Best Buttermilk Pancakes

The husband and I were talking last night about what we should have for our mini date night dinner tonight. Since I lost my meal plan for the week, I couldn't remember what I had slated for it. Seriously, after having two kids, if something isn't written down I have very little chance of remembering it. He said how about brinner (breakfast for dinner)...bacon, eggs, and pancakes. I said it sounded good to me, and there was a recipe in the Cook's Illustrated magazine I just got for buttermilk pancakes that I wanted to try.

Although I honestly feel like I need a nap before embarking on dinner tonight. We left our house this morning at 8:30 and didn't get home until almost 6:00. I had no intention of being gone that long. My cousin is getting married next weekend, and I needed to find a dress for the wedding. We had plans to go shopping with my mom and aunt, then I heard that Target is doing their twice a year huge toy clearance, so instead of leaving at 9:00 like I had originally planned I wanted to leave at 8:30 to swing by Target on the way to my mom's. I cleaned up--I got probably $200 worth of toys for $50. I'm just about set for Christmas for the boy and have some things I can keep on hand for random birthday presents for his friends. My mom, aunt, the boys, and I got to the mall around 10:45 I think it was and didn't emerge until almost 3:00. It's been a long time since I spent that much time in the mall. I got some great deals though. I found a cute dress for my cousin's wedding, and I also got three pairs of Lucky Brand pants (two were $18 each!!), a Lucky Brand shirt, and a Calvin Klein shirt--all five of those things for $120! I was quite pleased with myself. We also got shoes and socks for the boy for the wedding because he's going to be the ring bearer. We got back to my mom's, I fed the baby, the boy and I went swimming, and we headed home...and stopped at another Target. I know. You're exhausted just reading this aren't you? I definitely did my part to help the economy today. And I can't wait to wear my new clothes! ;)

Anyway, pancakes. I'm excited to try this. So far everything from Cook's Illustrated I've made has been fantastic. I really love that magazine...how they explain how they came to the final recipe, what they tried that didn't work, etc. I'm so glad I got a subscription.

Best Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1-2 tsp vegetable oil

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Spray wire rack set inside baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray; place in oven. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl. In second medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk, sour cream, eggs, and melted butter. Make well in center of dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients; gently stir until just combined (batter should remain lumpy with few streaks of flour). Do not overmix. Allow batter to sit 10 minutes before cooking.

Heat 1 tsp oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Using paper towels, carefully wipe out oil, leaving thin film of oil on bottom and sides of pan. Using 1/4 cup measure, portion batter into pan in 4 places. Cook until edges are set, first side is golden brown, and bubbles on surface are just beginning to break, 2-3 minutes. Using thin, wide spatula, flip pancakes and continue to cook until second side is golden brown, 1-2 minutes longer. Serve pancakes immediately, or transfer to wire rack in preheated oven. Repeat with remaining batter, using remaining oil as necessary.

*****

I'm pretty happy with my usual pancake recipe, but since these are supposedly "the best" I figured they were worth a try. Of course, my usual ones I always have those ingredients on hand, and buttermilk isn't something I normally have in my fridge.

*****

These were pretty good pancakes. I have a tendency to smoosh down pancakes after I flip them, and I think I need to stop so they'll be lighter and fluffier. There was only one left from the whole batch--the husband kept going back for more!

Pancakes

What a freakin' day. I don't feel bad starting my post like that because I haven't in quite some time, but let me tell you--today is worthy of it! It started off normal enough, other than the boy being up already at 5:47 when the baby woke up to eat. I have no idea how long he had been up, but I was not at all pleased to see him sitting in the hallway at that insanely early time. Between then and when his alarm started at 7:15 he took every toy out of his toy box. We had swim lessons, then when we got home I told him he needed to pick up his room. Now, really it would have only taken him about 15 minutes to put everything back, but he ended up taking 90 minutes to do it. Of course, in that time he threw over a music table toy in the baby's room, spit at me, hit me with toys, threw toys at me, and the capstone was him pouring out almost an entire bottle of his shampoo on the carpet in front of my bedroom. Burt's Bees Shampoo, to top it off, which is not cheap. I was livid. Since then, he's spit at me more, taken a pen out of my room and colored all over his hand, face, and shirt, stolen a pacifier out of the baby's crib, and throw countless fits. The whining and crying...ugh. I want to run away to some where far far away. Dear God, make me a bird so I can fly far...far, far away.

There must be something in the water or air or some chemical in the pool at swim lessons because my friends Jen B. and Laura's kids were acting up today, too. If you read Jen B.'s blog you'll have to agree that something is not right with our kids today.

So, given the day I've had (and that I have a cold on top of everything else), I am really in no mood whatsoever to cook dinner tonight. I had planned on making chicken stir fry, but I think I only have one chicken breast which just won't work for three people. I have a pork chop dish planned for later in the week, but it sounded like more work than I was up to. Since I have no convenience food on hand (the downside of trying not to buy prepared/packaged foods), I was having a tough time coming up with something. Then I thought of pancakes and scrambled eggs and thought I could handle that. Plus clean-up from that will be pretty easy.

Freezer Pancakes

For scrambled eggs I use Egg Beaters and add in a dash of milk, a handful or two of grated cheese, and some Tony Chachere's seasoning. It's actually the husband's recipe...John's Cajun Scrambled Eggs he calls them. At least it will be an easy dinner, and I know there won't be any fights about eating dinner with the boy because he loves pancakes and scrambled eggs.

(By the way, in the course of typing this I was hit repeatedly with a packet of fruit snacks. If we didn't have our Bible Study group here tonight, I think the boy would be in bed by 6:30 at the latest.)

Freezer Pancakes

I offered to make pancakes and freeze them to take along on our trip for breakfast while we're there. I love this pancake recipe, and the boy loves to help me mix up the batter. These are from the cookbook my message board put together.

Freezer Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cup milk
3 Tbsp butter or margarine, melted
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir until flour is moistened. Heat griddle or pan to medium heat, until drops of water sizzle when dropped on it. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon about 1/4 cup worth of batter for each pancake. Turn when the tops are bubbley and the edges look dry. Cook on other side until golden brown.

To freeze: Let pancakes cool compleely and stack in Ziploc bag either alone or in between sheets of wax paper for easier separation. To reheat, cook in microwave for about 1.5 minutes for every three pancakes.

*****

I add in some vanilla to the batter because I just like the taste it gives the pancakes. Sometimes I add in a tablespoon of ground flax seed. I doubled the recipe this time, and it made a TON of pancakes.

Brinner

I had absolutely no desire to make for dinner tonight what I had originally planned, so I found myself scurrying for something else around 3:00 this afternoon. I got tired of trying to find something and decided to just make pancakes, hashbrowns, and scrambled eggs. Who doesn't like breakfast for dinner?! I did, however, look up a real pancake recipe instead of using the mix I normally go to when the boy wants pancakes for breakfast.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

*****

The only thing I changed was I added in a teaspoon of vanilla. I like the flavor it adds to pancake mix. They were really yummy...way better than my usual boxed mix. If I'm feeling up to it at some point, I may mix up all the dry ingredients and keep those bagged up and on hand for when we want pancakes.