Our one twin loves pancakes. He is small for his age, noticeably smaller than his twin. And everyday it is a challenge to get him to eat. We want him to eat, we want him to grow. Yet, he picks at his food like a little bird.

Thank goodness for Sunday mornings. The one meal we don’t have to force this child to eat. Sunday mornings are for pancakes. And Mr. Pancakes loves pancakes!

Now I know that pancakes aren’t really a miracle of nutrition but any parent will know that it’s really nice to just be able to sit and enjoy a meal without a fight.  I wonder why anyone buys pancake mix.  We make ours from scratch and it’s so easy. Try our family  recipe for your easy weekend brunch or in a pinch, dinner!

Home-Made Pancakes

Ingredients

• 3 cups flour (Your choice of which flour. Try all-purpose, whole wheat or a combination of the two.)
• 3 tbsp baking powder
• 3 tpsp white sugar (Optional. I leave it out.)
• 3 1/2 cups of milk (Whatever type you like – almond, skim, 2% whatever)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• Splash of oil (we use sunflower oil, and this might be 2 tbsp). Really you just need a little to keep the mix from being gluey).
• Pat of butter (like a scant 1 tsp)

Instructions

1. Stir the flour and baking powder (and sugar if you want it) in a large bowl.
2. Add milk, eggs, vanilla and oil. Then stir quickly with a whisk until the lumps are gone.
3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat, add a pat of butter (or margarine). Let it melt and spread it around the pan.
4. Add the batter to the pan using a ladle. When you see bubbles all around the outside and some on the inside, flip your pancake with a spatula. Let it cook until both sides are lightly brown, then it’s done.  If you made a MASSIVE pancake, make a little hole with a butter knife in the middle to check that the inside is cooked because raw pancakes are yucky! Note: We only use butter for the first pancake. Unless your pan is really dry, you shouldn’t really need any more once you get going.

This feeds our four kids + 1 adult (yes, it is me) and we have a stack left over to eat later for a snack.

Tips

• Cook over low-medium heat. Don’t rush the cooking with a higher heat or the pancakes will burn and the middle will be raw. Gross.
• Notice the trend: 1 cup flour to 1 egg to 1 tbsp baking powder and sugar to 1 cup milk + a little bit, plus tiny bit of vanilla and oil.  Have a big crowd, scale it up!
• Serve with pure Canadian maple syrup, fruit and some yogurt! (A really nice cup of coffee is also so wonderful!)
• My Grandmother taught me that in recipes that call for a lot of milk, rather than use fresh milk, use powdered milk! In recipes, it is much cheaper than fresh and you will never know the difference taste wise! This also applies for white sauce in lasagna!