justing.net

Basic Pancakes

By Justin G. on 24DEC08SUN

I’ve had two go-to recipes for pancakes: Bittman’s and Ruhlman’s. This is Ruhlman’s from Ratio,¹ which makes thicker pancakes that are a little more delicate.

Thick Pancakes

The ratio here is 2 flour, 2 liquid, 1 egg, 1/2 fat.

This is my dairy free version.

Note: Add a little acid to the non-dairy milk so it will activate the baking powder: 1 t to 1.5 t apple cider vinegar in your measuring cup and then fill to 1/2 C with oat milk.

You could mix in toasted nuts such as pecans or walnuts, chocolate chips, berries, or bananas. Or spices: cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, cloves, etc.

Tools

A griddle is ideal here. Any shallow pan will do.

Ingredients

This should make 4 4-inch pancakes, or 6 or more smaller sized ones. It’s enough for 2 people for a light lunch. Double, triple, or more for larger crowds.

Wet

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk such as oat, see note above (or just milk for the dairy version)
• 2 T veg oil (or melted butter for the dairy version)
• 1/2 t vanilla extract

Whisk together in a bowl to thoroughly combine.

Dry

• 4 oz AP flour, or 3/4 C. Or other kind of flour.
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t table salt, or 1 t Diamond kosher salt

Combine all in another bowl, making sure that the baking powder is fully granulated.

Steps

These steps come together so fast that you probably want to begin heating the griddle before you start mixing.

1. As already mentioned, combine the wet and whisk to combine.
2. Similarly with the dry. If you want a thinner pancake, add a splash more milk.
3. Add the dry to the wet and whisk together until fully wet.
4. Heat a griddle over medium heat, add a bit of oil, and cook a few minutes on each side.

Serving

Serve with butter, maple syrup, berry jam², apple butter. I’ve heard some people like peanut butter. Honey is nice. Additional fresh fruit.

Notes

This recipe has been known to induce naps.

According to Ratio (p. 70) double acting baking powder contains its own acid, so it seems like you can just skip the apple cider vinegar in the oat milk. I have not tried this yet. Also here it says 1 t baking powder to 4 oz of flour (5 g to 110 g) is a good starting point for how much baking powder (or soda). Double it for more rise. Also, 4 oz of flour is a scant 1 C.

Bittman’s recipe (from How to cook everything vegetarian, p. 200) is approximately the same, except for his uses considerably less salt. I find having a bit more salt is better.³ The starting point for the ratio of flour to liquid is maybe less (so more wet), which results in thinner pancakes. My conclusion is that the thickness of the resulting pancakes is quite sensitive to this ratio.

This same recipe also makes fritters, just skip the fats, and add lots of interior mixins. Vegetables, mostly.

Email me your favorite pancake topping or mix-in.