A common complaint about making pancakes is that you have to cook them one at a time, and by the time the last one is cooked the first ones are cold and tough. And though every recipe says you can keep pancakes warm in a low oven while making them as an optional step, I make it an essential part of my recipe. Some people just eat pancakes when out at a diner to avoid the whole production, but well, we can’t really do that now, can we? In any case, my secret is: Just make fewer pancakes.
Unless you’re feeding a crowd – which I bet many of us aren’t right now – pancakes are the perfect breakfast for two. I mix up a batter that makes only seven pancakes – one for a first-test pancake and then six to eat; that’s three per person.
I start by making a batter with built-in texture insurance. Just like with my blueberry muffins, I add a little cornstarch to the batter to both cut the percentage of protein in the flour, thus making the pancakes more tender, and give them a finer crumb. Using powdered sugar also helps with the latter, but if all you have is granulated sugar, that works fine too. I whisk the liquid ingredients – full-fat milk and butter, please; these are pan-cakes, not pan-granola bars – into the dry ingredients very gingerly. You want some lumps in your batter because by the time you whisk it completely smooth, you’ve developed too much gluten and the pancakes will be tougher for it.
I don’t have a griddle so I cook my pancakes one at a time in a large nonstick skillet (if you have a griddle, though, please use it). Don’t try to cook more than one in a skillet; they inevitably do that thing where they touch at their edges and form oblong football shapes, instead of perfectly round disks, and can our OCD handle that right now?
Now, let’s talk about that “first pancake.” There’s no mystery around why it comes out wonky and pale. The wonkiness comes from you not pouring batter into a hot pan regularly so you have to get used to the movement. The paleness comes from your pan not being hot enough yet – hey, we’re all impatient so it’s OK. Let pancake nature take its course, then toss that first cake to the dog or a toddler, if you have one of those pulling on your leg.