Fluffy or fluffier Pancakes? I love mine fluffier.
I was browsing the net for about 6 hours when I suddenly felt a craving for a homemade snack. Since I am an avid download-er of free recipes from the net, I turned to my collection and searched for that recipe to satiate my appetite for a hasty yet tasty snack and found this easy to cook basic recipe for a homemade pancake from scratch.
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Ingredients for Basic Pancakes Recipe
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
• In a small bowl, beat the eggs and set aside.
• In a large bowl, blend the dry ingredients thoroughly (flour, salt, sugar and baking powder).
• Add the butter, milk and eggs to the dry ingredients and stir until the pancake batter is just blended, with no large lumps.
• Spray a griddle or non-stick frying pan with pan spray or lightly oil, heat it until drops of water sizzle.
• Pour spoonfuls of the pancake batter onto the hot surface. When bubbles rise in each pancake, it is usually time to flip it. Cook until golden brown.
Serve with butter and maple pancake syrup or fruit sauce. Pancakes are also excellent with fresh fruit.
(I think I downloaded this one from allrecipes.com or another great food site. Sorry if I missed keeping notes on that one. To it’s author, my sincerest apologies.)
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But as this is me, I usually prefer doing it my way using only the above recipe as a guide to ingredients. I was never used to following these recipes to the letter because first, I don’t have most ingredients readily available in my kitchen, instead, I leave out and substitute some of it or I add or deduct from the measurements called for depending on what I believe would give me the best result; and second, I love to put my very own personal touch in every food I lovingly cook for my family. Many times I would experiment on and at most times, they turned out good, gauging from the approving look on my eight year old daughter’s face. Although I did not use the above recipe, I know in all fairness that it is a good one but I want mine fluffier.
My personal preference for a fluffy pancake calls for 3 to 4 Eggs instead of 2; one and a half to two tablespoons of Sugar; and three and a half teaspoons Baking Powder. I substitute the butter to two tablespoons of Vegetable Oil and three heaping teaspoons of Powdered Milk (any brand) per cup of water instead of evaporated, whole or skimmed milk. My procedure is slightly different as I mix all dry ingredients first making sure they are sifted a third time to equally blend the mixture then I set this aside. Next, the secret to a more fluffy pancake — I beat the egg whites all at the same time until soft peak stage before adding the yolks then I add the milk and the oil stirring just enough before I mix in the flour mixture all at once taking care not to overwork the batter. At this stage, I heat the lightly brushed or oil sprayed pan until water droplets sizzle and bounce, avoiding scorching the pan then lowering the heat just before I pour in the batter. When the sides of the pancake dries out a bit and most bubbles gone, it’s time to flip or turn it over with a wide spatula. You’ll know it’s done when the underside no longer sticks to the pan or it has browned a bit. This would make 10 – 12 plump and fluffy pancakes.
I made half of the recipe today and it yielded 6 pancakes that my daughter and I shared and enjoyed. Yum! And oh! Of course I also made my syrup from scratch.
Ingredients for the Syrup (modified from source)
1 Teaspoon of Maple extract, this is Optional (mine, I got the McCormick brand)
½ cup of Granulated white sugar
½ cup of Granulated brown sugar (second grade, this is the lighter brown colored sugar)
½ cup of water
¼ cup Table spoon light corn syrup ( to keep my syrup from crystallizing)
I just put all ingredients in a sauce pan and let boil for about 5 to 8 minutes until I achieve the consistency of a light syrup. Allow to cool a little bit before transferring it to a dried sterilized bottle to avoid spoilage. I always make mine ahead of time and if prepared properly, the shelf life is about 6 months.
Note: Don’t overdo the syrup, otherwise it will solidify when it cools down.
My Acknowledgement:
I especially thank these food networks—All recipes, Prepared Pantry, I-village, Panlasang Pinoy, Pinoy Cook and all the others, where I find loads of great food ideas, learning their most valuable tips, instructions and how-to’s giving me the inspiration to try new great recipes. I am not saying that I have tried all these wonderful fares and cuisines but now and then I get to try something new that I find worthy of the time and money spent. 
