Saturday, May 8, 2010

Homemade Pancake Mix- Yum!

As a child, I adored pancakes, especially with cinnamon. For myself, pancakes meants Aunt Jemima mix, water and Aunt Jemima syrup. I never actually thought you could make pancake mix from scratch and have it taste the same.

Enter Andrew. Although I have been the 'eco-warrior' in our little familial unit, he is the food-adventurer. He likes science, he likes food and one day we watched Alton Brown's Good Eats show on pancakes (he has every season...). Most episodes result in Andrew proclaiming: 'I can make that from scratch!'

His first attempts at making pancake mix were pretty interesting. As we didn't have a pastry cutter, he used four butter knives between his knuckles (Edward Scissor hands style) and furiously cut the shortening into the flour, cursing the entire time. Although I would have just stirred, he *insisted* that when it says 'cut the flour with the shortening' you have to do just that.

Needless to say, there was flour everywhere. But the pancakes tasted awesome.

After months of searching (ok, not really seriously, but we did look nonetheless) we finally found a cheap pastry cutter, and Andrew was in pancake making heaven.

Now our pancake mix is all ready and stored in our glass containers. Our tradition- every Saturday morning we eat homemade pancakes with local maple syrup (yum!). The mix lasts about two weeks and functions just like that out of a box (add milk and eggs), sans weird chemical preservatives and using less packaging!

Andrew's Pancake Mix (or Bisquick Substitute)
Prep Time: 30min
Lasts: 2 weeks(ish) in a container, a couple months in the freezer

4 1/2 cups flour*
1/8 cups sugar (fair trade &/or organic)
1 1/4 cups powdered milk
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/4 cup baking powder
1 cup shortening


1. In a large pan (large and flat, like glass casserole dishes), stir dry stuff- milk, baking powder, sugar, salt into the flour.
2. CUT shortening into dry ingredients until it's the consistency of corn meal**
3. Place in a covered, cool dark place and... you're done!


Andrew's fantastical pancake recipe
1 cup of awesome mix
1/2 cup of milk (whatever fat percentage)
1 egg
some cinnamon and some vanilla (gasp, he didn't measure!!)


Tips on getting a perfect pancake:
  • DO NOT overmix. Only stir until it comes together. There will be lumps, that is OKAY. If you overmix, they'll be more glooey and flat. ick.
  • 1/4 cup of batter in the pan- that way they're the same size (ok, Andrew is a bit rigid... but it does fit three in our pan).
  • When the bubbles around the edge don't fill back in, you can flip them!


*for whole wheat flour, please remember that changing the gluten content of the mix will affect how the flour interacts with fats (i.e. shortening-lard-butter). Whole wheat will be heavier, so the pancakes may not be as fluffy- you might want to add more baking powder... Andrew is cautious and hates messing with recipes. His advice- replace 60% and see how that goes.


**for those of us who have no idea what "cornmeal" is, the consistency is not too fine, with little lumps. Or could do what Andrew just did and google image cornmeal. lol.

Now if we could just perfect our yogurt skills.... 

Blessings!


article and photos copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com

16 comments:

  1. WOW!!!! That look's yummy!!!!Yay for Andrew.....:)

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  2. Y'know I was nearly 30 before I realised there was such a thing as pancake mix. I knew nothing other than making from scratch (and without eggs;))

    Maybe it's the UK. Maybe it's because I hardly ever go in supermarkets, maybe my mum was in fact Julia Child, who knows?

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  3. Oh, love you don't use eggs in your pancakes...in Sweden eggs are a must...as I am turning more and more vegan that is not ok...I like what you wrote.

    I would just like to add that I just started hating my moon cup (thinking about a recent post of yours) that is leaking every day.

    Love and peace!
    Namaste

    Marika

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  4. I love your class canister. Is that blackboard paint I spy, with chalk labels? : )

    Yummm, you guys are so adventurous, and now I'm hungry for pancakes!

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  5. Obvs, my pancakes are vegan, but I love the idea of DIY pancake mix! Here's my favorite pancake-batter tip: Let it sit for 10 or so minutes while your pan heats up. That gives the gluten time to relax, so your 'cakes are fluffier and more delicious! :)

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  6. It's funny how different (in small ways) pancake recipes can be. In my family's recipe, there is no shorting etc, so no pastry cutter is involved. And we mix well, and the key is to let it sit for a bit to let the dough get fluffy. Perfect every time! (I grew up with Aunt Jemima syrup too, sometimes watered-down, as we couldn't afford the real thing then.)

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  7. OH my. I love this recipe. I shall have to snatch it and try it out the next time I make pancakes!

    Andrew cutting the shortening ala Edward Scissorhands is a GREAT mental image.

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  8. You almost make me wish I liked to cook! And you DEFINITELY make me wish my husband liked to cook!

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  9. Yummy! Everyone has such different pancake recipes - you'd think wed all be the same, wouldn't you? But we're not!

    For ours, we always make them from scratch, and we just do:

    1. 2 cups of flour (any type, and we use gluten free flour or rice flour for the kids).
    2. Dump in 2 tablespoons of sugar.
    3. Add 2 cups milk (any type, we use soy milk for the kids). Mix to form a batter.
    4. Add 2 eggs, and beat the eggs through.

    Makes about 8 pancakes.

    We serve ours with apple syrup, and the Male Of The Species likes a little whipped cream on top, when he's lucky!

    I just like mine with apple or maple syrup. Can't beat it. Yum!

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  10. @marcia (aka MOM): thanks! lol, ANdrew will show you his pancake making SKILLZ sometimes when you come visit :)

    @Rachel: weird! I bet it might be something about the UK. However, maybe it was my family... lol

    @Marika: I know, I think eggs are essential too! (but then, I'm not vegan!)
    Awww, hating your mooncup- that sucks! we've had a bunch of talks in the comment sections about leakage. maybe it's time I posted a summary of all the tips mentioned...

    what do you all think?

    @Jamie: It IS chalkboard paint!! we have four of them, one big one and three little ones and they are so convenient. Although storing brown sugar has been a bit tricky :)

    @VeganBurnout: You know, you are ridiculously always supportive of my posts with food, it's something I admire about you immensely. I know how passionate you are about being Vegan, and you just have this level of Grace when you comment. Thank you :)

    @Grace: I think we also used Aunt Jemima because we couldn't afford the real thing...
    I'm not sure why there is shortening involved- wait, let me ask Andrew MASTER CHEF: I dunno- it does stuff.
    sigh- ok that was a fail. lol

    @lyn: haha- it was a ridiculous visual image too! he swears WAY less now that he has a pastry cutter (although swearing is still involved in the making. not sure why)

    @Tiffany: awww- well Daharja's recipe and Grace's seem pretty easy! I wonder if the way we make it is for storage and so it will keep longer?

    @daharja: what a great recipe! Thanks very much for sharing, that looks super easy to whip up!
    Also- Apple Syrup?? YUMMM!!!


    Also- we are SO doing a repeat and having pancakes AGAIN Sunday morning. WOOT!!

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  11. Sounds delish! I will have to try it! BTW, pastry cutters ROCK! ;)

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  12. I LOVE pancakes. Sometimes I have them for dinner. I always make them from scratch and our recipe is pretty basic with the flour, eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, etc. I add cinnemon.

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  13. I am all ova this like a spatula! Like a honey bee on a flour! Like an egg on the side. Or even on top!

    I LOVE Alton. He is amazing to watch. I have his recipe for homemade macaroni and cheese. The kind you bake. Mmmmmmm Mmmmmmmm mmmmmmm Good.

    Tis' true about over mixing. Too much mixing = Gluten = Glue. Did you ever make flour and water paste? Same theory...

    So Saturday mornings, huh? I could be persuaded to make the trek.....

    hugzzzzz, my pretty girl~

    ps... the shortening may make it easier to store rather than straight oil like you normally use. AND I cannot live without my pastry cutter. I use it to make egg salad, too.

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  14. Interesting.... I have made pancakes many times and have never used a pastry cutter. I mix up just what I need when I need it rather than storing and I would suggest that with "shortening" (whatever you are using-is it that partially hydrogenated vegetable oil stuff?) it shelf life might not be so long. Why not just mix together the dry ingredients, and add oil and eggs when you are ready to cook, if you must have some of it made in advance?

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  15. @Anonymous, yep it is pretty great to be able to whip up some pancake mix on the spot. :)
    We really do like the convenience of having 'bisquick' mix on the ready though, for a couple of weeks.

    using butter or pure vegetable (non-hydrogenated) oil would change the consistency of the pancake though...

    The shortening really doesn't decrease the storage life of the pancakes- the mix lasts for a couple of weeks very well.

    Truly, it was more a post on the wonder that you could make pancake mix in advance not in box. Didn't know you could do that. Although I see that it wasn't really news to many of you :)

    so it's less about what goes IN to the pancake mix, and more about having ready made pancake mix without a box.

    Perhaps next time Andrew and I can try using a different oil.

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  16. I love butter, and use it ON my pancakes but not in making them. I find that any vegetable oil, even light olive oil, works very well.

    Anne

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