Pancakes

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Alix;

From reading your recipe, I see that they are similar. The greatest difference of course is the lack of cooking oil in you pancakes. However, as you stated, that is added by cooking with butter. Teh butter is absorbed inot the pancake and also serves to crisp the edges. I occasionally use butter, or if I'm feeling like a bad boy (too much cholesteral here) I'll use the leftover sausage grease to crisp the edges and add flavor.

The real difference between our end products stems more from cooking technique than recipe difference. Both techniques, cooking on a dry, non-stick surface, or one with hot fat, produces a great pancake. Sometimes I'll use one, while other times I'll use the other. Oh, when camping, the hot fat in a cast-iron pan is a must for me.

Our other ingredients are similar. ONe thing bothered me though. I know that if you upset the chemical ballance between the base and acid, the reaction will give off less CO2 and your pancakes will become more dense. I would thing that if you use buttermilk, at least if it's cultured, the extra acid would require the use of baking soda rather than baking powder. I have found that acidic fruit causes my pancakes to become more dense unless I ballance it with extra baking soda.

Also, if you want your waffles to come out very light and crisp, seperate the eggs and beat the egg-whites. Combine the remaining ingredients into a batter that is thinner than pancake batter. Fold in the whipped egg-whites.

This allows the batter to rise into the waffle grids with less solid particles per filled grid. Teh result is a lighter, crispier waffle. Of course, if you like your waffles heavier, then thicken the batter and add the full egg in before mixing.

Another great use for the waffle is as a savory side, like bread. Just reduce the sugar and add savory herbs or spices. Teh waffles can then be topped with things like pulled pork, and smothered in a rich gravy, like an open-faced sandwich. It can be used as the crust for quick pizzas, or a vehicle to carry your favorite sandwich fillings.

You can also flavor waffle batter with cinamon, cloves, ginger, allspice, etc. You can add mashed sweet potato to the batter, or squash, etc.

Waffles are extremely versatile and are an under-used food.

My favorite wafffles are yeast risen, with whipped egg-whites folded in, then cooked in a belgian waffle iron. Top with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Just some food for thought, or the belly.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[bege]

These are the best and so easy

 

[Alix]

Goodweed, I must admit, more often than not I don't use any oil, butter or anything to cook these. A combination of basic laziness and a really great electric frying pan. This recipe is so easy to make and the recipe is easy to memorize. My basic belief in cooking is the simpler the better. K.I.S.S method is foolproof when cooking. Less fuss, less ingredients...less chance to screw up.

The chemical balance doesn't seem to suffer with buttermilk. I don't use buttermilk often simply because I don't like it much. I only use it for soaking chicken and making biscuits.

 

[cookienut]

I tried your recipe for the pancakes. They were very good, but I have been using a recipe that is exactly the same except you added the extra 1/8 cup of milk. I found that any pancake recipe I add 3 tsp of double acting powder and to any pancake mix I also add 3 tsp of double acting powder (as long as there is at least one cup of flour in the recipe) and the all come out high and light and fluffy. The baking powder is the secret.

 

[Alix]

Cookienut...did you mean Goodweed's or mine?

 

[cookienut]

Sorry Alix, I mean Goodweed's. :roll: But your's do you look yummy. I will try them next weekend.

 

[RisaG]

Similar to Ones I Make All The Time

This is my recipe (adapted from a book by Lora Brody):

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp double acting baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp oat bran, my addition - not in original recipe
2 tbsp Splenda (or sugar)

Wet:
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp oil, to 2

Mix wet with dry. Whisk out the lumps as slowly and carefully as you can. Make a smooth batter. Cover and let stand for 1/2 hour.

Heat a cast iron griddle. When hot, brush with butter. Put 2 tbsp of batter (or 3 for a bit larger pancake) on griddle and cook until bubbles are almost finished popping, and then turn. Cook until browned on other side.

Remove to large piece of tin foil. Cover and then cook the rest of the pancakes.

Makes very fluffy pancakes and can be used for waffle batter too. No need to separate eggs and fold in whites. I hate that.

I use a whisk or a hand blender to make the batter, altho' I have used the regular blender too. I put in all the wet ingredients, pulse a few times and then add the dry ingredients. Blend until a smooth batter forms.

Cover and let it rest for 1/2 hr.

Anyway, I've been making these pancakes/waffles for years now. My hubbys favorite. The easiest I know too, without going the Bisquick route.

I have tried others (David Rosengarten, pumpkin pancakes from the web and restaurants), and other books and always come back to this one.

In fact, this morning I tried a recipe for Yeasted Waffles and ended up throwing it out as it made the most awful waffle batter I've ever seen and I tried it in the waffle maker and it didn't work at all. I immediately made my all time favorite and they worked well, as usual.

I'll try this one and let you know what i think.

RisaG

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I freely admit that my recipe is just a bit above average, that is until the extra tablespoon of oil is added to the batter. Then, they come out with an amazingly good texture, very moist and tender. If undercooked at all though, they come out gooey.

I just couldn't seem to put my finger on why the basic recipe sometimes came out good, and sometimes came out incredible. My eldest daughter discovered the reason. She noticed that when I was sloppy adding the cooking oil, allowing the measring spoon to overflow, the pancakes came out much better. I then began experimenting by carefully measuring the coocin oil, while keeping the other ingredients the same. The result of those experiments is my recipe.

There are surely other methods for adding moisture to pancakes, such as the addition of fiber such as psilliaum husks, or applesauce. But in my experience, the applesauce tends to make the pancakes gooey, as does the addition of starchy fruit pulp such as banana. It could be that I just added too much of the fruit.

I also know that adding an extra tbs. of oil to a boxed cake-mix results in a much better cake texture. However, if you add extra leavening agent, such as baking powder, you also have to add an extra egg or the crumb will be so delicate as to literally fall apart when trying to frost, and when trying to serve.

Cooking is much like chemistry. All parts must be used in the proper amounts to get the desired results. However, if you make the pancake batter by my recipe, but use buttermilk rather than milk, and add a tsp. or so of baking soda, then you have ballanced the acid/alkali ratio and the batter performs well.

I don't understand letting the batter rest. I allows much of the leavening action of chemical engredients to use themselves up. Its true that the second set of ingredients in double-acting baking powder are not activated until heat is applied. This second leavening action will allow the pancakes to rise. But why not get the benefit of both actions, creating a still flurfier product.

All I know is that at our anual church pancake breakfast, with home produced real maple syrup, my recipe is the only one they will use. I couldn't attend two years ago due to work requirements. I never heard so many complaints about pancakes. They insisted that I be there for the yearly pancake breadfast get-together. Kinda made me feel good.

Anyway, this is a good discussion thread. I'm seeing other recipes to try, some of which I know to be succesfull and popular. I know my recipe isn't the only valid, or even great recipe out there. I just know it's one of the great ones. And I got braggin' rights as it's mine and my daughters, even if others have used exactly the same recipe. We came up with it without help from others. We re-invented the wheel. The same it true of my egg-roll recipe. It's completely different than any I've had by anyone else. I and my family like it better. That doesn't mean that there aren't other great ones out there, and I understand that.

Food is a very personal thing as we all have our biases (impossible not to have one as we all have differing tastes and expectations based on our taste-bud sensitivity, regional preferences, what we are just plain used to, even such things as whether we like our meat a bit chewy, or almost mushy tender or crispy). I don't believe there is one "right" way to cook anything. What is incredible to me may be disgusting to you, and vice-versa. That's just the thing that makes cooking so great. There is enough variety in texture and flavor to satisfy every desire.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I freely admit that my recipe is just a bit above average, that is until the extra tablespoon of oil is added to the batter. Then, they come out with an amazingly good texture, very moist and tender. If undercooked at all though, they come out gooey.

I just couldn't seem to put my finger on why the basic recipe sometimes came out good, and sometimes came out incredible. My eldest daughter discovered the reason. She noticed that when I was sloppy adding the cooking oil, allowing the measring spoon to overflow, the pancakes came out much better. I then began experimenting by carefully measuring the coocin oil, while keeping the other ingredients the same. The result of those experiments is my recipe.

There are surely other methods for adding moisture to pancakes, such as the addition of fiber such as psilliaum husks, or applesauce. But in my experience, the applesauce tends to make the pancakes gooey, as does the addition of starchy fruit pulp such as banana. It could be that I just added too much of the fruit.

I also know that adding an extra tbs. of oil to a boxed cake-mix results in a much better cake texture. However, if you add extra leavening agent, such as baking powder, you also have to add an extra egg or the crumb will be so delicate as to literally fall apart when trying to frost, and when trying to serve.

Cooking is much like chemistry. All parts must be used in the proper amounts to get the desired results. However, if you make the pancake batter by my recipe, but use buttermilk rather than milk, and add a tsp. or so of baking soda, then you have ballanced the acid/alkali ratio and the batter performs well.

I don't understand letting the batter rest. I allows much of the leavening action of chemical engredients to use themselves up. Its true that the second set of ingredients in double-acting baking powder are not activated until heat is applied. This second leavening action will allow the pancakes to rise. But why not get the benefit of both actions, creating a still flurfier product.

All I know is that at our anual church pancake breakfast, with home produced real maple syrup, my recipe is the only one they will use. I couldn't attend two years ago due to work requirements. I never heard so many complaints about pancakes. They insisted that I be there for the yearly pancake breadfast get-together. Kinda made me feel good.

Anyway, this is a good discussion thread. I'm seeing other recipes to try, some of which I know to be succesfull and popular. I know my recipe isn't the only valid, or even great recipe out there. I just know it's one of the great ones. And I got braggin' rights as it's mine and my daughters, even if others have used exactly the same recipe. We came up with it without help from others. We re-invented the wheel. The same it true of my egg-roll recipe. It's completely different than any I've had by anyone else. I and my family like it better. That doesn't mean that there aren't other great ones out there, and I understand that.

Food is a very personal thing as we all have our biases (impossible not to have one as we all have differing tastes and expectations based on our taste-bud sensitivity, regional preferences, what we are just plain used to, even such things as whether we like our meat a bit chewy, or almost mushy tender or crispy). I don't believe there is one "right" way to cook anything. What is incredible to me may be disgusting to you, and vice-versa. That's just the thing that makes cooking so great. There is enough variety in texture and flavor to satisfy every desire.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[CookinBlondie]

I sure am glad you started a topic on pancakes GoodWeed, because I have a question for ya: How do you make the edges of your pancakes crispy? My grandma used to make pancakes and they were perfect: light, fluffy, and crispy edges. When she died, i wasn't really in to cooking, so I never knew how she did it. She was also one to never right down her recipes, so it, of course, wasn't found. Do you have the answer GoodWeed?

I will definatley have to try your pancakes, because the ratings are awesome! lol. yours too Alix, they look a little simpler, so that's definatley a good reason to try them. Thanks in advance!

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

Okay here goes: I made Alix's mom's recipe for pancakes this morning and while they were very good I still prefer the texture of Goodweed's. I am a buttermilk freak so Alix's recipe intrigued me. However, Goodweed's wins in MY kitchen. Question for Goodweed: If I make your recipe with buttermilk, how much baking soda will I have to add and will I have to decrease the amount of baking powder?

 

[chiffonade]

Gingerbread Waffles or Pancakes

I developed this recipe the day after my daughter awoke in a screaming nitemare. Hence the name. Resist the urge to smoosh down the cake as it cooks.

Chiffonade's Sweet Dreams Gingerbread Waffles

Yield: About 7 Waffles

This can also be made into pancakes. My waffle iron makes a round waffle approximately 6 1/2-inch diameter. Baking times vary by capacity of your waffle iron and temperature.

1 3/4 cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
Large pinch Salt
2 Tblsp. Sugar
3 Tblsp. Brown Sugar
2 1/2 Tblsp. Ground Ginger (Do not substitute fresh)
2 tsp. Cinnamon
Pinch Nutmeg
3 Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Molasses
1/4 cup Melted Butter, slightly cooled
1 1/2 cups Milk

In a medium mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients (including sugars) and whisk thoroughly to blend.

Whip the egg whites until stiff but not dry.

In a small bowl, mix the egg yolks, molasses and melted butter. Stir well. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg yolk mixture. Mix well. Fold in the egg whites. The batter will look glossy and fluffy.

Bake in waffle iron as per manufacturer’s directions (i.e., a light will go off when they're done, etc.). Alternatively, griddle on a hot greased pan for pancakes.

Serve with butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup or fruit preserves. Guaranteed to induce sweet dreams, or at least repair any trauma left by the bad ones. Enjoy.

 

[CookinBlondie]

My mom and I just made and ate these and they are AWESOME! Truly the best we have ever had. Thanks LOADS for sharing, and i hope you don't mind if I do the same!

 

[shawnamcc]

Here, I have an add-in that I like in my plain pancake batter.

Believe it or not - pepperoni, the sliced stuff chopped into little pieces, mixed in the batter and then thrown on the griddle.

MMMMM, Yumm

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

In answer to the crispy edges question; Simply spoon the oil onto hot fat, such as cooking oil, bacon or sausage grease, clarified butter, etc. The oil must not be so ddep that you are "pan-frying", but must be deep enough to not be all absorbed into the batter. a Couple of tbs. should do the trick. As the oil is used up, you will need to replace it. Let the new oil get hot before pouring the batter.

As for the Buttermilk question, do no reduce the baking powder. It still does its job. I would add no more than a quarter tsp. baking soda to avoid the heavy flavor it might otherwise add. It's jsut used to provide a reaction with the acidic buttermilk.

And those ginger waffles sound yummy. I have to repair my waffle iron before I can try them though. Something is arcing and sparking when I lift the lid. Something's touching that's not supposed to be.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North.

 

[Psiguyy]

This may be of use to others.

Goodweed's recipe is even better if you refrigerate the batter overnight. Give it a try. Not only does it make it a lot easier in the morning if you make the batter the night before, but I think it's even better or at least just as good.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I keep hearing this technique about resting the batter. My intuition may be wrong here. I always hypothisized (based on a bit of chemistry knowledge) that resting the batter would cause the chemical reactions to be used up and the end result to be flat, heavy pancakes. But as I think about it, the second leavening agent in double acting baking powder isn't activated until heat is applied. Resting the batter would allow any developed gluten to relax, making the pancake more tender. I guess I'm going to just have to start experimenting again. My only concer, don't fix it if it aint broke. We'll just have to see.

There's nothing quite like the joy of obtaining excellent results from figuring something out.

Well, babies are better, as is a good spouse, and maybe a porsche in the driveway (the last is only a dream, heh, heh).

Seeeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

Here, I have an add-in that I like in my plain pancake batter.

Believe it or not - pepperoni, the sliced stuff chopped into little pieces, mixed in the batter and then thrown on the griddle.


PEPPERONI FOR BREAKFAST????? I guess if you can eat cold pizza for breakfast you can make pepperoni pancakes. LOL

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

CHIFFONADE: Your gingerbread pancake recipes sound wonderful. We will definitely try these this weekend. Thanks for sharing.

 

[linda gayle]

pancakes

Hey GoodWeed. I love your recipe, Thanks, I think it might just be the best.I am hesitant, about putting my own recipes on boards.I had friends that have seen their own recipes on cooking shows,I have taught cooking classes, and was also a nanny and a personal chef for an IBM exec. Love your input....Keep it coming.....

SONGBIRD