Buttermilk Pancakes & Bacon
Now you really can't go wrong with pancakes and bacon, at least according to probably any Canadian you ask, you can't go wrong with pancakes and bacon...and maple syrup. So you might have noticed the change in the look of my blog...or maybe you haven't, either way, there's been a change. A couple weekends ago I was making these delicious pancakes and yummy bacon and of course, Facebook had to know. So my uncle, who is a Photoshop wiz, made the image that is now my background to my blog. Everyone in my family knows I love bacon, hell my sister even got me bacon socks for Christmas...and bacon popcorn, and a bacon ornament. Well the popcorn and ornament were for both me and my step-brother, we both have a bacon obsession. Let's face it, you can't put bacon on something and not have it taste good.
So I had had some buttermilk sitting in the fridge for a little bit and was determined to use it before it went bad. I have a habit of buying stuff when I see it's on sale and then I forget about it, lost in the depths of the refrigerator. Not this time!! I woke up last Sunday and was determined to finally make my pancakes! Now as I'm typing this I have a craving for French Toast...breakfast foods are really the best thing ever aren't they? As I was finishing up the pancakes and the bacon my step-brother emerged from his room, probably following his nose to the source of the bacon smell. Luckily he was hungry. Our other roommate wasn't, of course. I was glad, otherwise I would have had a lot of pancakes left over...I probably would have eaten all the bacon myself. :-)
So here's what you'll need and what you'll do!
First of all you'll either want a griddle or a large skillet. I use my Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler/Panini Press to do my pancakes or french toast when I make it. A large skillet or frying pan will work just fine too though so no worries! Now for the ingredients...
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1 Tablespoon canola oil
* you can add in 1 cup of fresh or frozen fruit/berries of your choice if you want*
First either set your griddler to around 375-400 degrees Fahrenheit or get your skillet warmed to a good solid medium heat.
In a large bowl you're going to combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix it all up and set it aside briefly while you get the eggs and such ready.
You're going to beat the 2 eggs together, lightly. Don't go all crazy and beat them for 5 minutes. That's just going to be a waste of time and you don't want that. It's only going to delay eating the pancakes in the end.
Once the eggs are lightly beaten add in the 2 cups of buttermilk and the Tablespoon of canola oil. Whisk it all together until everything is nice and evenly blended. You need to really whisk is at a fast pace to get the oil to combine with the buttermilk and egg, don't want to to stay separated like it will be when you originally pour the oil into the mixture.
Make a well in the dry ingredients like so...
And pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Mix it all up JUST UNTIL the ingredients are MOISTENED. Having a few smallish lumps in the batter is completely OK. In fact it's good. Pancakes are something you really don't want to over mix at all. Over-mixing will the light fluffy texture to go down the tubes and then you have dense, hard, yucky pancakes. Eww.
This is what your pancake batter should look like. Notice the lumps and bumps in the batter? Yeah, that's what you want. So if your batter looks like this, you're golden! And ready to get them on the griddle...or skillet.
Now pour the batter by the 1/4 cup onto the griddler or skillet. I use my batter despenser, mainly because it's way easier to see how big your pancakes are going to be and also because it's so much cleaner. I'm not scooping batter out with a measuring cup and making lop-sided pancakes. This one that I have here is from Sur La Table just squeeze the red handle and the batter comes out the bottom. Best thing ever. Works great for cupcakes too!
*If you're adding fruit now is when you would sprinkle the pancakes you've just placed on the cooking surface with the fruit then continue on*
So once you scoop or dollop or how ever you're getting the batter from the bowl to the cooking surface you're going to wait a little bit and watch them....still watching? Good. Once the pancakes start to form little bubbles on the surface it's time to flip the pancakes over. This can be a little tricky, it usually takes be a couple of tries to really get the pancake-flipping art down when I make a batch of these. Little patience and even less hesitation when you flip and you'll be good to go.
As you can see these are nicely browned on the first side, now the trick is too figure out when they're browned on the second side without picking them up to investigate every 10 seconds. Let them cook for a good few minutes before you even think about checking to see if their done. If they move around the pan easily they're getting close, now is when you can start checking every minute or so. Once they've reached the desirable brown/goldenness take them off the griddler/skillet and either enjoy right away or stack them in an oven at 160 degrees Fahrenheit to keep them warm until the whole batch is done.
I like to fry up some bacon in a skillet with my pancakes, because it's not breakfast without bacon. The spatters of oil, well I don't even feel them now. Just kidding, I totally do and they hurt. But bacon is well worth the pain and effort of cleaning a greasy stove top.
Well there you go! Top the pancakes with butter, syrup, jam, jelly, whipped cream...whatever your heart desires. Oh you could pour some bacon grease on them! I don't know...but it's bacon grease, if you're into that more power to you...could be yummy. People add bacon grease to lots of things. Pancakes might be one of them. Me? I prefer some butter and syrup. Can't go wrong there.
First of all you'll either want a griddle or a large skillet. I use my Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler/Panini Press to do my pancakes or french toast when I make it. A large skillet or frying pan will work just fine too though so no worries! Now for the ingredients...
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1 Tablespoon canola oil
* you can add in 1 cup of fresh or frozen fruit/berries of your choice if you want*
First either set your griddler to around 375-400 degrees Fahrenheit or get your skillet warmed to a good solid medium heat.
In a large bowl you're going to combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix it all up and set it aside briefly while you get the eggs and such ready.
You're going to beat the 2 eggs together, lightly. Don't go all crazy and beat them for 5 minutes. That's just going to be a waste of time and you don't want that. It's only going to delay eating the pancakes in the end.
Once the eggs are lightly beaten add in the 2 cups of buttermilk and the Tablespoon of canola oil. Whisk it all together until everything is nice and evenly blended. You need to really whisk is at a fast pace to get the oil to combine with the buttermilk and egg, don't want to to stay separated like it will be when you originally pour the oil into the mixture.
Make a well in the dry ingredients like so...
And pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Mix it all up JUST UNTIL the ingredients are MOISTENED. Having a few smallish lumps in the batter is completely OK. In fact it's good. Pancakes are something you really don't want to over mix at all. Over-mixing will the light fluffy texture to go down the tubes and then you have dense, hard, yucky pancakes. Eww.
This is what your pancake batter should look like. Notice the lumps and bumps in the batter? Yeah, that's what you want. So if your batter looks like this, you're golden! And ready to get them on the griddle...or skillet.
Now pour the batter by the 1/4 cup onto the griddler or skillet. I use my batter despenser, mainly because it's way easier to see how big your pancakes are going to be and also because it's so much cleaner. I'm not scooping batter out with a measuring cup and making lop-sided pancakes. This one that I have here is from Sur La Table just squeeze the red handle and the batter comes out the bottom. Best thing ever. Works great for cupcakes too!
*If you're adding fruit now is when you would sprinkle the pancakes you've just placed on the cooking surface with the fruit then continue on*
So once you scoop or dollop or how ever you're getting the batter from the bowl to the cooking surface you're going to wait a little bit and watch them....still watching? Good. Once the pancakes start to form little bubbles on the surface it's time to flip the pancakes over. This can be a little tricky, it usually takes be a couple of tries to really get the pancake-flipping art down when I make a batch of these. Little patience and even less hesitation when you flip and you'll be good to go.
As you can see these are nicely browned on the first side, now the trick is too figure out when they're browned on the second side without picking them up to investigate every 10 seconds. Let them cook for a good few minutes before you even think about checking to see if their done. If they move around the pan easily they're getting close, now is when you can start checking every minute or so. Once they've reached the desirable brown/goldenness take them off the griddler/skillet and either enjoy right away or stack them in an oven at 160 degrees Fahrenheit to keep them warm until the whole batch is done.
I like to fry up some bacon in a skillet with my pancakes, because it's not breakfast without bacon. The spatters of oil, well I don't even feel them now. Just kidding, I totally do and they hurt. But bacon is well worth the pain and effort of cleaning a greasy stove top.
Well there you go! Top the pancakes with butter, syrup, jam, jelly, whipped cream...whatever your heart desires. Oh you could pour some bacon grease on them! I don't know...but it's bacon grease, if you're into that more power to you...could be yummy. People add bacon grease to lots of things. Pancakes might be one of them. Me? I prefer some butter and syrup. Can't go wrong there.
Well I hope you enjoyed my post!
I also hope you enjoy these pancakes if you choose to make them!
'Til Next Time!!
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