Perennially popular, pancakes date back to ancient times with ingredients like wheat, olive oil and honey used by Greeks and Romans and continue to remain popular as one of the most searched recipes online, except for Shrove or Pancake Tuesday – the day before the start of Lent or forty days of fasting in the Christian calendar – leading up to Easter. On Shrove Tuesday, they become the de facto most searched recipe online.
Tremendously versatile, a pancake recipe batter need not be limited to flour and in fact, in Medieval Europe oats, barley and rye were often used with pancakes serving both nobility and peasants alike.
Modern day pancakes made their way to the shores of North America with the arrival of colonists, when they also became known as flapjacks or griddle cakes.
Pancakes endure up to today as they are easy to make in addition to the commercialization of box batters in the early 20th century. In truth – however – a box batter doesn't include wet ingredients, much like cakes or brownie box batters and in the case of pancakes, is just as easy – and affordable – to make them from scratch.
Always a hit with the kids, pancakes can be made into creative shapes, and the addition of fruit – especially strawberries, blueberries or bananas – nuts and/or chocolate chips turns a blah breakfast into a fun family treat – made that much more fun with the addition of a dollop of whipped cream.
Drizzled with warm syrup and served with bacon, ham or sausages, your own pancake recipe is sure to be as popular – if not moreso – than anything that comes out of a box – so get competitive like a baseball player – batter up. For an extra sweet pancake recipe treat, use a microplaner and shave milk chocolate atop before serving.
Cook: 9 Min
Serves: 12
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