THE PANCAKE DOCTOR: MAKING A MIX TASTE HOMEMADE

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

These pancakes are made from a mix doctored-up with whole milk and melted butter. They are served with blueberry syrup made by microwaving frozen blueberries with a little sugar and a little water.

Serves 4 can be multiplied easily

My family loves made-from-scratch pancakes. Who doesn’t? We often make them on the weekends when there is time and everyone can help. The group effort makes breakfast fun. Now that the children are older, they can do most of the work by themselves. This is very nice for me because sometimes I prefer to sit at the counter drinking my latte with the paper while they scurry about mixing and pouring….making a mess.

It is on these occasions that a good storebought pancake mix comes in handy. Making pancakes from a mix is ideal when you need less of a production. The mess factor diminishes when there are only three ingredients to combine. Plus, when you ignore the instructions on the box and use whole milk in place of water and melted butter in place of oil, you get a darn good pancake. We topped our stacks with blueberry syrup made by microwaving frozen blueberries with a little water and a little sugar. On the side, we had clementines and apple smoked bacon.

We like this mix. It is all-natual and multigrain. Although you cannot taste them, the mix also contains flax seeds.

Note: You may not be able to sit back and let them do it all. How much of this pancake project you can hand over to your children depends on their age and abilities. If they can read, they can gather ingredients. They may need help measuring and mixing. You may need to take over from there. I train mine at 11 how to cook simple things like pancakes over a flame, but I am always in the room while they cook…just in case.

Note: Buy pancake mix with natural ingredients. There are many good ones. Read the labels. Be aware of what you buy and what you eat.

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries

2 tsp sugar

1 Tbsp water

storebought pancake mix measured to serve 4

whole milk substituted for water

melted butter substituted for oil

butter for frying pancakes

1. MAKE THE SYRUP: Place 1 cup blueberries in a glass prep bowl. Mix with 3 tsp water and 2 tsp sugar. Microwave on HIGH 2 minutes. Stir to combine. Set aside while you make the pancakes. Microwave syrup to warm before serving.

2. MAKE PANCAKE BATTER: The instructions on the back tell you to add water and vegetable oil. Simply substitute milk for the water and melted butter for the oil. Proceed as per your box recipe.

Once you pour your batter onto a hot buttered skillet, you can add a few chocolate chips or a few fresh or thawed blueberries to the cooking pancake.