I have been making buttermilk pancakes for a hundred years. Sometimes I swap in yoghurt. Rarely so I make ricotta pancakes because you have to whip the eggwhites separately and, quite frankly, who has the inclination to be doing that early in the day?
But time has passed and my guts have decided that refined flour and sugar are not its friends. Goddammit.
That, combined with the fact the boys seemed to be losing their love of my buttermilk version, had me looking for something more wholesome. Of course, Smitten Kitchen delivered.
I’ve made three changes – I use wholemeal flour, I add a pinch of salt instead of 3/4tsp and I don’t add the honey. I added the honey the first time and while they were deliciously sweet it wasn’t really necessary.
And yes, you have to make some porridge first and let it cool a little. This almost made me not make them (because: lazy and impatient) but in all honesty? Make it, pour it into a bowl, get everything else ready, make a cup of tea and then come back to it. Good to go.
Oh, I’ve taken to making double the batch – the better seems even better the next day!
- ¾ cup oatbran
- 1 cup wholemeal flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp (45g) butter, melted
- 1¼ cup milk
- 1 cup porridge (see below)
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup (heaped) rolled oats (you can use normal or quick, I use normal because i quite like the texture it brings to the pancakes)
- 1 cup water
- Cook on the stove
- Bring to the boil and cook - about a minute for quick oats, five for normal rolled oats
- Pour into a bowl and let cool
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl
- In another bowl whisk all the wet ingredients together - all of it, the oats, the eggs, the butter, the milk!
- It won't be smooth because of the porridge but just make sure it's all nicely combined
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry
- Mix it together nice and gently. Don't beat it to death, just nice big turns until it's all incorporated.
- It's a thick batter. Don't panic!
- Heat a frypan over high heat
- Add a knob of butter and then knock the heat down to low. I've come to learn (after many many many burnt pancakes) that you can't cook pancakes quickly.
- Just slow down, be at one with the pancake.
- Add a good dollop of pancake mix - I use a soup ladle, or about the size of the palm of your hand. And yes, I know we all have different sized palms, but you get the idea. (You don't want a massive one, apart from the face they're quite filling, you've got low heat, so you'll end up with a very brown middle and very pale, dubiously cooked through edges)
- Then - and this is my tip of the century! - pop a lid over it. It captures the heat and helps cook the pancake evenly. (and - after my comment above about the impossibility of cooking pancakes quickly - dare I say cooks them more quickly than without a lid)
- Give it a couple of minutes, don't be scared, take the lid off and have a look
- When there are bubbles appearing on the top then you can flip it
- Cook it for a couple of minutes on the other side and you're done!
- Serve with whatever you like - maple syrup and strawberries are the go in this house. I actually like them plain because, weird.
- They also work a treat at pikelet size.
