Buttermilk Pancakes – light as air and lots tastier

Buttermilk Pancakes – light as air and lots tastier

The whole entire secret to making good pancakes -really excellent pancakes- is eggs.  You can use a recipe, you can use a mix.  But if you use a mix, you have to ignore the part where it doesn’t call for eggs.  Separate a couple of eggs, and beat the egg whites – you want them pretty stiff, like a meringue.  I sprinkle in a bit of sugar toward the end because I’m impatient and it makes them peak faster.  (‘Peak’ as in, when you lift the beater out of the egg whites, it leaves a nice peak.)  Now, set these aside and mix up your regular pancake batter, and fold in that meringue.  I’ve used lots of recipes, but none of them make better tasting pancakes than Krusteaz buttermilk pancake mix.  Now, I do add Mexican vanilla and the eggs to that mix.  If you’re a purist who wants a recipe, here’s mine:  2 eggs, 3 C flour, 2 T baking powder,  1 t baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 2 T sugar, 1 T brown sugar, 2 C buttermilk, 1 T Mexican vanilla, plus whole milk as necessary.  Whip egg whites, adding 1 T sugar to help them hold their peaks.  Set aside.  Mix everything else, including egg yolks.  Add milk in small amounts until you have the consistency of very heavy paint.  And then fold in the egg whites.  They don’t need to be blended in completely.  Cook on a preheated 350 griddle.

The reason for the first tablespoon of sugar is to make the meringue.  The second is to sweeten the batter.  The brown sugar adds depth.  The meringue makes the pancakes say, “Poof!” when they hit the griddle, and puffs them up light as air, while the sugars combine to make them brown so prettily.

The reason for the Mexican vanilla is two-fold.  First, it’s really good vanilla.  The second is that, when I’m out of vanilla, Larry has to take me back to Mexico.  If you are tempted, now, to tell Larry where I can find Mexican vanilla closer to home, I’m going to have to do something about you.  So… don’t…  Ok?

If you just really don’t like to cook, that’s ok.  I’ve got this one.  Come on down, and I’ll make you up a mess o’ pancakes.

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