Fannie Farmer's Griddlecakes

I thought I'd share one of my favourite recipes with you for griddlecakes (a.k.a. pancakes!). My mother used to make these for us all the time, and I have a recipe card she copied in her handwriting, which is really special to me, and I love being able to have that little connection with her every time I make these for myself and A (and Button in the future!).

This recipe is from one of my favourite cookbooks that we had growing up, which was made even more awesome by the fact that when I was little the name provided endless amusement and giggling.

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook! I wish I still had this cookbook, but alas it remains in the USA (and possibly is no more, I have no idea what happened to all the cookbooks!)

Fannie Farmer's Griddlecakes (Makes approx 6 pancakes about 6" diameter)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp melted butter
• 1 cup (125g) flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Beat or whisk 1/2 cup of the milk, butter and eggs.
2. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt, and add to first mixture, being careful to mix only until smooth and not overmix. Add the rest of the milk if mixture is too thick.

For a proper American pancake you want the mixture to be fairly thick so it doesn't spread out too much in the pan. You want it to coat the back of the spoon and 'plop' off rather than being runny. This is why I add only part of the milk first, as I've found that depending on the moisture in the air and various other things it seems to require slightly different milk amounts every time I make them.

3. Heat a griddle or frying pan on low/med heat and lightly butter or spray with cooking spray.

4. Pour about 1/4-1/3 cup of batter onto the pan, depending on your desired pancake size.

This is how the batter should kind of stay relatively compact in the pan, otherwise it'll be too thin.

5. When pancake is beginning to bubble on the top (about 2-3 minutes), flip over. Underside should be golden brown.

This one ended up a tiny bit overdone on the bottom, (I find the first pancake is always a bit of a tester anyway), so adjust the heat as necessary. For some insight, I started my heat off about 5/10 and ended up with it at 4/10, but it will definitely depend on your hob top (ours is induction). Electric ones are really more finicky and slower to change, so start them off really low.

6. Serve with maple syrup.

Sadly we only had a tiny amount of maple syrup left, so I added a bit of my leftover melted butter. Normally I'd just put a little bit of butter or margarine on each pancake.

You can also add fruit or other things to the batter just before cooking (my favourites are blueberries, bananas, chocolate chips, raspberries, blackberries or chopped up strawberries).

So there you have it. Fannie Farmer's Griddlecakes!