sprinklefingers

yesterday i posted about freezing pancakes. really, it was just a couple of photos and then my near-endless blathering about pancakes. i apologize. that was kind of an empty post, huh?

anyways, let’s get down to business:

right now i’m going to tell you how to make your own buttermilk, kind of.
then i’m going to give you a recipe for buttermilk pancakes.
then i’m going to tell you how to freeze those pancakes so you can whip up something more than cereal on busy weekday mornings.

here goes…

buttermilk.

i love the stuff. especially in pancakes and baked goods. but sometimes i forget to buy it. or i forget i have it and then it expires. so sad. until i figured out how to sour milk. now, i’m not saying this is a complete replacement for buttermilk because even i still buy it, but this will work when you realize you left buttermilk off your grocery list.

measure out one liquid cup of milk.
add one tablespoon of white vinegar to that cup of milk.
stir lightly.
wait 20 minutes.
proceed with recipe.
(if you need more than one cup of buttermilk for your recipe, just increase these measurements, making sure you have 1 T vinegar for every 1 C milk.)

buttermilk pancakes.

3 cups AP flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon, plus 2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
4 cups buttermilk (or sour milk substitute)
4 large eggs, room temperature
3 oz butter, melted & cooled

whisk flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in one bowl.
in another bowl, mix buttermilk and eggs.
pour wet into dry, mixing until barely combined.
add butter. mix until you don’t see any dry bits, but make sure batter is still lumpy.

let batter rest 20 minutes.
heat your griddle and make pancakes (i use a 1/3 cup measure to pour out my batter…but you can make your pancakes as big or as small as you’d like. ahh, freedom.)

freezing pancakes.

the above recipe makes quite a few ‘cakes, depending upon size. i like to make more than i’ll need because the leftovers can be frozen. yes!
here’s how you do it:

make pancakes and eat the ones you’re going to eat. don’t forget butter and real, actual maple syrup. after you’ve stuffed yourself, continue to make pancakes. instead of eating these, allow them to cool completely on cooling racks.

once cool, lay out a long sheet of wax paper, and set a pancake on the edge of the paper. fold the paper over that pancake, then set another pancake on top. fold the paper on top of that pancake and repeat. don’t make your stack too big or it won’t fit in a freezer bag or freezer container. repeat with wax paper wrapping until all of your pancakes are tucked neatly away.

frozen pancakes = breakfast.

it’s wednesday morning. you’re tired of cereal. then you remember: i froze pancakes!

preheat the oven to 350. plop a few pancakes on a sheet tray and stick them in the oven for 7ish minutes. check to make sure they are fully thawed and warmed all the way through - but also check to make sure they aren’t turning into pancake toast. remove from oven, slather with butter and real, actual maple syrup. breakfast!

ps: these go really well with sausage.