Perfect Pancakes: The secret to eliminating those rubbery pancakes

Pancakes are a weekend staple at my house.

Once you get the hang of them, they are quick and simple to make from scratch.

This seems to be somewhat of a secret, though, given the number of people who buy pancake mixes.

Not long ago, a friend showed surprise that I was making my own pancakes. "Mine always turn out rubbery," she said.

So for all those victims of rubbery pancakes, or people who think they are too complicated, here's a primer for pancake perfection.

Ingredients

Flour gives pancakes structure. All-purpose flour produces the lightest pancakes that most easily soak up syrup. Other choices, often used in combination with all-purpose, include whole-wheat, buckwheat, cornmeal and oatmeal.

Milk provides the liquid. Recipes may use whole, skim or nonfat milk, as well as yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk.

Eggs help the batter hold together and keep the pancakes moist. Egg whites, with two for every egg they replace, will work. But egg whites make slightly drier pancakes.

Baking powder makes pancakes rise. Some baking soda is added when the batter contains acidic ingredients, such as buttermilk.

Melted butter in the batter helps tenderize pancakes.

Other ingredients, including fruit, nuts and vanilla can be added for flavor.

Mixing

All the dry ingredients are mixed together first, primarily to evenly distribute the leavener. Wet ingredients are mixed separately then stirred into the dry ingredients. The most common mistake is overmixing. The perfectly mixed batter does not look perfect. It should appear very lumpy, and even a few bits of unmoistened flour are OK. Typically, gentle stirring for 15 to 20 seconds is plenty. Overmixing develops the gluten in the flour that will make pancakes tough and rubbery.

Equipment

A skillet makes it difficult to flip the pancakes, so a griddle is preferred. Griddles can be either cast iron or nonstick. Electric griddles are handy and generally good for keeping the heat even.

An offset spatula, where the blade is set below the handle, works best for flipping pancakes.

Cooking

Preheat the pan, starting with medium heat. To test the heat level, sprinkle a few drops of water on the cooking surface. If the water just sits there, the surface is too cool. If it evaporates immediately, the surface is too hot. If it bounces and sputters, the temperature is just right.

Using a spoon or ladle, pour the batter over the desired center of the pancake. A slow pour will help form a more perfect circle. Repeat to comfortably fill the pan. If any pancakes touch, they can be cut apart with the edge of a spatula.

Cook the first side until quite a few air bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, at which point the bottoms should be golden brown. Flip and cook about 2 minutes more or until other sides are brown.

Note to watch for burning in subsequent batches of pancakes. A good rule of thumb is to turn down the heat one notch for each subsequent batch.

Keeping Warm

Place slightly overlapping pancakes on abaking sheet, preferably with a wire rack, and put in a 200-degree oven to keep warm. Stacking pancakes can make them soggy. If they won't be served in the next few minutes, brush them with butter to help keep them moist and tender.

Reheating

Cooked pancakes can be reheated, though they won't be quite as good. Heat, brushed with butter, in a 350-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or heat unbuttered in a toaster, which will darken them slightly. Microwaves tend to toughen them.

Cooked pancakes also can be wrapped in plastic and frozen for a month.

Basic Pancakes

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons sugar

2 eggs

2 cups milk

3 to 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, melted and slightly cooled

1. Heat a griddle over medium heat. If desired, lightly brush with oil or butter.

2. Whisk flour, salt, baking powder and sugar together in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs. Stir in milk and melted butter.

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Gently stir until combined and still very lumpy, about 20 seconds. A few streaks of unincorporated flour are OK.

5. Using a ladle or large spoon, scoop about ¼ cup batter. Hold it 2 to 3 inches over where the center of the pancake will be and slowly pour. Repeat until griddle is comfortably full, with no pancakes touching each other.

6. Cook about 3 minutes or until a good number of air bubbles appear on the surface of the pancakes, at which point the bottoms should be golden brown. Flip and cook about 2 minutes more or until the other sides are brown. Serve immediately or place uncovered in a single layer on a baking pan in a 200-degree oven to keep warm.

Variations

For buttermilk pancakes, replace the milk with buttermilk and add ½ teaspoon baking soda to the dry ingredients.

Add 1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Add 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

Add a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.

Add ¼ grated semisweet chocolate. Note that big pieces of chocolate, such as chips, tend to stick out of the batter and burn in the pan. Stirring smaller, grated pieces of chocolate into the dry ingredients helps avoid burning.

Replace up to 1 cup of the all-purpose flour with the whole-wheat flour.

Add ¾ to 1 cup fresh or frozen chopped strawberries or whole blueberries or raspberries. These can be mixed in the batter, or sprinkled on top of the raw top side of the pancakes in the pan.

Add ¾ cup shredded cheese.

Add ¾ cup crumbled, cooked bacon.

Add ⅔ cup chopped nuts.

Fruit Sauce

Recipe adapted from A Real American Breakfast (William Morrow, 2002) by Cheryl Alters Jamison and Bill Jamison. This alternative to syrup can be made any time of year because it works great with frozen as well as fresh fruit.

3 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries, raspberries or chopped strawberries

2 to 4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste

1. Place fruit, sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, the fruit softens and the mixture begins to thicken, 5 to 10 minutes. Taste and add more sugar if needed, stirring well and heating until sugar dissolves. Stir in the lemon juice as needed to brighten and balance the flavors. Serve warm.

Cornmeal Pancakes

Recipe adapted form The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking. Note that this is a heavier style of pancake that does not use leavener.

1¼ cups cornmeal, preferably stone ground

¾ cup all-purpose flour

¾ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1⅔ cups milk

4 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ cup maple syrup or 3 tablespoons sugar (See Note)

¾ cup fresh or frozen corn kernels, optional

1. Lightly oil a griddle and heat over medium heat. Whisk the cornmeal, flour and salt in a bowl. In a second bowl, beat eggs and whisk in milk, butter and syrup.

2. Mix wet and dry ingredients, adding corn kernels if desired, just until combined. The batter should be very thin.

3. Spoon a ¼ cup batter onto griddle for each pancake, leaving plenty of room for the thin batter to run. (The pancakes' shape probably will look irregular at first.) Cook until the tops are speckled with air bubbles. Flip and cook about 2 minutes or until second sides are golden brown. Keep warm in a 200-degree oven while cooking remaining batches.

Note: If substituting sugar for the syrup, the sugar should be mixed with the dry ingredients.

Makes about 16, 5-inch pancakes.

Four-Grain Flapjacks

Recipe adapted from The All New All Purpose Joy of Cooking.

1 cup whole-wheat flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

⅓ cup cornmeal

¼ cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking rolled oats

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1¾ cups milk

4 tablespoons butter, melted

¼ cup honey

3 large eggs

1. Lightly oil a griddle and heat over medium heat. Mix flours, cornmeal, oats, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, cinnamon if using and nutmeg. Mix the milk, butter, honey and eggs. Mix wet and dry ingredients until just barely combined.

3. Spoon about ¼ cup batter onto each griddle for each pancake, swirling the batter into a round shape if necessary. Cook until tops are speckled with air bubbles. Flip and cook until second sides are golden brown. Keep cooked pancakes warm in a 200-degree oven while making subsequent batches, adding more oil as needed.

Makes about 18, 4½–inch pancakes.

Pancake Day

The Kiwanis Club of Winston-Salem will hold its annual Twin City Kiwanis Pancake Jamboree from 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday at Benton Convention Center on Fifth Street downtown to raise money for the club's service programs.

Cost: $6 for adults and $3 for children under 12. The all-you can-meat meal includes pancakes, sausage and beverages.