Buttermilk pancakes

Remember what I said about breakfast in my house? We love it. In fact, I think three of the five foods my son will actually eat on a regular basis are bacon, omelettes, and pancakes. He loves pancakes so much that I have to much extras on the weekends so that we can pop them in the toaster for him for weekday breakfasts (they keep surprisingly well for this purpose).

I have to give credit to my sister Joy's mother-in-law for this recipe. Until Frances taught Joy how to make these pancakes, we were all really waffle fans, and just tolerated pancakes. Now I eat pancakes almost every weekend.

I think it goes without saying, but these are best with real maple syrup...

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs (3 if they are medium-sized ones)
2 cups cultured nonfat buttermilk, plus some extra
2 tablespoons melted butter

Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.

Stir together eggs and buttermilk. Mix butter into liquid slowly, then pour liquids into flour mixture. (I usually skip this step and just dump the eggs and buttermilk into the flour at the same time, then use the pan that I'm going to cook the pancakes in to melt the butter, then I whisk that into the batter just before cooking.) Stir well.

Add a little more buttermilk if necessary to get to a smooth, not-too-thick but not-too-thin texture. For me, the texture is right when the batter spreads evenly in the pan, but still needs just the slightest spreading with the back of a ladle.

Heat a frying pan to just below-medium temperature. Melt just a little butter in the pan to coat the bottom. Pour some batter in the pan and smooth out a little with the spoon so that it isn’t too thick. When large bubbles appear on the surface, it is ready to be turned over (don't wait too long!). Serve hot!

Nutrition info:

For one 6-inch pancake: 130 calories, 3.3g fat (1.7g saturated fat), 20.1g carbs (4.1g sugars), 4.6g protein

Contributed by Gwyneth