Easy, light, and fluffy pancakes

1 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 cup Flour
1 tablespoon Baking powder
1 Egg
½ cup Milk
½ cup Boiling water
1 tablespoon Oil

Directions

1. Whisk flour and baking powder (I sift 'em together, but if you don't have a sifter, no problem). 2. Whisk egg, oil, and milk together, then wisk boiling water in (it seems to mix better in this order). 3. Stirring liquid, slowly whisk in flour and baking powder mix. Don't over whisk, as this'll toughen the pancakes. A few lumps are okay. Slowly adding flour and baking power mix makes this step a bit easier. Let stand for 10 minutes at room temperature. 4. Pour on a hot griddle (see below on determining temp.). I use about 1½ spoonfuls of a large serving spoon and use the back of the spoon to spread out the mixture a bit so its not so thick that they don't cook through. Turn when most of the back has gone from glossy to flat (the bottom will be turned dark). Using the corner of the turner, knock several holes in the pancakes. Done when bottom is turning dark. Only turn once. 5. Stack for a minute or two when done so the tops warm so butter will melt. If you stack too long, they'll get soggy.

Understanding: - If the liquid is at room temperature, they will rise more. The boiling water mentioned above with milk and egg from the frig will do this fine. - After mixing liquid and powder, letting them sit for 10 minutes and no more mixing allows it rise a bit (you'll see it rise a bit and bubbles form). Figured this out from RAGBRAI (see below) too. - The water/milk as opposed to all milk ingredients helps make 'em light and fluffy too (got this from Usenet's rec.food.cooking). Determining correct griddle temperature (figured out from RAGBRAI, an annual bike ride across Iowa that appears to be the largest in the world; pancakes are a breakfast stable): - On my stove, medium high does fine. - Make sure water sizzles on it and small drops evaporate in just a few seconds. - The pancakes should get quite brown (actually close to black) when on the griddle for just a few minutes (2 or 3?) and the edges on the top should thicken. A few bubbles should form on the middle of the top. - I cooked 'em at too low a temperature for years and a hot griddle really helps I've found; don't worry if you incinerate a few in the process of figuring out the correct setting on your stove. After all, that's what kitchen trash cans are for.

Note on batter thickness: - The batter should, well, be not too thick or thin. I judge this by how it pours on the griddle; I find I need to spread the batter around a bit w/ the back of a spoon. If too thin, next time add a tablespoon or two of flour. Note that I call for somewhat packed flour above as this seems to give me the correct amount of flour for proper consistency (flour can be compacted to some degree). If you find this useful, I'd appreciate a note. After all, it took a bit of time to type all this in. Bill Goffe bgoffe@...

Recipe By : bgoffe@... (William L. Goffe) File

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