We make pancakes and crepes a lot!  I make them probably once a week, and the kids can now make crepes on their own, as Mr M did for me for Mothers Day…  The children probably prefer crepes, but these are what I make when they want pancakes, and they’re the fluffiest ones I’ve tried.  The ones pictured above are actually a bit flatter than usual as I used an organic stoneground flour, which retains some bran even in the white flour – yummy, but doesn’t rise quite as much.

Even though pancakes are pretty simple, when we go camping I’ve tended to buy an instant pancake mix, just to save on carrying ingredients with us.  It’s an easy option, but they’re really not as nice, and I always object to paying extra money for something I can easily make myself, so I decided to make an ‘instant’ mix version of these pancakes we can take along.  While these are yummy, just note they aren’t quite as fluffy as the fresh buttermilk version.

whisk in water

add melted butter

whisk batter until smooth

The main problem was what to do for the acid in the batter, which is usually supplied by buttermilk, or milk soured with vinegar, neither of which I wanted to bring along separately.  Then I discovered buttermilk powder at the local health food shop!  This is easily whisked together with the dry ingredients, and then all you need to add are eggs and water.  I’m going to try a batch with dried egg as well, so all you need is water, and I’ll update the post with the results of that too.

Buttermilk pancakes

• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarb soda
• 3 Tbs caster sugar
• 5 Tbs (50g) buttermilk powder*
• 270-300 ml water (use the larger amount if you want them to spread more)*
• 2 eggs
• 40g butter

* or 300ml buttermilk instead of the water and buttermilk powder

Whisk together flour, bicarb, sugar and buttermilk powder.  This dry mix can now be stored in an airtight container or zip lock bag if you want to use later.

When ready to eat, pour into a medium bowl, and whisk in eggs and water.  Once combined, whisk in the melted butter until smooth.  I just melt the butter in the pan I’ll be frying in, then pour all but a thin coating into the batter.

Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into a pan over medium heat, repeating for each pancake for as many as you can fit.  If you want pikelet size, use just a couple of Tbs per pancake.

Cook over medium heat until the bubbles breaking on the surface start to stay open, leaving small ‘holes’ in the batter. Flip the pancakes and cook on the other side until just browned.

Serve with maple syrup, butter and jam, honey, or what ever you like…

Makes about 12