Kids Dish

With almost a full container of buttermilk left over from a cake I made a week ago I decided to make pancakes for breakfast this weekend. This was the first time I’ve ever made pancakes from scratch and it really didn’t take much more effort than the good old fashioned ‘just add water’ mixes. The difference between pancakes from a mix and homemade buttermilk pancakes is huge. I don’t generally eat a lot of pancakes, but when the mood strikes, I’m saying bye-bye to the mix for good.

· 3 cups all-purpose flour
· 3 tablespoons white sugar
· 3 teaspoons baking powder
· 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
· 3/4 teaspoon salt
· 3 cups buttermilk
· 1/2 cup milk
· 3 eggs
· 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk, milk, eggs and melted butter. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. You can flick water across the surface and if it beads up and sizzles, it’s ready!
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it’s just blended together. Do not over stir. You should still see a few lumps of flour. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

If you prefer whole wheat pancakes, substitute half whole wheat flour for the regular. If you like blueberries, using about a 1 1/4 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries, drop a few blueberries onto each pancake after pouring onto the griddle. If you add directly to the mix beforehand, the whole pancake will turn blue and streaky. For frozen blueberries, rinse under the faucet until the water runs clear, then put them on a paper towel lined plate in a single layer to dry.

Another tip. For the dry ingredients, instead of mixing separately in a bowl, put them in a large ziploc bag and shake to combine. You’ll have one less bowl to clean. Save the bag, and you’ll have it for any recipe that requires mixing dry ingredients.