Lazy Saturday Pancakes

Saturdays tend to be relaxing here at my house, and over the holiday weekend things are even lazier than usual. Even so, when the boys asked me if I could make pancakes for breakfast/lunch today I thought it was a grand idea.


I follow the recipe for pancakes found in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.
I do make one alteration - most recipes found in my American cookbooks have much too much sugar in them for my taste these days, so I cut the sugar called for in half. I also have to remember that 1 cup liquid in US measurements does not equal 1 cup liquid in UK measurements. 1 cup = 8 fluid ounces in the US, but 10 fluid ounces in the UK.

Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour (125 gm plain flour)

Pancakes with maple syrup

1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar (6 gm castor sugar)
2 tablespoon baking powder (21 gm)
1 pinch salt
1 cup milk (10 fluid ounces)
1 whole egg
2 tablespoons melted butter (28 gm) (use vegetable oil if desired)

Method
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix.

Combine the wet ingredients in a measuring jug and whisk briefly.

Batter

Pour the wet ingredients all at once to the dry and stir until just mixed together.

Heat a griddle plate or a heavy-bottomed skillet on a medium heat and pour in about 1 teaspoon vegetable oil. Let it heat up, then reduce the heat slightly and either pour off the excess oil or use a bit of kitchen paper to spread it round the griddle.

Measure out about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle. I use a small long-handled ladle for this job. Let the pancake cook until the edges are dried and there are bubbles all over the surface of the pancake. Use a turner to flip it over and cook the other side for 1 - 2 minutes.

Move the pancakes to a warmed plate in the oven until they're all cooked. I set the oven to its lowest temperature setting for this.

Pour a bit more oil onto the cooking surface as needed.

Don't fret too much if that first pancake doesn't turn out very well - this is common. Just adjust the heat under the cooking surface making it hotter or colder as needed and if that first pancake is truly inedible drop it into the compost bin. Or eat it - chances are even if it doesn't look very nice, it'll still taste delicious.

Variations
The boys most like pancakes with bits of chopped cooked bacon mixed into the batter. Another favourite option is to add in bits of cooked sausage.We made pancakes with bacon bits today.

Experiment with different spices to alter the flavour - cinnamon, allspice, or perhaps mixed spice.

To serve:
We all like something different on our pancakes. I prefer a bit of butter and lashings of maple syrup. The boys, on the other hand, skip the butter and pour over a bit of golden syrup.  

However you like them, pancakes are a nice treat on a lazy Saturday.