by Nita Frazier

Created on: August 12, 2008

No breakfast is complete without a stack of pancakes swimming in syrup and butter.

Making those pancakes is not always as simple as ordering them.

Any recipe will produce a delicious pancake if you follow a few simple cooking instructions.
First, stir or whisk the ingredients together. Never use an electric mixer in your pancake batter. The mixer will add too much air to the batter, causing it to cook unevenly.

A good rule of thumb for breakfast breads is: pancakes/stir or whisk; Waffles/electric mixer.

Next, check your utensils. Pancake batter, like cake batter cooks more evenly and tastes better if it is cooked on a griddle used exclusively for pancakes. (cake pans should never be used for anything other than cakes).

Be sure your griddle is thoroughly clean and dry. The cooking surface should be perfectly flat without indentations or nicks. Never allow your teenager to use this griddle to cook hamburgers. This is a pancakes only griddle.

Spray the surface with a light coating of cooking spray. you can brush the griddle with Canola oil, if you prefer, but doing so will add a heavy, oily flavor to the pancakes.

Set the griddle on a warm burner.

When the surface is evenly warmed,turn the heat to the high setting pour the pancake batter onto the griddle. If you use pancake circles or forms, be sure to spray them with cooking spray also.
Knowing when to flip the pancake is a skill anyone can develop. Flipping too soon results in a mess; flipping too late results in a burned pancake.
The pancake should rise noticeably as flipping time approaches. When the surface of the pancke is covered with tiny bubbles, it is flipping time. Of course, you have sprayed your pancake flipper with cooking spray to prevent batter sticking to the utensil.
Quickly flip the pancake over.

Wait for the bubbles to appear on the second side, then slide the pancake onto a plate.

Top with butter, syrup, fruit or shipped cream. Eat.

BETTER HOMES AND GARDEN PANCAKES:
1 1/4 sifted all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons salad oil

Sift together dry ingredients. Do NOT skip the sifting process. Doing so leads to lumpy pancakes.
Combine egg, milk and salad oil. Make a well or deep hollow in the dry ingredients. Pour the egg mixcture into the well. Stir until moistened.
Makes 12 edollar size, or 8 4-inch pancakes.

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