Easy Cast Iron Pancakes

These may be the easiest pancakes you can make from scratch. They only require a few ingredients, and they can be cooked on the stovetop in only a few minutes.
Pans needed: Of course, it's mandatory that pancakes need to be made in a cast iron pan. This can be a skillet, griddle, or any convenient flat iron surface.

Ingredients

8 pancakes

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 tablespoon (3 teaspoons) baking powder

Wet Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick), melted
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 3/4 cups milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

12 pancakes

Dry Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (about 5 teaspoons) baking powder

Wet Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons butter (3/4 stick), melted
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 2 3/4 cups milk
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

16 pancakes

Dry Ingredients

  • 4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 tablespoons (6 teaspoons) baking powder

Wet Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 3 1/2 cups milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Banana Pancakes

  • Mix 3/4 cup of mashed bananas (1 1/2 bananas) into the pancake batter, for every 1 cup of flour. This means: for 8 pancakes, use 3 bananas; 4 1/2 bananas for 12 pancakes; 6 bananas for 16 pancakes.

Pumpkin Pancakes (8 pancakes)

  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
I'm not sure why I've been on a pumpkin kick lately, but I like the results. Here are pumpkin pancakes, which are made simply by adding pumpkin spices, some extra sugar, and pumpkin puree to this pancake mix. The pumpkin makes the batter very thick, and you do have to spread it out on the pan after pouring it in. But the pancakes themselves are spongy and tender, and best of all they have a wonderful pumpkin spice flavor that makes this a breakfast dish you'll want to make at Halloween, or indeed at any time of the year.
To increase the amount of pancakes, add this amount for every additional 1 cup of flour: 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 tablespoon broun sugar.
  • Extra milk if necessary, to thin the batter to the right consistency
  • Cooking oil (or margarine) for cooking the pancakes. Oil works better than butter to evenly cook the pancakes on your griddle!
The trick to making pancakes is: do not heat your cast iron pan too high. If the heat is too high, the pancakes will burn on the outside but remain uncooked on the inside. This is why your cast iron pan must be heated "low and slow." Place the cast iron skillet (or griddle) on your stovetop burner. Turn the stovetop heat to "low-to-medium," or number 4 on a 1-to-10 setting, so the knob is at a little less than halfway. Let the skillet heat at this level for at least ten minutes. This will allow the entire pan to heat more evenly. If you simply place the pan on the stovetop and crank it up to high, there will be a very hot spot in the center and the edges will be much less hot. This is why it is important to slowly heat the pan to the right temperature.
It may help to use a temperature reader, such as a laser thermometer, to measure the temperature of the cooking surface as it heats up. When the temperature is just under 350 degrees Fahrenheit, the pan is ready to cook pancakes.
Melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a separate dish (or another cast iron skillet), and let the butter cool off.
Mix together dry ingredients: flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together. Be sure to whisk the dry ingredients together to incorporate air into the batter. This will help batter puff up and give good fluffy pancakes.
From here, add the wet ingredients. Beat two eggs and add them to the bowl, along with melted butter. Add about 1 cup of milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, Begin mixing it all into a batter, though the batter will be very thick at this point. Start adding additional milk to the batter, a little at a time, as you stir the batter. Keep mixing in the milk a little at a time, until the batter is just the right consistency.
Now melt about a half-tablespoon of margarine in the pan, or add about a half-tablepoon of oil. Use a measuring cup of 1/4 cup size, add 1/4 cup of batter to the pan for each pancake. This gives good sized pancakes that are easy to flip, and serve. Do not move the pancakes when they are first added to the pan. It is important to wait patiently until bubbles begin to form in the batter. You can tell the pancake is ready to be flipped when the edges of the pancake begin to become dry out (or look more firm), annd the small bubbles become bigger bubbles. Now the pancake can be flipped. You only only need to wait about another minute before the pancakes are ready.
Add more oil to the pan before adding each batch of pancakes.
When pancakes are ready, serve with butter and maple syrup.
Your pancake is ready to be flipped when it looks like this.

CONTACT

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