With Ash Wednesday on the horizon, it’s time to start considering what we’re going to sacrifice for the next 40 days and 40 nights. Before all that though, we’ll treat ourselves to enough pancakes to put us into a carb induced food coma. What’s the best pancake recipe though? We’ve got you covered, even the gym rats, vegans and coeliacs.
The Classic
Makes 12 decent sized pancakes
Ingredients
Dry Mixture
- 250g White Flour
- 3 Tbsps White Sugar
- 1 Tsp Baking Powder
- 1 Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- Pinch of Salt
Wet Mixture
- 2 Tbsps Melted Butter
- 4 Eggs, Seperated
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- 500ml Buttermilk/Milk
Method
- Put your flour through a sieve to ensure there are no lumps. Then add all of the remaining dry ingredients to the flour and mix well.
- Here’s the secret to fluffy pancakes, separate your eggs and whisk your egg whites until they’re fluffy. Once fluffy, add the milk to the egg whites.
- Whisk your egg yolks separately, add the vanilla and the cooled melted butter to the egg yolks and whisk to combine. Make sure your melted butter is suitably cooled or you’ll end up with scrambled egg yolk. Not what we’re going for. Whisk the egg white and yolk mixtures until fully incorporated.
- Whisk the dry mixture into the wet mixture until no lumps remain and you have a pancake batter consistency.
- Heat your pan on a low heat and spray some cooking spray or melt some butter to prevent sticking.
- Ladle a pancake sized amount of batter on to the pan and wait for bubbles to form uniformly across the batter. Once that happens, flip them!
- Top with your favourite toppings and enjoy!
Gluten Free
For a gluten free version of the original recipe, substitute the flour for your favourite GF flour alternative and add a tsp of Xanthan Gum to help bind the mixture together.
Protein Style
If you’re trying to turn pancake day into the perfect post workout meal, then get on these.
Ingredients
- 50g Oats
- 1 Banana
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter
- 50g Greek Yoghurt
- 1 Scoop of Whey Protein
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
Throw all these in a blender and your good to go! Like the previous recipe using a little cooking spray or a non-stick pan and wait for the bubbles to appear, then flip! These should cover all your protein and carb needs post gym.
Vegan
These will also do the trick if you’re lactose intolerant!
Makes 6-8 Pancakes
Ingredients
- 125g of flour
- 1Tbsp of Sugar
- 2 Tbsps of Baking Powder
- Pinch of salt
- 250ml of Plant based milk
- 2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Method
- Mix the dry ingredients separately.
- Add the milk and vegetable oil to the dry ingredients.
- Much like the others, ladle onto a gently heated pan and wait for the bubbles to appear and flip.
As for the toppings for the sweet kind we like to keep it quite classic with sweet toppings. Lemon/Sugar, Nutella, Syrup, Fresh Fruit and Jam are all acceptable.
If you want to go outside the box with savoury toppings then Ham and Cheese, Pesto and Mozzarella or Bacon and Egg are good ways to go. Either way make sure to eat many and often!
