Pancake Showdown!
I did a Q and A video on my YouTube channel. (https://youtu.be/PCKv2Jk5qNM) In making that video I got a bunch of requests for recipes, and I am more than happy to oblige. One of the requests I got, though, struck me as rather strange. I got a request to know how to make pancakes from a box. This struck me as curious, as generally speaking one doesn’t need a recipe to make things out of a box. Then it hit me, this person probably had never seen a pancake made before. The box tells you how to make the mix and gives a general instruction, but if you’ve never seen a pancake made before you’d probably be a little confused on what exactly to do.
This also got me to thinking about my bias against boxed pancakes. I generally don’t judge people who make things out of boxes and cans (trust me I do it all the time when I get busy). However, pancakes were always one of those things that I truly didn’t understand the purpose of having a boxed variety. To me, making the “real thing” was always so easy that it didn’t make sense to use the “easier way.” So I decided to put my prejudice to the test for another YouTube video (linked below).
I made three different versions of pancakes: straight from the box, from scratch, and a hybrid. You can watch the video to see all of the details and process, but I’ll just give you my final analysis here. I really didn’t like the boxed pancakes. They just couldn’t hold up against the other two recipes that I tested. They had a gummy texture when you started chewing them, and they fell apart when the syrup soaked in. They also had kind of an “off” flavor, and didn’t really produce a large yield.
The hybrid recipe was better. This recipe involves basically using a regular pancake recipe, but instead of using flour you use baking mix. The results were good. I thought that they tasted great, and help up relatively well to the syrup. The texture was also an improvement over the straight box mix pancakes. The only issues I noticed were that texturally they still didn’t beat the scratch pancakes, and the added baking powder seemed to make them inflate and deflate rather quickly when they hit the griddle. This caused them to have sort of a wonky shape instead of being uniform.
The scratch was the clear winner for me. Flavor-wise, I was surprised that they didn’t really beat out the hybrid recipe. Don’t get me wrong, you could tell the difference between them, but I couldn’t say that the flavor of the scratch was better than the hybrid. However, the texture really won out. They cooked up nicely, had a nice shape, and they were dense enough to hold up to the syrup. They had a real “stick-to-your-ribs” quality that I like in a hearty breakfast food.
Bottom line, if I was served any of the three I wouldn’t decline, but if I were to make them myself or serve them to guests I’d avoid the straight boxed recipe. The amount of work they saved (not all that much) really didn’t produce a quality enough product that I could say was worth it. The bonus of making your scratch pancakes is also that you know everything that went into it. I read the ingredients on the sides of both boxes, and I feel that I shouldn’t have had to have passed organic chemistry (which I did ;) ) in order to understand what is going into my body.
Included below are the recipes for the scratch pancakes and the amped up boxed mix pancakes. Both were quite good and I’d recommend them to anyone looking for a quick and delicious breakfast. If you’re looking for the recipe for the box, well see the back of the box. The method is the same no matter what pancake your making. I do hope that you’ll get into the kitchen and try them because there really is nothing like a homemade flapjack to start your morning off happy!
Remember you don’t have to be a professional to make magic in the kitchen.
Joe the Blue Wizard
Scratch Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (190 g) All-Purpose Flour
- 3 tbsp. (35 g) Sugar
- 2 tsp. (8 g) Baking Powder
- 3/4 tsp. (5 g) Salt
- 1 cup (236 mL) Milk
- 3 tbsp. (45 g) Butter, melted (plus more for the pan)
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) Vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk together in a large bowl flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Whisk in another bowl milk, butter, eggs and vanilla.
- Mix liquid ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be lumpy, but all dry bits of flour should be gone.
- Preheat a griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium to medium low heat.
- When skillet is hot, spread a thin layer of butter over the surface.
- Ladle the batter in 1/4 cup portions onto the skillet or griddle to form a 4-inch pancake.
- Cook undisturbed until bubbles form and pop on the surface of the pancakes and bottom is golden brown, 2-3 minutes.
- Flip the pancakes and cook until browned on the second side, 1-2 minutes more.
- Keep finished pancakes warm covered in the microwave or oven until ready to serve.
Amped-up Boxed Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) Baking Mix
- 3 tbsp. (35 g) Sugar
- 2 tsp. (8 g) Baking Powder
- 1 cup (236 mL) Milk
- 2 tbsp. (30 mL) Vegetable Oil
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tsp. (5 mL) Vanilla
Instructions
- Whisk together in a large bowl baking mix, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Whisk in another bowl milk, oil, eggs and vanilla.
- Mix liquid ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined. The batter will be lumpy, but all dry bits of flour should be gone.
- Preheat a griddle or large non-stick skillet over medium to medium low heat.
- When skillet is hot, spread a thin layer of butter over the surface.
- Ladle the batter in 1/4 cup portions onto the skillet or griddle to form a 4-inch pancake.
- Cook undisturbed until bubbles form and pop on the surface of the pancakes and bottom is golden brown, 2-3 minutes.
- Flip the pancakes and cook until browned on the second side, 1-2 minutes more.
- Keep finished pancakes warm covered in the microwave or oven until ready to serve.
