Pancakes… premade pancake mix… I can think of nothing else more redundant in my kitchen than Krusteaz©, Bisquick©, or another generic brand of “just add water.” Pancakes from scratch are delicious, easy, and less expensive than the premixed versions. They are also quick, yes quick! How did we get the idea that pancakes from scratch are difficult?

The marketing genius behind the pancake in a box movement has raised an entire generation (or two) of people who have never made pancakes from scratch and therefore have labeled it as “hard.” Most kitchens across the country contain all of the ingredients for pancakes at any given time... all seven of them. The time difference between preparing batter from the box and doing it yourself from whole ingredients is a matter of minutes. But the difference in price, taste and personal satisfaction is huge.

This holiday season try making pancakes from scratch. You can throw the ingredients together, or fuss over them. You can cook them on a griddle at precise temperatures, or mess around with a frying pan on the stove. Here are the basics:

Mix together (sift if you must, but don’t bother if you’re in a hurry):

·         1 ½ cups flour  

·         2 tspn baking powder

·         1 tspn salt

·         3 TBSN sugar

Mix in another bowl:

·         2 eggs

·         1 ¼ cup milk

·         3 TBSN melted butter

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and whisk it up. Don’t fret over small lumps, they will work themselves out. Add more milk to thin the batter if necessary (do a test pancake before thinning the whole batch if this is your first time making them). Heat your griddle to 350 (F) or your pan to the low side of “medium.” I start out on my gas stovetop at a 4 setting and usually end up at about 3 1/2 by the time I finish a batch. Grease your pan or griddle with a light coating of vegetable oil. The pancake batter should bubble a bit on top and dry around the edges to show you that it’s time to flip. If it browns before that, try a lower heat.

Note: Remember to stir the dry ingredients before adding the wet… having the baking powder distributed well into the mixture ensures even rising and consistency in the batch.

For buttermilk pancakes replace the milk with buttermilk and add a tspn of baking soda. For sourdough pancakes, prepare to get a little more fussy or buy the box. (To make true sourdough pancakes, you need to make and foster a true sourdough starter which is more of a culinary time investment).

Yum, serve ‘em up! And it you want to, you can add banana slices, chocolate chips or blueberries to a few pancakes to mix things up a bit. I'll whip up a 1/2 batch occasionally on a school day. Extra pancakes go in the car and the kids, if they are still hungry, yummy them up without butter of syrup on top. We take them hiking with us in the summer too.