Homemade Pancakes with Cinnamon and Honey

Name: Homemade Pancakes
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 cup flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; 2 eggs; 1 teaspoon cinnamon; 2 tablespoons honey or sugar (you can use two mashed bananas instead, if you prefer); 1 cup milk (about 240 ml, and a splash more if the batter is thick); 2 tablespoons melted margarine (butter works too); 1 tablespoon vanilla extract; Fruits (honey, jam or butter, to serve (optional)); Salt to taste

Pancakes with cinnamon and honey in the batter, cooked in a pan and served with fruit. Twenty minutes for seven, and the batter is better for a short rest before it hits the pan.

Total: 20

JUMP TO RECIPE

Pancakes with cinnamon and honey in the batter, cooked in a pan and served with fruit. Twenty minutes for seven, and they are good enough to eat plain.

Let the batter sit

Not in the original recipe, and it is the easiest improvement available.

Ten or fifteen minutes between mixing the batter and pouring the first one. In that time the flour finishes absorbing the milk, which is what makes lumps disappear on their own, and the baking powder starts producing the bubbles that lift the pancake.

It also gives the gluten worked up during beating a chance to relax, so the pancakes come out tender rather than chewy. Make the batter, lay the table, then cook.

Medium-low, and the first one is the test

A pancake pan should be hotter than you think for eggs and cooler than you think for pancakes.

On high heat the outside browns in seconds while the middle is still batter, and the pancake looks perfect and tastes raw. On medium-low it cooks through as it colours, which takes two or three minutes a side.

The first pancake is always the one that tells you whether the heat is right, and it is usually the one that gets eaten standing up. That is normal and not worth fixing.

Bubbles up, edges dry

The recipe says to flip when it starts to bubble, and that is right but worth spelling out.

What you are looking for is bubbles rising through the surface and staying open rather than closing over, and the edges losing their wet shine. That means the batter has set far enough up to survive the spatula.

Then about a minute on the second side. The recipe never said how long, which left the second half of the cooking unaccounted for.

Cinnamon and honey in the batter

This is what makes these different from the American pancake, which is sweetened on the plate rather than in the bowl.

A teaspoon of cinnamon and two tablespoons of honey go in with the wet ingredients, so the pancake itself tastes of something before anything is poured over it. A tablespoon of vanilla as well, which is generous and deliberate.

It means they are good plain, with nothing but butter, which is how they are usually eaten at a Colombian breakfast table.

More breakfast

Crepes de pollo — the thin, savoury relative.
Homemade bread rolls — the other breakfast bake.
Huevos pericos — what goes alongside.
Colombian coffee — and what goes with it.

Pancakes FAQ

How thick should the batter be?

It should pour but not run. Thicker than cream and thinner than a paste. If it mounds in the pan instead of settling, loosen it with a splash of milk.

Should I let the batter rest?

Yes, ten or fifteen minutes if you can. The flour finishes absorbing the milk and the baking powder gets going, so the pancakes come out lighter and without lumps.

When do I turn them?

When bubbles come up through the surface and the edges look dry rather than wet. Then about a minute on the second side, until it is golden.

Why is my first pancake always bad?

Because the pan was not at the right temperature yet. It is not a failure, it is the test. Medium-low is what you want, and the first one tells you whether you have it.

Can I leave the sugar out?

Yes. The recipe offers two mashed bananas in its place, which sweeten the batter and make it a little denser and moister.

Why only turn them once?

Every flip after the first presses the air out of the pancake. Once, and leave it alone.