Pancakes Again

My mom can pull the mix right out of her head and make these huge, pan size, perfect pancakes.  My kids get thrilled at the thought of going to my mom's and having pancakes, they are a bigger draw than Grandma and Grandpa.  My mother-in-law makes them with a mix and they always turn out so good, small, round, and a little crispy on the edges and she can do this while camping, something I have never dared do.  Both very different but loved by my boys just the same.  I, on the other hand, have struggled, and I mean struggled, my whole adult life to make a good pancake.

I have tried my mom's way, my mother-in-laws way, my sister's way, and the instructions on the side of the box way, to no avail.  I just could not get it.  My pancakes would always turn out to be just doughy disks, and not really tasty disks at that.  Until I came up with......are you ready for it......STEPS!  Steps for midRae to make a decent pancake.  And here they are.

Step 1:  I can only use an off brand mix.  I have tried the brands and they just do not work for me, we revert back to the doughy disks.

Step 2:  Vanilla!  Yes, vanilla.  You should try it, it just does something to pancakes and we can no longer live without vanilla in our mix.

Step 3:  After I mix up the mix I let my batter sit for about 20 minutes.  For me this is very important.  It gets the batter all full of wonderful air.  With my pancakes, air is good.

Step 4:  I make sure to heat my pan up to 300 to 350 degrees.  I use an electric fry pan so I wait until it heats completely up and then switches off.

Step 5:  Add oil to the pan and spread it around.  I make sure to get everything good and covered.

Step 6:  Three pancakes per pan.  No more, no less.  Otherwise they get burned or not done.  I have figured out my fry pan and it has one corner that will turn everything into a burnt crisp.  I try to avoid that corner, every time I use the pan.

Step 7:  Be patient!!  I am by nature not a patient person so this step is really hard for me.  They smell so yummy that I just want to hurry them along.  I do believe that making pancakes has turned into a study in patience for me.

Step 8:  When they are bubbly in the middle and a little bit dry on the edges flip those little disks.  And then leave them alone.  Patience.

Step 9:  I then admire what patience has given me.  My version of perfect pancakes, at least my idea of perfect pancakes.

Step 10:  Savor.  And then just scarf them down and enjoy. 

I think I gain about 2 pounds each weekend from eating pancakes.  After so many years of being unable to get a decent pancake they have now turned into a Sunday morning tradition at our house.  I take that as a big complement from the boys and midMan. 

Yummmmm.  Pancakes.

Love to All,

midRae