Yummy Pancake Recipe

I love pancakes.  My whole family does.  Pancakes was one of the first things I learned to make when my mom taught me to cook at the tender young age of 9.  I experimented and learned a lot about following recipes.  Even when the recipe was on the back of a box.

My mom always bought the Aunt Jemima buttermilk pancake mix that had all the dry ingredients and all that was needed was an egg, some milk and a tablespoon of oil.  In time the mixes began coming with everything included, called "Complete", and needed only water.  I tried those mixes, but the pancakes tasted like cardboard and quite frankly, I don't like cardboard.  I kept buying the mix my mom always bought, known as "original".  At times it was hard to find; I guess most people go for the easy mix so stores don't carry the more "complicated" version.  Then I started to notice a difference.  Maybe it's just me; maybe the original mix sits on the shelf too long, but the pancakes just didn't taste the same.  They were flavorless.  Yes, I could smother them in syrup, but I don't like that option.  I prefer pancakes with a little syrup, not syrup with a little pancake.

Of course, I could always make my own pancakes from scratch.  There's plenty of recipes on the internet, and I had one in my cookbook at home.  So, what was stopping me?  Truth is, I'd make pancakes from scratch once before, and I was disappointed.  They tasted bland.  I thought maybe it was the flour, but I didn't want to spend money on buying some specialty flour only to be disappointed again, so I gave up on the idea.  Then recently I was watching an old episode of Good Eats, where Alton Brown made his own pancakes from scratch and explained (as he is well known for doing) why he used each specific ingredient.  I was surprised to find he uses all purpose flour just like I had, but he did use one significant ingredient that I hadn't used.  Buttermilk.  "Duh," I thought, "of course, you can't make buttermilk pancakes without buttermilk!"  So I decided I'd give it a try.  I bought a quart of buttermilk, found a recipe in one of my cookbooks, and went for it.  Oh.My.Word!  These are real pancakes!  And you know what else is incredible?  They are so easy to make!  Honestly, I don't see why anyone would eat those cardboard imitations when it's so simple to make the batter yourself!  If you don't believe me, here's the recipe.  Try it.  I assure you, you will never go back to box mixes again.

Buttermilk Pancakes

Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Wet ingredients:
1 beaten egg
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
1 tablespoon cooking oil (I used canola)

In a bowl sift together all the dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry; stir till blended but still lumpy.  DO NOT OVERMIX.  Pour about a 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot buttered griddle.  Cook till golden brown, turning to cook the other side when pancakes have a bubbly surface and slightly dry edges.  I got 7 - 6 inch pancakes from this batter.  Super simple and super delicious!