Pancakes or Griddlecakes or Hotcakes or Flapjacks: Identity Crisis

What's in a name?
This called by any other name, would still taste sweet. :D

So which one? Actually, all of the above! :)

Different countries have different versions of this breakfast or snack treat. They call it by different names, not  just the ones I mentioned above. It can be savory or sweet. Thin or thick. But all share the same principle of being cooked in a frying pan or griddle. Archeological studies even proved that the earlier forms of these flat cakes were found dating prehistoric times which were cooked on hot stone or shallow earthenwares over open fire. Cool.
  

I was getting bored today because my nephew went with my mom and dad to get a new refrigerator. I have no one to annoy *evil grin*. The past months my mom was complaining how our old refrigerator was acting up and spoiling her stock of meat and veggies. It's strange that overtime, the refrigerator seem to get smaller. Or is it that the food consumption in the house is getting bigger? I guess the latter, since like I hinted in the past few articles that my family is known to have a healthy (?) appetite; even my once-stick-figure nephew became a picky-but-voracious eater. Anyway, what was I supposed to talk about again? Oh yeah... So I was bored. And a lot of people would know that boredom would sometimes trigger curiosity; and I was getting hungry too. Curious and hungry, haha! A nice combination. :D

I wanted something sweet. I was thinking of making my version of kettle corn, but I'm not in the mood for crunchy food. Something soft and chewy perhaps with blueberries? Bake? Ehhrr... can there be something simpler? Stove top please. Lighbulb!

I was keeping my fingers crossed that my mom had store-bought pancake mix hidden somewhere. Nope, didn't see one, though she's good at hiding stuff. Blah, it would be so easy if I had the instant mix; I guess I'll be doing this the hard way. Online I go to JoyofBaking and found a supposed tested recipe.

Cooking on the griddle with blueberry preserves and banana slices.

Let me correct myself, it's actually EASY and has the simplest ingredients! But of course you have to measure this and that, but it's almost the same as you would cook the store-bought version. You can even experiment with spices and flavors. Besides, have you read the ingredients on pancake mix box? Chemical much?

HOMEMADE PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

*Makes about 8 medium sized pancakes.

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

a pinch of ground cloves (optional)

1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk

2 tbsp melted butter

PROCEDURE

1. In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon & ground cloves.

2. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients except banana and preserves. Pour this into the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Do not over mix, you'll be aiming for a curdle like batter.

3. Heat a non-stick pan or griddle on stove top. The pan is ready when you place in a drop of water and it bounces. Brush with a little butter.

4. Pour 1/4 cup or more into the pan, depending how big you want your pancakes to be.

5. When the top starts to bubble and the bottom becomes brown, flip over and cook the other side. Serve warm with a pat of butter and pancake syrup.

If you wanted to add fruits or preserves into the pancake, just add them when the top starts to bubble and cover them with a bit more batter so it won't burn the fruit.

What I love about these homemade pancakes is that there is no weird metallic or acidic after-taste that I would often get when using store-bought pancake mix. Everybody should really get to know what they are feeding themselves with. This one is definitely a keeper in my book. :)