Cooking Pancakes

Pancakes: the word itself conjures up images of weekend mornings, gathered around the table, young children sticky and smiling with delight. Possibly the original comfort food, dating from the Neolithic era, pancakes are found on every continent and in nearly every culture in one form or another.

New ingredients, better pans and organic supplies have created a pancake that is exceptionally tasty and healthy to boot. Organic mixes and flours incorporating whole grains have improved the nutritional content of pancakes. With the new mixes you don’t even have to be a particularly proficient cook to make light, fluffy pancakes in an instant. No matter what kind of pancake you wish to cook, starting with high quality organic ingredients will improve the quality of your end result. Use recently purchased eggs and milk and follow any of a million recipes you can find in a cookbook or online. After you try out a few you will settle on a favorite.

Preheating your pan is crucial. If you skip this step your first set of pancakes will not cook correctly, and you will be tempted to raise the temperature to compensate. Each set of pancakes will cook at a different rate as you fiddle with the heat and you will achieve inconsistent results. If you are using an electric griddle, set it to the desired temperature and wait the appropriate amount of time. Non-stick surfaces are much more forgiving when it comes to cooking the actual pancake.

There is much debate as to whether a griddle or a pan is better. It really is a matter of personal preference and need. A electric griddle is flatter, has no sides to fight, can maintain a consistent temperature and can cook a larger number of pancakes at a time. The drawback is that you have a fairly large appliance that really has limited function in your kitchen. If space is at a premium it isn’t very practical to have a griddle just for pancakes. With a pan you have to contend with sides, but you can cook a smaller number of pancakes by adjusting pan size, and the clean up is easier. Pans also have multiple uses and are not usually an additional purchase.

When the pan is hot you can either use a cooking spray or a dab of butter. Use a small measuring cup or scoop to place the batter in the pan. Maintaining consistency of size will ensure that your pancakes will fry up at the same rate and reduce squabbles at the table over who has a larger pancake. There is no specific time when pancakes are to be flipped, it is a visual cue. You are looking to see that the edges of the pancake have dried and the center is filled with bubbles. You can even stick your spatula under one of the pancakes and check to see if it is sufficiently brown.

Flipping pancakes is not as hard as it looks and is a wonderful way to enlist the kids help, even at an early age. Plant a stepstool in front of the stove, use a second small pan to cook one pancake at a time, and let the little ones join in. Few things are as delightful to see as the grin on your child’s face when they flip their own pancake. Flip the pancake gently and let it cook for another couple of minutes. Remove it to a plate. If you insist that all wait to eat together the plate can go into a preheated warm oven while you continue cooking. At my house, we eat them as they come out of the pan. Now the toppings!

Toppings are limited only by your imagination. Many additions can be made before the pancake even hits the table. Adding organic blueberries, chocolate chips, nuts, apples or peaches to the batter is a wonderful way to up the flavor quotient. Then you can enhance those flavors at the table with things like flavored syrups, whip cream, cut berries and, the classic, maple syrup. I don’t think there is anything better than home made blueberry pancakes topped with warm Vermont maple syrup and whipped cream. Enjoy.

Read more of our mouth watering info, our pages on Maple Syrup and Topping for Pancakes are just a click away. Enjoy!