Morning Buttermilk Pancakes

One of my favorite things as a kid was weekend breakfast. Mom and Dad both helped make these weekend breakfasts happen, normally choosing between waffles, pancakes, and country ham biscuits. All three of these recipes came from a tattered paperback copy of Betty Crocker's recipes. At some point the book's bindings came apart, leaving it in two pieces with neither a front nor a back cover. Though I transcribed the recipes for both pancakes and waffles onto recipe cards prior to moving into my first apartment and haven't opened that beat-up recipe book in over 10 years, I am pretty sure that the page number for one of these recipes is on page 82. That's how often we made them.

My friends loved Sunday morning breakfast, too. Apparently, making pancakes from scratch as opposed to using Bisquick was a foreign concept to most of them. If you've never had a made-from-scratch buttermilk pancake, make these. Even if you're not a cook, this basic recipe is tough to mess up. If you have issues, let me know what they are and I'll see what I can do to help.

Buttermilk Pancakes
taken from Betty Crocker Cookbook

In a medium bowl, combine:
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup veggie oil
Mix until all the ingredients are incorporated. The batter won't be completely smooth, but that's okay.

Heat on medium a large skillet or griddle.* If you're using teflon, there is no need to use oil, though I always do because I like the edges slightly crispy.

Pour 1/3 cup of batter per pancake. Cook on one side until bubbles form in the top of the batter. Flip. Cook 30-60 seconds more.

Place on a cookie sheet and into a warm oven (~200º) until ready to serve.

*Using high heat is probably the place where most people mess up pancakes. Using high heat will cause the outsides of the pancakes to burn while the insides never cook all the way through. Err on the side of lower heat; the worst that can happen is the pancakes take a little longer to cook.

[While plain buttermilk pancakes are my personal favorite, I'd have to say that one of the best things about pancakes are the numerous variations you can create. Here are three favorites:

For German Chocolate Pancakes, sprinkle shaved chocolate, finely diced pecans, and sweetened shaved coconut on top of the pancakes as they cook on the griddle.

For Blueberry Banana Pancakes, add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 cup mashed banana to the batter. Drop 5-6 blueberries on top of the pancakes as they cook on the griddle.

For Pumpkin Pancakes, add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, pinch of ground cloves, and 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin to the batter. If you like nuts, sprinkle finely diced walnut or pecans on top of the pancakes as they cook on the griddle.]

Serve with powdered sugar, syrup, and/or fresh fruit.

Eat up!