When I was poor, single and in school, I had these for breakfast every morning. I fried them while I was waiting for my hair to dry. It took about 15-minutes to mix them, fry them and eat them. I had the system down pat. The only problem was all the dirty dishes when I got home in the afternoons :-(. Still they kept me from starving and even day in an day out, I never tired of them.
I serve pancakes with homemade syrup or jam or even applesauce. My favorite topping though, is molasses. My oldest son likes honey on his. Pancakes are not the most filling breakfast, so if you can afford to, try to serve them with a fried or scrambled egg, for extra protein. Another option is to add 2-eggs to the pancake batter, instead of 1. Reduce the milk to 2/3-cup. This will make the pancakes more filling and nutritious. If you just need them to be as cheap as possible though, they turn out fine with a single egg, as written.
Pancakes
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Fat for frying
Directions
In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine the milk, egg and oil with a fork or wire whisk. Beat briefly. Measure and add the sugar, salt, baking powder and flour. Beat again until the batter is mostly smooth.
Cook on a hot, well oiled skillet or griddle. I use about 1/4-cup of batter, or a little less, per pancake. An ice-cream scoop makes a handy dipper. I heat up my iron skillet over medium-high heat, and melt a spoonful of margarine or bacon grease in it. When the fat is almost smoking, I drop in about 1/4-cup of batter. Sometimes I cook two at a time, in the same pan, depending on the size of the pancake. As it cooks little bubbles will form around the edges of the pancake. The top will begin to dry out a little too. When the top is beginning to dry out, and the surface has plenty of bubbles on it, turn the pancake and cook the other side. Brown it well, and lay it in a plate. Repeat until all of the batter is used up. If you have trouble with larger pancakes don’t worry, almost everyone does. Smaller pancakes are easier to flip and more attractive on the plate.
Serve with margarine, syrup, and fresh or canned fruit and milk. Makes 2 to 3-servings.
If you want to get fancy you can add an apple that has been cored, but not peeled, and chopped into bits the size of a raisin. Or you can add 1/4 to 1/3-cup of raisins and a little cinnamon. Canned fruit, that has been well drained and finely chopped will work well too. Peaches are good in pancakes. Blueberry pancakes are made by adding 1/3 to 1/2-cup of fresh or frozen blueberries. Chocolate chip pancakes are made by adding 1/3 to 1/2-cup of chocolate chips. These are good with sliced bananas on top.