Pancakes for those who prefer thin to thick

Photo: leedsstudent.org

Recently, I discovered that National Pancake Day (courtesy of IHOP) is coming up soon, on March 1st to be exact (one free short stack between 7:00 and 10:00 a.m. in exchange for a small charitable donation), which got me thinking about the flap jack.

I’m probably in the minority on this one, but I have do admit, I don’t love them.   I never make them and never order them when I’m out for breakfast.  For some reason I find their fluffiness unsatisfying from start to finish.

As a kid, I used to eat pancakes, but they were different: a cross somewhere between the standard flapjack and a crepe, and often the size of the whole plate.  Remembering this, and now wanting to cook pancakes in longer than I care to say, I sent an email to my mother asking for the recipe.  I knew it was simple – four or five ingredients, at most, all mixed in a blender, but what were the ingredients and their amounts?  Alas, my mother had long ago lost the secret recipe.  This was not good news, as in the intervening days, I had become like a dog with its proverbial bone.  I needed to find a similar recipe, and I did on Cooks.com.  It’s not exactly the same, but it’s close enough.  I offer this thinner take on pancakes to you below.

If it was me, once the pancakes have been cooked to perfection, I would  stack them two or three high, smear butter in between and on top, then douse them with a good pour of Aunt Jemima (accompanying my ambivalence towards fluffy pancakes is a general dislike of pure maple syrup, this to the horror of my brother and in spite of my Canadian heritage).  And I have vague memories of snowy Sunday mornings, sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of hot thin pancakes in front of me, and instead of syrup, I would spread thick layers of  strawberry jam in between and on top.  Now that sends me back…

Enjoy!