Pancakes in a Pinch

[reactoss]

After rummaging through my tattered notebook where I keep most of my original recipes, I decided that some of them might be worth sharing. This is my basic pancake recipe. It's usually vegan (depending on what milk/sweetener/add-ins you use) and is incredibly adaptable to different flour/milk/sweetener types AND it's a great base recipe for adding your favourite yummy things to! It only has 4 ingredients and nearly everything would be considered a kitchen staple. I've used this recipe countless time when having impromptu breakfast or brunch at friend's houses and it's never let me down.

• 1 cup of plain flour (use 100% or a mixture of unbleached white or whole meal. I have even used 50% buckwheat/50% whole meal for an incredible hearty texture)
  
• 1 cup of soy/oat/rice/dairy milk (If you use something thick like organic soy milk then I recommend using 3/4 cup and topping it up with water)
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/4 cup (or to taste) brown rice syrup/agave nectar/honey
  
• 1 tsp vanilla essence (optional - you could also use vanilla soy milk if you wish)

Mix all ingredients together (throwing them all in a sealed container and shaking it works well and you can usually just pour the batter straight out into the fry pan). Add a little extra flour or liquid if it is too thick or too thin (you want the batter the consistency of moderately thin yoghurt...unless you want pikelets, in that case you want moderately thick yoghurt consistency). Pour 1/4 cup amounts into a lightly greased non-stick pan. Cook on medium heat until the tops are just set and starting to dry and then flip and cook until both sides are nicely brown.

Oh, and another great thing about these is that they freeze remarkably well. Once cooked, lay them flat on a baking tray in the freezer (don't overlap). Once frozen they can be stacked in a sealable container for a fast before-work breakfast! Just take them from the freezer, lightly grease your non-stick pan, warm them through on low with a lid on top and voila! Breakfast is served!

Variations

• Chopped or mashed banana with or without milk chocolate chips
  
• Berries - any sort, I've raided the neighbour's mulberry tree on numerous occasions!
  
• Syruped cherries, finely diced with some of the syrup added with the sweetener. Works very well with finely chopped pieces of dark chocolate
  
• Raspberry and white chocolate (one of my favourites!!)
  
• Toasted wheat germ and finely chopped dried or fresh fruit served with yoghurt and more fruit.