How to make Pancakes - Tricks & Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon white or brown sugar
- 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 cup whole milk (use whole milk for better texture)
- 1 cup carbonated water
- 1 egg (if you use the beaten egg whites trick, replace carbonated water with milk)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- Some clarified butter, vegetable oil or cooking spray for cooking
Directions
Mix the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder in a bowl.
In the center make a well to pour in milk, melted butter, and egg. Note: If you use our beaten egg whites trick, then add only the yolk at this point.
Add the carbonated water and let the batter rest for a couple of minutes. Note: If you are using the beaten egg whites trick, fold the egg whites into the batter at this point.
Heat the griddle until a water drop skids across and evaporates after a few seconds, then spread some clarified butter (vegetable oil or cooking spray depending on your preference).
Pour some batter on the griddle. Wait until the edges are hard and you can see bubbles coming out from the top side, then flip the pancake and cook until it turns golden brown.
How to make..
Hearty, fluffy, airy, soft and tender - how do you give your pancakes the perfect texture? Here we explore some tricks and tips to make your pancakes better.
Making your pancakes airy and light
- Replace some or all of the liquid with a carbonated beverage. You can use any carbonated water, ginger ale, cider or even beer for a bolder taste. Make sure to add the carbonation right before you start cooking your pancakes.
- Use beaten egg whites. Separate the egg yolks and add them to the rest of wet ingredients as if you were using the whole egg. Then, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold them into your batter just before you pour it on the griddle.
- If you are using baking powder, or even better: double-acting baking powder, let your dough rest for several minutes. Make sure you don’t stir the batter after letting it rest or you will be eliminating all the bubbles that will make your pancakes light and tender.
- Do not overbeat the batter. Just enough beating for making sure that all the ingredients have mixed up well is enough.
Cooking your pancakes to make them golden brown and slightly crispy
- Heat the griddle to medium heat only! If your griddle has temperature control, set it up to 375 F. A good test is to heat the griddle until water drops dance across the pan and then evaporate after a second or two.
- The pan material matters: Remember what grandma used to cook her pancakes? Use a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan or a well cured cast iron skillet. Those heavy materials distribute heat evenly across the surface making it great for cooking pancakes. The best part is that you can even make more than one pancake at the time after you have perfected your skills.
- Use cooking spray, vegetable oil or clarified butter (also called drawn butter). Remember that regular butter has a low smoke point, due to water and milk solids, which causes it to burn too fast. This usually forces you to use more butter making your pancakes result in a greasy, high-cholesterol mess.
Airy and light pancakes with just that hint of crispness everyone loves!
Comments (0)