Pancakes

We've been getting repeated requests for pancakes. We've never done them for several reasons. I want to start experimenting with pancake recipes in hopes of hearing, "These are the best pancakes I've ever had!"
I'm not looking for fancy (I've done the lemon ricotta pancakes), I'm looking for a plain, yummy, fluffy pancake that you can smother with butter and then drizzle with syrup for a simple, but remarkable breakfast experience.
Please share your recipes & tips.

A while back, someone on the forum said that Aunt Je mima was a good as from scratch, so I've used that as my base. To 1 cup of the dry mix I add the usual egg, oil and milk, but I also add a teaspoon of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a generous 1/2 cup of left over cooked steel cut oats and a handful of pecans. People like them.
Another option is to mix the batter with chocolate milk instead of "sweet milk y'all" and add mini chocolate chips to the batter.

K9 I remember discussing this before re the griddles you use.
My tip for cooking and serving using these is pour 6 pancakes at once, then plate those six, then pour the next six and put those on the top ready to serve. It is way better than cooking and trying to keep them warm.
Four pancakes, 5 or 6 or however many guests you have seated ready to be served.
Pancakes have to cook HOT, so on the griddle if it is heating levels 1 to 6 put it at 5 or 5 1/2.
Pancake batter does not stay fluffy for too long. bad pancakes are the dense variety from the batter sitting.

Good stuff. I love the chocolate milk idea.
My favorite is applesauce. I substitute applesauce for the oil and add some cinnamon. Comes out a bit thick, but delicious.

Because we may be doing 36 pancakes of a morning we use a box mix, just add water. We stopped using the auntie mix because of the HFCS. The store brand doesn't have this in it.
Dh mixes a fresh batch for every room.
If we get a table of 5 then he cooks up half of them, plates and pops them in the oven. The next batch goes on top.

Innkeep said:

A while back, someone on the forum said that Aunt Je mima was a good as from scratch, so I've used that as my base. To 1 cup of the dry mix I add the usual egg, oil and milk, but I also add a teaspoon of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a generous 1/2 cup of left over cooked steel cut oats and a handful of pecans. People like them.
Another option is to mix the batter with chocolate milk instead of "sweet milk y'all" and add mini chocolate chips to the batter..

Click to expand...

I've really got this idea in my head against serving things that some people won't like. Ok, don't laugh... While I think my chocolate chip waffles are orgasmic (yes, I said it and it's true!!!) I don't think all my guests would agree. The majority of my clientele are retirees, so I try not to hit them with too much non-standard stuff. But, we do the standard stuff pretty darn good!
Maybe that's my problem (one of many). I guess I should just try it and see what happens. Won't know until they complain *lol*
Now, chocolate milk pancakes sounds amazing and I might just have to try that! That makes me think of eggnog pancakes (I make a killer egg nog cookie!)

Joey Bloggs said:

K9 I remember discussing this before re the griddles you use.
My tip for cooking and serving using these is pour 6 pancakes at once, then plate those six, then pour the next six and put those on the top ready to serve. It is way better than cooking and trying to keep them warm.
Four pancakes, 5 or 6 or however many guests you have seated ready to be served.
Pancakes have to cook HOT, so on the griddle if it is heating levels 1 to 6 put it at 5 or 5 1/2.
Pancake batter does not stay fluffy for too long. bad pancakes are the dense variety from the batter sitting..

Click to expand...

Good tips. Yes, my griddles are an issue. And if I have to keep turning them so they don't burn, it ruins their fluffiness. My griddles gauges are by temperature - I do my bacon at 325*. What do you recommend?
Do you warm your plates? I tried that, but then they were too hot for me to work with and the extra work cramps my style lol
Do you use butter, oil or just non-stick spray to cook them in?

Innkeep said:

A while back, someone on the forum said that Aunt Je mima was a good as from scratch, so I've used that as my base. To 1 cup of the dry mix I add the usual egg, oil and milk, but I also add a teaspoon of brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and a generous 1/2 cup of left over cooked steel cut oats and a handful of pecans. People like them.
Another option is to mix the batter with chocolate milk instead of "sweet milk y'all" and add mini chocolate chips to the batter..

Click to expand...

Do you think quick-cook oats (raw) would work out? I've seen some recipes that call for soaking the oats overnight. Wonder if that would help since I don't ever have cooked oatmeal sitting around waiting for a purpose.

TheBeachHouse said:

Good stuff. I love the chocolate milk idea.
My favorite is applesauce. I substitute applesauce for the oil and add some cinnamon. Comes out a bit thick, but delicious..

Click to expand...

I have a single-serve applesauce floating around my fridge that I've been wanting to use in my muffins. I agree that it adds a nice change to baked goods aside from making them healthier. Maybe oats and applesauce are tricks I should try. Thanks!

Do y'all make your pancakes big & give them two? Or medallion size three count? Do tell.
When we do waffles (we give them 3 of the four quarters) or french toast, we serve with bacon and scrambled eggs on the same plate. I have to have protein (eggs) with my breakfast, so I try to make sure our guests get that also.
What do you serve with yours?

Kay Nein said:

Joey Bloggs said:

K9 I remember discussing this before re the griddles you use.
My tip for cooking and serving using these is pour 6 pancakes at once, then plate those six, then pour the next six and put those on the top ready to serve. It is way better than cooking and trying to keep them warm.
Four pancakes, 5 or 6 or however many guests you have seated ready to be served.
Pancakes have to cook HOT, so on the griddle if it is heating levels 1 to 6 put it at 5 or 5 1/2.
Pancake batter does not stay fluffy for too long. bad pancakes are the dense variety from the batter sitting..

Click to expand...

Good tips. Yes, my griddles are an issue. And if I have to keep turning them so they don't burn, it ruins their fluffiness. My griddles gauges are by temperature - I do my bacon at 325*. What do you recommend?
Do you warm your plates? I tried that, but then they were too hot for me to work with and the extra work cramps my style lol
Do you use butter, oil or just non-stick spray to cook them in?
.

Click to expand...

300 degrees for the griddle. We buy those Presto griddles that you can get for $25 at Christmas when the stores have 100's of them as gifts.
Butter for the grease.
I can't do the plates straight from the oven when there are just 2 of them. We have ironware plates and they get hot! So, if you have to put the pancakes in the oven to hold them just stack them on one plate to keep them hot. Dh doesn't use oven mitts for taking out the warm plates (170 degrees) but I'm a wimp.
Dh also won't make anything out of the ordinary. He would never make choco pancakes.
If you want, ask. Ask the guest if they would prefer choco or plain. We do blueberry only. So it's blueberry or it's plain. No other options.

Kay Nein said:

Joey Bloggs said:

K9 I remember discussing this before re the griddles you use.
My tip for cooking and serving using these is pour 6 pancakes at once, then plate those six, then pour the next six and put those on the top ready to serve. It is way better than cooking and trying to keep them warm.
Four pancakes, 5 or 6 or however many guests you have seated ready to be served.
Pancakes have to cook HOT, so on the griddle if it is heating levels 1 to 6 put it at 5 or 5 1/2.
Pancake batter does not stay fluffy for too long. bad pancakes are the dense variety from the batter sitting..

Click to expand...

Good tips. Yes, my griddles are an issue. And if I have to keep turning them so they don't burn, it ruins their fluffiness. My griddles gauges are by temperature - I do my bacon at 325*. What do you recommend?
Do you warm your plates? I tried that, but then they were too hot for me to work with and the extra work cramps my style lol
Do you use butter, oil or just non-stick spray to cook them in?
.

Click to expand...

Kay Nein said:

Good tips. Yes, my griddles are an issue. And if I have to keep turning them so they don't burn, it ruins their fluffiness. My griddles gauges are by temperature - I do my bacon at 325*. What do you recommend?
Do you warm your plates? I tried that, but then they were too hot for me to work with and the extra work cramps my style lol
Do you use butter, oil or just non-stick spray to cook them in?

Click to expand...

Butter (and you have to move hot or it smokes since it is pretty hot) so turn that exhaust fan on high! Yeah flip once only, you may need to get a new griddle. They are always on sale around Christmas! or closed out afterward.
No don't warm the plate. I don't do them super sweet either, as I am not a super sweet eater, but do like fresh fruit and nuts in and around them. Just so you know the pecan pancakes have been the all time favorite since last year, I hear people telling new guests about them the next day if they are here. You being in a southern state who is known for them, you may find it becomes a house specialty!

Kay Nein said:

Do y'all make your pancakes big & give them two? Or medallion size three count? Do tell.
When we do waffles (we give them 3 of the four quarters) or french toast, we serve with bacon and scrambled eggs on the same plate. I have to have protein (eggs) with my breakfast, so I try to make sure our guests get that also.
What do you serve with yours?.

Click to expand...

2 pancakes about this big. Ha ha. My guess? 4" diameter. But it depends on whether it's 4 or 8 on the griddle at a time.
Pancakes and meat side. We never do pancakes and eggs on the same day. I think it's too much food. But that's me.
Waffles you get all 4 quarters. And a meat side.
French toast we've been using croissants lately but previously we used Italian bread and gave 3 slices.
When we do eggs each person gets 2.5 eggs. Unless you sit down by yourself, then you get 3 eggs. Scrambled. No fried eggs. No poached eggs.
Omelets are huge. They hang over the plate. Tomatoes. Mushrooms. Or any combo thereof.
We tried fried eggs but there are too many variations. Some people won't eat scrambled eggs and that's just hard on dh.
If it's quiche then 1/8 of the pie.
All egg dishes served with toast, jam and meat side.

If you want to use a mix, try Krustez (buttermilk) which you can get at the CostClub. If you want them to shine, here are the adulterations that will them shine....
Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a giant dollop of full fat sour cream. It will give them the bittersweet notes that people want from a good pancake. BUT this won't keep a long because the sour cream will react to the baking soda. They will be very light and very fluffy, but you can't let them sit on the counter for a half hour once mixed... they air will start to develop. So start working immediately.

Kay Nein said:

Do y'all make your pancakes big & give them two? Or medallion size three count? Do tell.
When we do waffles (we give them 3 of the four quarters) or french toast, we serve with bacon and scrambled eggs on the same plate. I have to have protein (eggs) with my breakfast, so I try to make sure our guests get that also.
What do you serve with yours?.

Click to expand...

I made small, what some folks have called "silver dollar pancakes" and I serve about 6 or 7 of them at a time, like flower petals on a plate. Sprinkled with icing sugar of course and maple syrup on the side.

Kay Nein said:

Joey Bloggs said:

K9 I remember discussing this before re the griddles you use.
My tip for cooking and serving using these is pour 6 pancakes at once, then plate those six, then pour the next six and put those on the top ready to serve. It is way better than cooking and trying to keep them warm.
Four pancakes, 5 or 6 or however many guests you have seated ready to be served.
Pancakes have to cook HOT, so on the griddle if it is heating levels 1 to 6 put it at 5 or 5 1/2.
Pancake batter does not stay fluffy for too long. bad pancakes are the dense variety from the batter sitting..

Click to expand...

Good tips. Yes, my griddles are an issue. And if I have to keep turning them so they don't burn, it ruins their fluffiness. My griddles gauges are by temperature - I do my bacon at 325*. What do you recommend?
Do you warm your plates? I tried that, but then they were too hot for me to work with and the extra work cramps my style lol
Do you use butter, oil or just non-stick spray to cook them in?
.

Click to expand...

I will mention we warm the plates because it is dang cold in the kitchen in the winter. We are still warming the plates! That will stop soon, I hope!
Sometimes we work with the window open and the food would get cold if the plates weren't hot.

Madeleine said:

Kay Nein said:

Do y'all make your pancakes big & give them two? Or medallion size three count? Do tell.
When we do waffles (we give them 3 of the four quarters) or french toast, we serve with bacon and scrambled eggs on the same plate. I have to have protein (eggs) with my breakfast, so I try to make sure our guests get that also.
What do you serve with yours?.

Click to expand...

2 pancakes about this big. Ha ha. My guess? 4" diameter. But it depends on whether it's 4 or 8 on the griddle at a time.
Pancakes and meat side. We never do pancakes and eggs on the same day. I think it's too much food. But that's me.
Waffles you get all 4 quarters. And a meat side.
French toast we've been using croissants lately but previously we used Italian bread and gave 3 slices.
When we do eggs each person gets 2.5 eggs. Unless you sit down by yourself, then you get 3 eggs. Scrambled. No fried eggs. No poached eggs.
Omelets are huge. They hang over the plate. Tomatoes. Mushrooms. Or any combo thereof.
We tried fried eggs but there are too many variations. Some people won't eat scrambled eggs and that's just hard on dh.
If it's quiche then 1/8 of the pie.
All egg dishes served with toast, jam and meat side.
.

Click to expand...

Madeleine said:

Pancakes and meat side. We never do pancakes and eggs on the same day. I think it's too much food. But that's me.

Click to expand...

And I also do scrambled eggs with pancakes, every time. Again, I don't like too much sweet and or too much carb, so I always have eggs as an added protein. Plus they go good with bacon!

Jon Sable said:

If you want to use a mix, try Krustez (buttermilk) which you can get at the CostClub. If you want them to shine, here are the adulterations that will them shine....
Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a giant dollop of full fat sour cream. It will give them the bittersweet notes that people want from a good pancake. BUT this won't keep a long because the sour cream will react to the baking soda. They will be very light and very fluffy, but you can't let them sit on the counter for a half hour once mixed... they air will start to develop. So start working immediately..

Click to expand...

Jon Sable said:

If you want to use a mix, try Krustez (buttermilk) which you can get at the CostClub. If you want them to shine, here are the adulterations that will them shine....
Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and a giant dollop of full fat sour cream. It will give them the bittersweet notes that people want from a good pancake. BUT this won't keep a long because the sour cream will react to the baking soda. They will be very light and very fluffy, but you can't let them sit on the counter for a half hour once mixed... they air will start to develop. So start working immediately.

Click to expand...

YOU use Krusteaz ? YOU! JONNO the GREAT!
In all fairness Krusteaz was invented by little old ladies who wanted the best crust and pancake mix. Plus they are an awesome company who supports many great causes in the pAcNW.
I am addicted to sour cream in things such as this, Addicted!

true confessions krusteaz complete mix. why? i was making my own from scratch. one morning ... no supplies ... ran across the road to the general store and bought the mix (this was all they had) served them up and had raves. RAVES! sold. a little oil to grease the griddle. serve em hot, your guests will love them. i had a big, flat plug-in griddle.
i would do two people's breakfasts at a time. bacon on the side, butter on the other side. a few kinds of syrup. yummo
i served a stack of two or three big ones - hmmm - about the size of a dessert plate i guess or four smaller with blueberries in them. folks LOVE blueberry pancakes for some reason. just toss a few berries on each pancake on the griddle cook a bit more and flip. frozen berries right out of the freezer are perfect for this.
but you won't get me to confess to the mix ... i was always startled when folks asked for the batter recipe. privately, i would tell them.

My tips:
Use buttermilk instead of regular milk
Let the batter rest for 20 minutes.
Get the griddle heat right. If you flick a few drops of water on the surface, they should bounce and scatter. If they immediately evaporate on the spot, it's too hot. If they sit or slowly flow around before evaporating, it's too cold.
Grease with butter. Flip only once. Keep warm, shingled instead of stacked, on a preheated cookie sheet in a low oven.
I do different variations... blueberry, oats, pecans, lemon zest & juice, sliced apple, sliced poached pear, ricotta, souffled (whip the egg whites separately). I don't think I've ever met a pancake I didn't like!