Pancakes remind me of my parent’s cottage on St. Joe’s Island. It’s a small cottage on Whiskey Bay that we always cram full of family during the summer.
When I was about 10, I decided to make pancakes for everyone staying there for breakfast one morning. Of course I made pancakes from a box that you just had to add eggs, oil and milk to, but these were the pancakes I knew back then. I pulled out the big ol’ plug-in griddle and made as many pancakes as I could. People sat down in batches as the pancakes were ready and I would stand there in my pyjamas, flipping, until everyone ate. It quickly became my contribution to the day.
But here’s the catch – I didn’t like pancakes. At all. I never ate them unless there was nothing else (in which case I would slather them in peanut butter and maple syrup). That’s right – peanut butter. An old babysitter introduced our family to this. It’s the greatest way to eat pancakes. It tastes like the inside of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. However normally, when everyone was finished, I would make myself toast with jam.
When my son was really young, I would make him pancakes from scratch and could never resist eating a few of them as the texture and flavour was so much better than I remembered. It wasn’t until my mother-in-law, who is from Portugal and makes GREAT pancakes (that are more like fritters and are a secret family recipe), told me to try frying them in olive oil that I absolutely can’t resist pancakes. Olive oil makes all the difference. It makes my pancakes crispy on the edges, but still deliciously fluffy on the inside. Of course, I still enjoy them with peanut butter, too.
Olive Oil Fried Pancakes
For 2
- 1 cup of organic all-purpose flour (since you can really taste the flavour of the flour in pancakes, organic flour tastes better. It’s less bland.)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
Stir together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and vegetable oil with a fork. Add this wet mixture to the dry mixture all at once and whisk together with your fork until well combined. Don’t worry about a few lumps. It should be as thick as low-fat yogurt, so you might need to add a bit more milk.
Heat about 2 tsp. of extra virgin olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat until the oil is very runny when you tilt the pan. I like to use a gravy ladle to measure the amount of batter per pancake. Depending on the size of your pan and how accurately you can flip the pancakes, you will probably get 3-4 in the pan at once. Don’t touch your pancakes until you see bubbles on the top. Carefully flip them over and cook for another few minutes on the other side, or until golden brown. Before your next batch, add another tsp. of extra virgin olive oil to your pan.
If you are not serving them in batches, keep the cooked pancakes on a plate in a warm oven until the rest are ready. This recipe makes about 6 large or 8 smaller pancakes. It can be easily doubled, or tripled. Best served slathered in peanut butter and real maple syrup, of course.
