Ahh...pancakes! The ultimate comfort food. You can be 3 or 103 and that word will conjure up wonderful breakfast memories. You must remember waking up and smelling those golden brown cakes. Listening closely to hear the sizzle of the batter. Watching the steaming stack on your plate with butter slowly melting and drizzling down the side. What will you add? Syrup, strawberries, powdered sugar? One could become giddy just thinking about it. Pancakes have long held a warm spot in our hearts and it is our duty to turn around and give this gift to our children.

Okay, so we are a little crazy about the pancake. To our defense; however, this little brown cake is a staple for both breakfast and dinner in our house. With four picky children we would search high and low for the perfect pancake.

And then one day it happened. A recipe off of the internet: "Bette's Buttermilk Pancakes". "A stack above the rest", they said. "Favorite recipe bar none", they said. "Hails from San Francisco", they said. "Okay", we said "we'll bite".

The moment we did take that bite, we knew. We put our forks down and smiled. We all knew the search was over. We threw our computer away (why did we need it anymore?). These are the best pancakes we have ever had. These are the lightest and fluffiest pancakes we have ever made. "The batter begins to react the minute the wet ingredients are added". This is the secret. What we have been looking for forever. Let us share

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk (sometimes, I don't have buttermilk so I add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to 1 cup of milk)
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
Choice of berries, sliced bananas, raisins or chopped toasted nuts (optional)
Oil for griddle

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
Lightly beat the eggs with the buttermilk, milk and melted butter.
Just before you are ready to make the pancakes, add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients all at once, stir quickly but don't overstir; there should still be lumps in the batter.

We then found out that Bette Kroening has been making these pancakes in her diner (Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley, CA) for nearly twenty years. They have become so popular that she even started a line of packaged mixes that can be bought all around the Bay area.

Learn more about this author, Diane Kutney.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

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