To me pancakes seemed like they were always the same no matter if they were made from scratch or out of a box. Making these pancakes with a specific recipe and more carful (than usual) technique proved this assumption wrong.
Pancakes fall into the quick bread category of baked goods, meaning they rise quickly through the use of chemical leaveners. Pancakes contain a few simple ingredients, all with interesting properties to add. Buttermilk for example is slightly acidic and therefore helps to stop gluten from forming. Gluten is a hot topic these days as many people try to remove it from their diets. Gluten is a wheat protein that is responsible for the chewiness of many yeast leavened breads like baguettes. The chew is definitely a highlight in a baguette but not something we want in our pancakes. Gluten is present in flour from the start, it is only when it is agitated in the presence of water that things get chewy. That is why it is important to not over stir quick bread batters. That includes muffins, many cakes and of course pancakes.
I am really warming up to the idea of taking baking measurements by weight, the couple of recipes I have made using the scale have come together so much better than before I can only conclude that the scale is the deciding factor. The pancake batter came out to be the perfect consistency, not too thick and not too runny. I am a notoriously bad at flipping pancakes and the like so this time I was determined to make some nice looking pancakes. I used the biggest pan we had on medium heat (which is rare for me) and only one pancake at a time. With only one pancake in the pan at a time it was really easy to flip without hitting the sides or another pancake. The pancakes themselves were really fluffy and delicious definitely worth the little extra effort of making them from scratch. The recipe is set up to make your own "instant pancake mix," so it makes enough for about three batches. I am definitely going to keep some of this pancake mix in stock. I am interested to try it using milk instead of buttermilk. I have never really tasted the difference buttermilk makes and I hate having things in the fridge that I really only bought for one purpose. The only potential problem is the acidity of the buttermilk reacts with the chemical leaveners in the dry ingredients to produce carbon dioxide which causes the pancake to rise. Regular milk is less acidic so will produce less of a reaction. I think the effects will be negligible but we will have to so.
Pancake Recipe
