Weekends are for pancakes and pancakes are for stacking. I’m actually normally a crêpe kind of girl; there’s just something so instantly chic about them. They’re elegant and delicate with crisp frilly edges and are equally as good when served sweet or savoury. But when I have a bit of extra time on my hands on a Saturday morning (it has to be a Saturday) and I’ve woken up with a little spring in my step, then I’ll put a bit of music on, channel my inner Matilda from that classic breakfast scene, and get to work making a stack of big and fluffy pancakes.
I’ve always called these American pancakes. They’re a bit of an iconic breakfast dish over there and growing up seeing stacks being piled high in movies and TV shows had me in awe. Not to mention what looked like gallons of maple syrup being poured on top. Plus butter. Everything is always better with butter.
When I make these, I tend to keep them plain and if I am going to add anything, it will always and only be blueberries. Not too many though; I don’t want the batter completely changing colour with blueberry juice but there should be just enough to have a few in each pancake without spoiling the integrity of the crumb.
If you use a big enough frying pan, you can make up to three at a time which makes everything a bit more efficient and you can eat them sooner. The trick with these is not to cook them on too high of a heat. The outsides will darken before the middle has had a chance to catch up so go low and slow instead. Serve them as quickly as possible, with a pat of salted butter (I add some between each pancake and so should you) before nearly drowning in maple syrup. If you’re organised enough to already have some bacon in the fridge, then that would be the perfect addition but they are simply wonderful without too.
