- 2 cups of flour, sifted
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda (only if using buttermilk)
- dash salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups plain whole milk or whole milk buttermilk OR 1 cup cream and 1 cup milk
- 1/2 stick melted butter
- neutral cooking oil or cooking spray
Sift the flour together with the other dry ingredients into a medium or large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl. Beat the eggs with a fork or whisk and add them to the milk, vanilla, and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and heat your griddle. Stir gently but mix thoroughly. If you see a small lump or two, that’s OK. Don’t overmix or gluten will start to form and that isn’t what you want with pancakes. Set aside to rest while you cook everything else you plan to serve. Try to let the batter rest for at least 15 minutes. Put the other hot foods (bacon, eggs, etc) in an oven set on warm. Put a heat-proof plate in the oven for the pancakes as they are cooked.
Cook the pancakes on a hot griddle or in a hot skillet. Use about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake and make sure the griddle or skillet is well greased. (I really like to cook my bacon in the skillet then cook the pancakes in the bacon grease, even though I don’t eat bacon myself.)Turn the heat down to medium and cook the pancakes until they begin to bubble and start looking a little dry.
If you are using them, scatter your chocolate chips or blueberries across the pancake as it cooks. Then gently flip the pancake over and cook until done. The whole thing should only take a very few minutes, maybe 2-3 minutes per side. Stack on the warmed plate and keep warm until all are cooked. If you feel like being a short-order cook, you can always serve them as they come off the stove, but that means you will eat last.
Variations: My niece likes banana pancakes, so I put aside some batter for her and mash in a ripe banana, then cook as above. Another way is to slice the banana and put the slices on top of the pancake as the first side cooks, then flip and finish cooking. I like the mashed banana version better, but she likes seeing the banana slices.