Summer is here. Bake something summery :)

May 20, 2011

Buttermilk Pancakes with Maple Syrup & Butter

How do you imagine your perfect breakfast? Would it be on Monday, Tuesday or maybe at the weekend? For me, breakfast is the best part of the day. I love having huge breakfast and if it were possible I'd have it at least three times a day :D I try to eat healthy so usually I eat porridge, yoghurt or cornflakes (okay, that's not healthy) but it's so hard when I could eat chocolate, buns, cakes and so much more! And that's how it goes. I get up, drink a cup of water or milk and then I prepare the best breakfast dish - at least for me. Do you know what it is? Oh, yeah, you're right. The good old buttermilk pancakes. So, do you wanna try them, too?

(More on Wiki.) Pancakes are thin, flat, round cakes prepared from a batter, and cooked on a hot griddle or frying pan. They are cooked one side on a griddle and flipped partway through to cook the other side. They are also called hotcakes, griddlecakes, or flapjacks, but mostly you'll find them as pancakes. American and Canadian pancakes are almost often made with baking powder and baking soda. Usually they're sweet, without any spices except for vanilla (or vanilla extract), but sometimes you can find recipes that call for other spices. Traditional pancakes are quite thick compared to e.g. French pancakes called "crepes" or even to our Czech pancake called "palačinka" (read pah-lah-tchin-kah).  Their thickness is aprox. 1cm. The most common topping is usually maple syrup and butter, but you can eat them with chocolate, fruit, ice cream etc. :) Possibilities are endless.


The batter consists of flour, eggs, granulated sugar, milk or buttermilk, butter, salt and raising agents. Much more usual is the use of milk, but I prefer using buttermilk as this gives me the best fluffy pancakes with wonderful taste. Make sure all ingredients are room temperature otherwise the wet ingredients could curdle and you'd have to spend additional time fixing the problem. It is very important not to over mix the batter - when you're combining the dry and wet ingredients there SHOULD BE lumps, not too big, not too small. These lumps will disappear during frying and provide the desired bubbly texture and light taste. Another trick is that you set aside the batter for about 45-60 minutes prior to frying - again, the batter will develop the right texture, bubbles and all flavours will mix together and create the best pancake taste :D


I've made a small research and found out that the ideal size of the ladle (which you use to pour the batter on the pan) is about 75ml - this creates the perfect pancake size and you don't even need a circle form to make them perfectly round. Oh, and make sure you don't spread the batter once you pour it on the pan, just let it spread by itself. By the way, I've noticed that the approximet serving size is five pancakes, 1 tbsp butter and maple syrup to taste. Wow! That's quite a lot! I gotta say I've tried it and it was just too much. I ate the whole portion, left out my lunch and dinner - so full I was :)


For these pancakes I encourage you to only use the real butter - no shortening or margarine will do the trick. Nope, only the real thing works this time. As for the maple syrup, here it depends on your personal preference. I like maple syrup by Steeves Maples even though it's not 100% pure, but it tastes delicious (at least I like it much more than the pure syrup which has a very specific taste that I can't seem to like).

My recipe is a summary of many pancake recipes you can find. Generally, they all are very similar only with small differences. I'd love you to try the recipe without any tweaks to see how wonderful they are and then you can try to change this and that, but please, give this classic a chance and you'll be surprised how perfect it is!

Ingredients:
520g (4 cups) all-purpose flour, sifted
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
110g (1/2 cup+1 tbsp) granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
4 eggs, room temperature
960ml (4 cups) buttermilk, lukewarm
110g (1/2 cup) butter, melted
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
hot maple syrup for drizzling
butter for greasing + serving

Directions:
In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt. In another bowl beat together eggs, lukewarm buttermilk, melted butter and pure vanilla extract. Now pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir until JUST blended. Do NOT over mix the batter - there should be small lumps (don't try to remove them otherwise your pancakes will be tough). Then let the batter rest for 45-60 minutes. Heat a frying pan (or griddle) over medium heat and lightly brush the pan with a teaspoon or so of butter. Using a ladle (75ml), pour the pancake batter onto the hot pan. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, turn over (the first pancake isn't perfect almost ever) and cook until brown again. Repeat with remaining batter (don't brush with butter anymore if using non-stick pan and instead brush the cooked pancake when removed from the pan). Serve immediately (pile up 3 to 5 pancakes with lots of hot maple syrup and a tablespoon of butter)!

  • If you don't have buttermilk, pour 4 tbsp of fresh lemon juice into a measuring cup and add enough milk to get 960ml. Mix well and set aside for 10 minutes. Now you have your own fake buttermilk (but the real one is the best, of course).


Verdict:
In my family, daddy is the master when it comes to pancakes. He makes the best crepe-like thin pancakes which are always perfectly round (unlike mines). Since I'm not very good at these I tried the thick American pancakes and now I'm the pancake master :D Everyone loves them and they're our all time favourite dessert when there's not much time. I just can't stop eating these. No matter how over eaten I am, I simply MUST eat one after another. They're fluffly, airy, bubbly, light and absolutely not tough. Oh, and have I told you that I actuallly love the uncooked batter? I can't help myself, I know it's strange, but it tastes so gooood :D And when you add maple syrup and butter these pancakes are your ticket to 7th heaven - I swear! C'mon, I know you have time on Saturday :) Make them and have the best breakfast ever.


Linked to:
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
Sweet Treats Thursday
These Chicks Cooked
Whisking Wednesdays

30 comments:

  1. Oh Catalina, YUM! I love thick fluffy pancakes with heaps of maple syrup! My daughter actually doesn't love pancakes like I do - she will eat one to keep me happy but the raw mixture? That her treat! I have to leave some in the bowl for her to enjoy!

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  2. These look like the BEST pancakes ever. Even better than you could get in a restaurant.

    Thanks for linking up with Sweet Tooth Friday!

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  3. Saw these on Sweets for a Saturday - they look delicious and so fluffy!

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  4. Happy weekend! Don't forget to come over and share a recipe at Savory Sunday!!

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  5. These look so good! Makes me hungry!!!

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  6. I make scratch buttermilk pancakes every Sunday. I'm going to try yours tomorrow...it looks like it might be even better! Mmmm...can't wait!

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  7. Um, your butter heart is AMAZING. Nice touch! I'd love for you to link this up to my Sweet Treats Party this weekend. It's open through tomorrow night. Hope to see you there!
    Ashton
    www.somethingswanky.com

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  8. Marcellina: Thank you :) I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves the raw mixture because my daddy can't understand how I can eat :D

    Allison @ Alli 'n Son: Thank you so much and you're welcome :)

    The Pastry Chef: Thank you!

    Amanda- Eating in Winnipeg: Thank you for inviting me, I'm very happy to join your linky party :D

    Shore Girl: Thank you :)

    Betsy: That's great - pancake breakfast rules :D I'm really happy that you want to try these out! Let me know how it goes :)

    Something Swanky Cupcakes and Desserts: Thank you :) Thank you for your invitation, I've just linked up the recipe :)

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  9. Holy cow.... you have made simple pancakes look fabulous!!

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  10. These look delicious! And, I love your heart-shaped butter. My sons would love these for Sunday breakfast. I would like to invite you to post your recipe on A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday!

    http://www.wellseasonedlife.com/2011/05/sweet-indulgences-sunday-5.html

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  11. Love the heart shaped pat of butter. Kinda like a hug in the morning. I'd love waking up to this.

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  12. Can I come to eat at your house? I think that breakfast 3 times a day would be wonderful. Those pancakes look fantastic and putting the heart pat of butter on top is just too cute :) I would love for you to come over and share these great looking pancakes at These Chicks Cooked Recipe Spotlight.Hope you have a blessed day :)

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  13. Wow these are amazing! Nice and thick... I made some pancakes the other day and they were so thin. I wanted them to look like yours do in these pics! And I love your heart shaped butter. I am your newest follower :)

    Check out my blog and follow back if you like!

    http://steaknpotatoeskindagurl.blogspot.com

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  14. Oh my gosh, your pancakes are the fluffiest I've ever seen. Absolutely awesome! Thanks for linking it up to Sweets for a Saturday.

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  15. Just wanted to let you know that your pancakes got the #1 spot for last week's Sweets for a Saturday. And with gorgeous pictures like yours, I'm not surprised. Congrats!!!

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  16. Moogie: Thank you :)

    Kim McCallie: Thank you for inviting me to your link party :) I've just included the recipe there :)

    Barbara Bakes: Thank you :) I'm glad you like the idea, it happened almost by an accident :D

    Katie @ This Chick Cooks: Of course you can :D I'm happy I'm not alone thinking about multiple breakfast :D Thank you for inviting me, I've just linked up the recipe :)

    Desi: Thank you for your nice comment as well as becoming my follower :) I bet your next pancakes will as thick as you want them to be :)

    Lisa: You're welcome and I thank you for your compliment! I saw your nice fluffy pancakes on your blog and I must say they are absolutely gorgeous and I'll have to try them some day :)

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  17. These pancakes look amazing, unbelievably fluffy!! Yum! Just wanted to pop in and say hi, I'm your newest follower. I'd love for you to pop onto my site as I host a link party every week and would love for you to link up one or two of your recipes!

    http://pinchofthisthatandtheother.blogspot.com/

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  18. There's nothing quite like thick, fluffy, buttermilk pancakes on a weekend morning. Thanks for sharing.

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  19. Mom is the pancake master at home, so I showed her your recipe, and her answer was: "Write it down on [one of my many] recipe notebooks!"

    We want to try your recipe as it is.

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  20. Thanks for stopping in to show off your pancakes at These Chicks Cook. Hope you can come back by and share another recipe Wednesday. Have a wonderful week :)
    Katie

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  21. ryobious: Thank you for your kind words and inviting me to your link party. I'm very happy to join :)

    laxsupermom: You're welcome :) and I totally agree with you!

    Bundle Wade: I'm really pleased to hear (read) that you and your mom want to try them out :) I hope you're gonna like them as much as I do :D Don't forget to leave your feedback about them here :)

    Katie @ This Chick Cooks: You're welcome. It was pleasure :) I'll keep coming back every Wednesday for sure :))

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  22. ryobious: Thank you for the invitation. I've already linked up a recipe :)

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  23. Aarthi: Thank you for nice comment and inviting my to your giveaway :)

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  24. So we (well, my mom) made your pancakes and they turned out delicious; only they were not as thick as yours. Did you use a small pan? 'Cause ours was kind of big, so they spread out.
    In any case, the texture and flavor were really wonderful! :)

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  25. Bundle Wade: I'm really sorry for my late respond (I've been away for the whole week without the access to the Net). I'm so happy you tried them out and liked them :) I use quite a large pan where I can make two pancakes at a time. I only carefully pour the batter onto the well-preheated pan and don't touch the batter any more - it spreads by itself but just a little bit. This way they always turn out thick. I hope this helps :)

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  26. Now it´s my turn to say sorry for the late response! Somehow gmail/google did not notify me of your answer...sad, isn't it?

    Thanks for the tip; I'll try cooking two pancake at once. :)

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  27. Bundle Wade: Oh, gmail, sometimes I have troubles with that, too :D You're welcome :)

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  28. So I tried your recipe again, and even though the pancakes refused to be thick, there was this little twist: I did not have store-bought buttermilk so I made my own by adding lemon juice to milk. I think I used too much lemon, but that added a delicious "lemony" taste to the pancakes. :)

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  29. Bundle Wade: I'm so sorry for that! Maybe you could try adding a bit more flour (like two or three tablespoons) to the batter. By the way, sometimes I forget to buy buttermilk, so I make my own, too :) Actually, I can't feel the lemon juice in the pancake then, but I can imagine it's tasty :D

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  30. oui christophe il viens quitter la maison de christophe à tous les jours la maison de christophe il était annulée à tous les jours elle a dit au revoir à la maison de christophe elle a dit bye bye à la maison de christophe oui christophe il s'en va chez papa oui christophe il s'en va chez maman

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