Just Pancakes

When I was a kidlet, summers were often spent with my grandparents at their wonderful Island Lake house. Weekends meant pancakes one day and waffles the next, and these simple breakfasts, shared at a sunny kitchen table (and not in the formal dining room), stick in my mind as one of the best things about my childhood. (My maternal grandfather also had a way with pancakes; he would add baby food fruits and desserts to his batter!)

Oh sweet sticky bliss

I like making pancakes because they're simple, easy to dress up, and leftovers reheat really well. I recently wondered if I could use cake flour in them, and yep, I found Perfect Pancakes by the Pioneer Woman. I changed two things in this recipe. Let's talk about it!

• 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 2 whole large eggs
• 3 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted

Hello, flour

I used only 3 cups of cake flour; I didn't add the two tablespoons, despite the clear warnings that I'd be doomed if I didn't. The doom hasn't arrived yet. But, knowing I was at a high altitude, I felt comfortable making these a little less dense.

Begin by mixing your wet and dry separate; dry in a bowl, milk and eggs and vanilla in a liquid measure (or another bow!). I like using the liquid measure since it's less messy to pour. I used whole milk. Scandalous!

The biggest change I made was leaving out the melted butter. I have no doubt it would make these cakes super rich, but I could not fathom adding all that fat to these otherwise perfect cakes. If you're adding the butter though, do it last, when your other wet and dry are blended. Your batter should remain a little lumpy, because that's how pancake batter uh, rolls. (I think you could probably also use buttermilk if you wanted to avoid the melted butter, but still get that edge of extra richness.)

Bubble, bubble

You can cook in a regular skillet if you don't have a griddle. I have an appliance called The Griddler, which is not only a griddle but doubles as a villain in the DC universe. It also has grill plates and waffle plates (I don't have the waffle plates. Yet.) I heat mine to about 375-400.

Employing a quarter-cup measure, make some cakes on that griddle! Spoon and pour. Spoon and pour. If you feel the need to do a tiny test cake first, do! You want the griddle warm enough so that the battle sizzles when you pour it. Let your cakes cook until bubbles start to form and POP. You can easily peek under an edge to see how brown they're getting, but it really doesn't take long. Then, FLIP.

Goodness me, they puff so nicely!

I got 18 cakes from this recipe, and kept them warm in the oven as I griddled. I ate 3 cakes, which means the others are in the fridge. They keep super well and also freeze nicely. You can warm them up in the toaster!

Really happy with the way these turned out, with the cake flour. Great texture and a good flavor. The vanilla gives it a lovely extra warm layer.

Texture! Syrup pockets!