Buttermilk pancakes for breakfast =)

I love American-style pancakes for breakfast and every time my company sent me to New York, I'd order them.  I've always found crepes easy-peasy to make, but never got the hang of the fluffy American-style ones until I had children.  They are very similar to Scotch pancakes (also known as drop scones).

I make mine with self-raising flour, but all my American friends tell me I should be using plain flour with 1 tsp baking powder and ½ tbsp bicarbonate of soda but I tried doing that and found them to taste far too doughy.  Buttermilk tends to be sold in the half-pint (284 ml) in the UK, if you find you're buying 300 ml cartons, just use medium eggs instead of large.  These are usually made on a heated griddle, but I just use an 18 cm frying pan, which holds a ladle-full of batter - you may need to play about with quantities.


Ingredients:

200 g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp caster sugar, golden syrup or maple syrup, depending on taste
284 ml buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tbsp melted butter

sunflower oil for frying


Method:

• Combine all the ingredients except the butter and beat until smooth
• Stir in the butter
• Heat your frying pan using a medium heat, brush on a thin layer of oil, then add a ladle-full of batter
• Leave your pancakes without moving them until they puff up slightly and craters start appearing on the surface

• Carefully turn them over using a spatula and cook the second side until golden brown

I usually get 8-10 pancakes from a single quantity.  I like mine with fresh berries, but hubby and the kids love theirs drowned in maple syrup!