Breaking Your Fast

The best way to start off the day is definitely breakfast!  And I really prefer starchy, super sweet, calorie-loaded and sugary food...  mmm or a stack of pancakes with a couple fried eggs on top...  Anyway, pancakes are the topic today!  Blueberry pancakes, yummm.

First things first, make sure you have a fool-proof recipe for pancake batter; the fill-ins and topics are just the afterthought.  You really need a tried and true recipe that you are comfortable with, and then making a delicious homemade pancake breakfast is only about 20 minutes away!

So Heather and I grew up on pancakes from my mom, though she cheated and used Bisquick  :)  I don't play that game!  Once I started making breakfast on the weekends for Virgil (my wonderful husband) and I, I decided to try my luck with homemade batter.  So I stumbled upon a few recipes and finally found one I love.  I will never go back to the Bisquick route... at least not for pancakes.

So here is the recipe I love, (thanks to Dakota Kelly's grandma...):

Original Recipe Yield 8 servings

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot. 

 

Okay, so the recipe says it is 8 servings... but it makes about 12 normal-sized pancakes.  And yes, normal sized is according to my mind  ;)

 

Tip One:

Keep some sort of frozen fruit in your freezer at all times!  You never know when they will come in handy!  They are great as a breakfast topping, or in batters, in smoothies, on ice cream...the list is endless!

Now, to make the pancakes super special, just one or two simple steps is all that is needed.  You like nuts?   Add nuts!  You like blueberries?  Add them!  Whipped cream?  Put it on!!  Its really that simple.  This particular morning I chose blueberries, and I just mixed it right in the batter...

Tip two: The trick to making sure your pancake is ready to flip is to watch the bubbles!  My mom taught me early on that the bubbles that form in the batter when you pour it on is how you can tell your pancake wants to turn over.  So as soon as those bubbles start popping, you know it's ready!

 Alright, flip your delicious pancakes, and admire your golden-brown beauties :)  let them cook on the other side, and then transfer them to a plate!  My final tip about cooking pancakes?  Let them stack up on your serving plate.  Make sure you cook them all and stack them high so whomever you serve will be impressed at how fast you made such a special breakfast, and they will be doubly surprised once they take a bite!