Sourdough Pancakes and Fresh Pancake Syrup


My family teases me about my love of pancakes. They say that on my headstone they are going to put a picture of a stack of pancakes. That is pretty bad. Yes, I do love pancakes and could eat them for any meal. When I go out to eat I always try to find a place that serves breakfast all day. They are never as good as my easy from scratch ones though.The recipe I use came from my Mom and I believe she got it from her Mom.

This recipe can be modified several ways (including changed to buttermilk or blueberry) and I will discuss the modifications at the step they can be done. What you will need is a whisk. If you use an electric mixer you will not get fluffy pancakes.

You can also get artistically creative when pouring them to cook. My niece and nephew always want Mickey Mouse pancakes. Really a very basic design of three circles and about the extent of my artistic ability but they love them. Occasionally I will drop a couple of chocolate chips on the batter for eyes. One time when I did that the child I  made them for had to cut around the eyeballs because she just couldn't get herself to eat Mickey's eyes.

Ingredients-enough to feed 4 people. (You can cut the recipe in half if you just want a small batch.)


2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tablespoon sugar
2 cups sour milk or buttermilk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons oil

If you do not have sour milk in your fridge you can sour it yourself. Measure your milk into measuring cup and add 1 tablespoon white vinegar and set aside for 10-15 minutes to let the milk curdle. Another option is to use buttermilk. This is an option I use often as there is usually always buttermilk in my fridge. Not to drink, yuck! But nothing beats it to cook with. To make buttermilk pancakes use half (1 cup) buttermilk and half (1 cup) milk.
In a mixing bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.

Whisk in the milk and eggs just until well mixed and very few lumps remain.

Do not over mix or you will get flat rubbery pancakes.

Set the bowl to the side to 'ripen' while you prepare the syrup and heat your griddle. I highly recommend using an electric griddle. Using a pan on the stove just doesn't make pretty evenly browned pancakes.

While your batter is ripening or before you even make the batter you will want some syrup for your pancakes. Hot fresh syrup over your pancakes in unbeatable. Don't worry, you don't need to go tap a maple tree for it. Just have on hand some Mapleine. The recipe for two types of quick syrup can be found on the box but I will put my favorite of the two here. 


Syrup
1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons water
1 tsp Mapleine or maple flavor
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan.

Bring to boil for 2 minutes. Serve warm over pancakes or French toast. Thickens as it cools. Can be reheated or eaten cold. Store in refrigerator.

Heat your griddle on high. You should not need any oil or spray but if you're not comfortable you can give it a quick spray of Pam. My griddle is well seasoned and I have no need to do this step.


Once your griddle is hot (a drop of water sizzles and evaporates right away) use a ladle and pour about a 1/4 of a cup of batter onto griddle. I usually make two at a time unless I'm doing silver dollar size then I just keep pouring drops until the griddle is full.

Don't get busy doing anything else right now. You'll want to watch the pancakes and when they start to bubble and get a little shiny on the edges turn them once. For those that don't know how to flip a perfect pancake you'll want a rounded spatula/turner and run it along the outer edges to loosen it. Then quickly slide the turner under the pancake and quickly flip it over. Cook on that side for another minute or two until golden. Pancakes should only be flipped once or they will get flat and tough.

If you want to get a big stack made just have your oven on warm (about 180F) and put pancakes on an oven safe plate. Keep inside the oven until ready to serve.

If you want to have blueberry pancakes after you have whisked together the ingredients add 1 cup cleaned and washed fresh (or frozen) blueberries. Do not stir the batter but gently fold in. Mixing will give you purple pancakes with too much liquid and again, flat and rubbery.

My Honey doesn't care too much for pancakes but loves waffles. The great thing about this batter is it can be used for both.


To make these extra special serve with homemade butter and your fresh hot syrup. (I'll get to the butter another post. It's so easy to make, just takes a little endurance.) Of course sausage or bacon on the side dripping with syrup is great too.


If you want a real treat reserve about a cup of the batter in a covered container. Place in fridge and tomorrow or next Saturday pull it out and add it to your fresh batter. When you do this there is no need to sour the milk. The starter will now be real sourdough and there is nothing that can beat it!

Comments

Ellie said…
I made a small batch this morning, as we had Bobby's nephew over fro the night and he loves pancakes. I didn't make the syrup, but they were still good even with Mr's Butter Worth on them. I used to make that syrup all the time when you kids were growing up, remember?
Love you Robin
Mom :-)
Robin said…
I don't remember having store bought syrup growing up. I am going to try making the syrup with butter extract to see if I can get a Mrs B's flavor. I'll let you know how that works.
Ellie/Mom said…
Takoda would love the "Mickey Mouse" pancake. :-)