Pancakes come in a surprisingly large variety and each country seems to have their special favourite. Whether it’s French crepes, Scotch pancakes, Eastern European Blinis, Australian Pikelets, Somalian Anjero or the classic English pancake with lemon and sugar, we love them all!
Today’s recipe is for American buttermilk pancakes and is a recipe I picked up in Chile in South America a few years ago. As well as being a chocolate lover I am also an avid foodie and love traveling. Chile was somewhere I ended up quite by accident (a story for another day) and was not only one of the most beautiful countries I have ever been lucky enough to visit, it was also a culinary exploration like no other. It filled my eyes with some of the most stunning landscapes I have ever seen and more importantly, gave me my first glorious taste of churros.
My brother and I were staying with a pastry chef – not planned but certainly a happy coincidence – in Viña del Mar, a coastal city northwest of Chile’s capital, Santiago. Many late night foodie chats over slices of divine key lime pie and endless glasses of Chilean wine later, I was very fortunate to be given this particular recipe. Since then I have enjoyed it as it is until I (inevitably) added some chocolate. Now I like it even more and am very excited to share it with you!
The best and fluffiest American pancakes ever.
Makes approx. 12 pancakes
Ingredients:
250g plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
2 level tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
300ml butter milk (normal milk with 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
60g (half a bar) Plain Delicious or Smooth Milk chocolate, roughly chopped
1 tsp coconut oil (for frying)
Method
- Mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl.
- Whisk together the eggs, milk and vanilla and slowly pour into the dry ingredients, mixing well to prevent lumps. Stir in the chocolate.
- Heat a large, non-stick, frying pan on medium heat and melt the coconut oil, taking care to coat the whole base of the pan.
- When the pan is hot, pour your mixture into the pan using a ladle to ensure even sized pancakes. I usually do about 3 at a time but it depends how big your pan is (and how big you want your pancakes to be!).
- Cook until bubbles form on the surface and the batter is nearly set on top. Flip the pancakes and cook on the other side until both sides are golden.
Serve warm with maple syrup, banana, chocolate spread, cream or whatever takes your fancy.
Happy cooking!