Saturday, January 23, 2016

Feather Pancakes- So Easy, So Good

Carrie here, to share some yumminess with you! 
Yesterday was Michael's birthday and in our home, we do special birthday breakfasts, which pretty much always feature Feather Pancakes! This is a recipe that I discovered about 2 years ago and has been a staple in our special breakfasts ever since. The recipe does not come from the internet, but from my old school Better Homes and Gardens, "New Cook Book." If you ask me, it is the only cook book you will ever need, but I digress, onto the actual food!
Best cook book ever written/compiled (?).
They start with a "Favorite Pancakes" recipe, which consists of the basics: All-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, an egg, milk, and salad oil (I use canola oil). There there are three variant options: Blueberry Pancakes, Buttermilk Pancakes, and our favorite, Feather Pancakes

Recipe directly from
"Better Homes and Gardens."
The Feather Pancakes call for more sugar and baking powder (thus the crazy fluffiness), and less flour. When I started making them this morning, I realized we only had Half & Half, no milk. I was a little worried it would turn our fluffy little treats into more dense pancakes, but good news! Using Half & Half gave the Feather Pancakes the same fluffy nature with a rich, creamier taste! 

When adding the ingredients, as shown on the right, I start with all of my liquids in the bottom of the mixing bowl. Give it a nice whisk to combine, then start heating my griddle (medium-high heat) so its nice and hot when the batter is finished. Then start adding my dry ingredients one at a time, whisking with each addition. The recipe says to "beat smooth," but I do this recipe entirely by hand. As an avid bread baker, I always worry about over working my product, so trust my hands a bit more than my 
mixer. When the batter is mostly smooth and free of clumps, 
you are ready to start cooking!

This started as Mickey, and turned
into a golden brown BB8!

Unfortunately, I started photographing after I cooked my batch off, but the keys that we have learned to really awesome pancakes are: 
  • Size is not everything, a smaller pancake will taste just as good and usually turn out more consistent than one the size of your head.
  • Heat is SUPER important, if your griddle isn't preheated your pancakes will not fluff and brown quickly and evenly.
  • Trust the bubbles; when cooking off pancakes you will see top side start to bubble in the corners let it bubble near all sides before flipping! 

Super fluffy!
On to the actual cooking, as I mentioned before, medium-high (on the higher side) heat, get it nice and hot so you get a really nice consistent brown on each side. I typically make my pancakes about 4-5 inches across and get 5-6 per batch using this recipe. We have a small 10 inch griddle, so I do two pancakes at a time in the pan. I pour, then wait for bubbling on top, once it has worked its way around the outside of the surface, I know the bottom is cooked evenly and ready to flip! Flip, watch in amazement as it fluffs (on this batch a few of these about 3/4 of an inch tall once cooked), after about a minute flip and check for nice golden brown! 

Honey and butter. 'Nuff said.

I keep a plate and paper towel on the stove with me, then as I finish pancakes, I stack on the plate and cover with the paper towel to retain heat while I finish the batch! Then we move to the dining room table to eat, drink and be merry! We keep our pancakes really simple and dress with just butter and honey, but everything from syrup, to berries, to peanut butter (which we may need to share our recipe for soon!) to finish these fluffy breakfast treats! 

Breakfast essentials.
Along with them, we had our normal coconut water and juice mix, as well as a new Starbucks Reserve Coffee Roast, which we received as an engagement gift! Michael says the coffee has "hints of Ethopian people," but I think he was still in Zombie Dice mode...really it has a delightful balance of sweetness with peppery hints. Thanks to Brett for introducing us to it and explaining just enough for Michael to get REALLY excited about it! 

Well, friends, I must be getting back to birthday party preparations- I'm making enough pizza to feed 20 tonight, birthday boy's favorite! I'll share recipe details below as we prefer our Feather Pancakes! Give it a try and let us know what you think! Happy weekend!




Last fluffy, buttery bite.


Feather Pancakes

2 tbsp Canola Oil
1 Large Egg
1 Cup Half & Half
.5 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Baking Powder
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour

Pour all liquids, including egg, into the bottom of a mixing bowl. 
Whisk until combined. 
Then add each dry ingredient individually and whisk after each addition, finishing with the flour. Once all ingredients have been added and batter is smooth, you are ready to cook on a medium-high pre-heated griddle! 





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