Mmm... Pancakes

I made pancakes for breakfast this morning and decided I would share my favorite recipe and a few ways to change it up.  Enjoy!

Perfect Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Combine all other ingredients in another bowl.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour milk mixture into the well.  Using a wooden spoon, fold all ingredients together until entirely combined, but do not over mix - batter should be a bit lumpy.  Cook desired size pancakes over medium heat in a lightly buttered skillet or shallow pan.  It's time to flip them when the surface of the batter becomes covered with bubbles.  (I remember my dad teaching me that trick while making pancakes over a campfire roughly 20 years ago!)

*If you are like me, you don't usually have buttermilk in your kitchen.  However, you can easily make your own buttermilk if you have regular milk and either lemon juice or vinegar.  Measure out the needed amount of milk, leave it in the measuring cup and add a bit of lemon juice or vinegar - 1 tbsp per cup of milk.  Mix and let sit for about 10 minutes.  The milk will thicken and curdle a bit... and you have buttermilk!

*Another good substitute for buttermilk is yogurt.  My dad always puts yogurt in his famous waffle batter and it also works in pancakes.  Instead of buttermilk, use any type of yogurt mixed with a bit of water or skim milk.  I like this idea because you can add extra flavor by using different kinds of yogurt - I like to use cherry vanilla, or mixed berry yogurt.

*Make blueberry-lemon pancakes by adding the juice of half of a lemon and 1-2 cups of fresh blueberries to the original recipe above.

*Make vanilla-raspberry pancakes by adding 1-2 tsp vanilla and 1 cup of lightly smashed fresh raspberries to the original recipe above.

*Make more hearty pancakes by substituting 1/2 cup of the flour with whole wheat flour and add 1-2 tsp of ground cinnamon.