Old-Fashioned Pancakes

Finally! A meal worth sharing! These past few weeks have been torture.  Any meals I have made have been mediocre and I didn't feel that it would be right for me to share them with the world until I have had a chance to tweak them. 

That being said, I LOVE THESE PANCAKES. I make them almost every weekend. They are made from scratch (no bisquick), are light, fluffy, and completely customizable.  I like them plain, sometimes with some food coloring to make them festive.  Husband and Son like bananas added or diced apples and a dash of cinnamon.  You can create to your heart's content.  Also, I always cook my pancakes on a griddle- each pancake comes out perfect, no sacrifices.  I have never used a pan and wouldn't know where to start.  I have heard that you start on a medium-low flame and don't use a lot of oil.  I read that you put in a very small amount and use a paper towel to wipe down the inside of the pan and soak up the excess.  There is a decent amount of oil in these already so you may not have to use oil in the pan. Maybe someone can give some tips in the comment section who has more knowledge than I do.

This recipe comes from one of Mom's cookbooks: Better Homes and Garden I believe. It is a huge, brown book with recipes for everything you could ever imagine.  People are always requesting this recipe if Mom makes them for a gathering. If you don't manage to eat the whole batch in one sitting (this makes a good amount of 1/4c pancakes), the leftovers freeze well and make a quick breakfast on weekday mornings.  They only need about 30 seconds in the microwave, flipped over, and another 30 seconds. Be careful though because they dry out quickly and become hard.

What are your favorite pancakes? Original? Blueberry? Something completely off the wall like chicken and olive?

Ingredients

2 c flour
1/3 c sugar
3 Tbsp baking powder
1 Tbsp salt
2 c milk
1/3 c oil
2 eggs

Directions

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Separately, whisk together the milk, oil, and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and whisk until all lumps are gone.

2. Heat a nonstick griddle to 350. Using a 1/4c measuring cup, laddle batter onto the pan in small batches. My griddle will hold 4 pancakes, sometimes 5. Allow the batter to cook until it begins to bubble. Once the bubbles start popping and there are open "pores" all over the pancake, flip over. The pancake should have a golden brown color. After another minute, flip over again to check that the bottom is cooked. Remove and serve with butter and syrup.




A few tips:
  Do not press down on the pancake while it cooks! This will not make it cook any faster and will cause it to lose fluffiness. Same with grilling hamburgers- you lose all the yumminess and come out with a dry, nasty disk.
  If your skillet temperature is too high, the pancakes will be tough and chewy. Too low of a temp and they will be dry.
  Don't add to many extras into the batter or it will fall apart while cooking.