Vanilla Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes

Vanilla Cinnamon Buttermilk Pancakes - made November 15, 2015 from The Chunky Chef

I confess, I’m not discerning when it comes to pancake recipes. I like a good pancake as much as the next person but I’m not super picky about them. As long as they’re light and fluffy and have good flavor, that is. So I’m fairly agnostic when it comes to trying out pancake recipes. I typically only make them on weekends because that’s when I wake up and realize I don’t have any food in the house because I mostly eat at work or out with friends.

Fortunately, though, I have enough baking stock that I usually have the ingredients needed for most pancake recipes so it’s only a matter of minutes to find a new recipe and whisk it together.  This time around, as someone recommended on my last pancake post, I also tried not overheating my frying pan so I can get that smooth golden look for each pancake. Turns out how hot my pan was or wasn’t didn’t matter when it came to creating or not creating the vein-y looks in my pancakes. What mattered more was how the butter melted in the pan before I poured the batter over it. Same if I tried nonstick cooking spray.

Ultimately, the one way for me to get that smooth golden look all over the entire pancake was not to spray the pan or melt butter into it. Fortunately I had a nonstick frying pan so the results weren’t too disastrous and the pancake didn’t stick but it also didn’t flip over as gracefully as I might’ve wished. Regardless, once I was done obsessing about how to make it look a certain way, I was able to eat a couple. They were good. I don’t think they’d necessarily stand out in my mind as a go-to pancake recipe but only because I’m not that snobby about my pancakes. They’re good, they helped use up some buttermilk and they were easy to make. That’s all I ask of weekend food.

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

1. Combine dry ingredients together in one bowl.
2. Whisk together buttermilk, vanilla, egg and melted butter.
3. Pour into dry ingredients and mix lightly with fork only until barely combined.
4. Heat frying pan or griddle. Pour batter into rounds. Cook on one side until bubbles form all over. Flip over and cook until both sides are golden brown. Serve warm.