My Most Optimized Pancake-Creating Procedure
August 13, 2020
If I had to choose my most inconvenient strength, it would be my obsession with efficiency. Even when making something simple like pancakes, I juggle countless details such as parallelizing cook time with my eating time, health and food safety, minimizing the number of dishes to wash, and accurate measuring (but only as accurate as they need to be).
That's why even though this recipe is technically based on a pancake recipe, I've always made it into waffles! Making waffles means I cook both sides at once and don't need to flip anything.
I also like to use kitchen scales so that I don't have to deal with washing a set of measuring cups or spoons. The problem is that almost nobody writes their recipes using grams. Instead of spending minutes converting my recipe, or giving in and just using measuring cups, I spent a week writing Baking Unit Converter. It's also embedded in this article. Please enjoy!
The scales I use don't seem to be available anymore, but I use a 2 scale setup: a big scale for large measurements (up to 11 pounds) and a small scale for precise measurements (under 10 grams, needing 0.1g accuracy). This is a 2 part kitchen scale (handling both large items and precise measurements) that I am eyeing on Amazon. The link includes my affiliate code, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase—at no extra cost to you. No pressure at all, just sharing in case it's helpful!
That's not to say that using mass is always better than volume.
- Advantages of using mass (kitchen scale)
- Fewer things to wash
- Measurements are more exact
- Easy to scale a recipe (x0.5, x1.5, x5, whatever)
- Advantages of using volume
- Easier to eyeball (it's hard to know how fast to pour to get 100g of flour)
- Can add up volume to decide mixing container size
Rather than suffer from indecision, I included both in Baking Unit Converter! (I apologize, I just finished building it and my excitement is overflowinggggggggg)
As it is currently written, this recipe yields enough for 1-2 people depending on how hungry you are. Play around with the multiplier (use 0.5 if you're by yourself and not hungry!). The servings number is only used for one thing: to calculate nutrition info. Nutrition per serving = total nutrition divided by number of servings.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
AboutServings per Recipe | |
| Nutrition per serving | |
| Calories | 0 |
| Total Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 0g |
| Protein | 0g |
Milk
During my childhood, most children were forced to drink a glass of milk a day. I was one of the few who actually enjoyed it. Naturally, to balance my luck as a child, I am unable to drink milk as an adult (ha. ha.).
I now like soy milk because
- I'm slightly lactose intolerant
- It never seems to go bad in my fridge
Feel free to play with the inputs and change it to whatever type of milk is your favorite! All types of milk are approximately the same mass (so it won't change the measurement), but it'll affect the nutrition facts.
Applesauce
I happen to love applesauce, so when I add some to the pancake batter I also discreetly pour some into my mouth.
Applesauce is commonly used to replace oil in recipes. Besides the health benefit, applesauce is also easier to rinse from your dishes.
Note: measuring 1-2 grams off is not going to make a big difference for this recipe, so don't worry if your pour is slightly off. Exactness also depends on the scale you use.
Lemon Juice
You can tell I'm not a real chef because I pour lemon juice from a bottle. If I squint, the bottle does say "Real Lemon."
The role of lemon juice in this recipe is to react with baking soda (which we are adding later) to form bubbles. This reaction replaces eggs in the recipe.
Eggs spoil quickly and are unsafe to eat raw. Additionally, eggs are harder to use in this multiplier tool ;)
Maple Syrup
Sometimes it is scary to alter a recipe, but pancakes are pretty safe. If they aren't sweet enough, you can pour more maple syrup over your pancakes later.
- This is optional, add to taste. If you're tracking nutrition, you can adjust the amount on the tool so that it is reflected in the nutrition facts
- Can also replace this with another sweetener
Vanilla Extract
I have to admit, I have no idea if adding vanilla extract makes a difference. Maybe I should try leaving it out next time.
Oat Flour
I've never seen anyone selling oat flour. Thankfully, it's easy to make oat flour if you have a blender, food processor, or spice grinder.
One thing I love about using mass here is that volume of oats is not the same as volume of oat flour. However, mass of oats stays the same before and after blending. So measure your rolled oats using mass, and then grind them up!
Powders
The volume and mass of these powders is pretty low, which means that measuring every 0.1g matters here. My kitchen scale is accurate to 0.1g, but if yours isn't, you may want to use measuring spoons. Too bad.
On the bright side, you can dump these in with the oats and blend them all together. Less hand mixing, yay! It also helps break up the clumps of baking soda I always have for some reason.
Flaxseed
This is also an optional ingredient that I add for health reasons. It's recommended to consume 1 tablespoon per person daily.
Flaxseeds are an amazing source of Omega-3, but our bodies cannot absorb the nutrients unless they are ground. To make it worse, they lose their nutrients quickly if they are stored after grinding.
This means you need to store the whole seeds and grind only the ones you will consume immediately. Luckily, our blender has already been dirtied. Just chuck those flaxseeds in there!
Flaxseeds also help create more viscosity in the batter, as well as add a nutty taste.
To summarize, mix the wet ingredients in a bowl. Blend the dry ingredients. Combine the dry ingredients with the bowl of wet ingredients and mix everything.
Heat up your pan or waffle maker while you let the batter rest. The lemon juice (acid) needs a little time to react with baking soda to form bubbles.
If you have nonstick cookware, you should be able to get by without adding oil to the pan. Just make sure to cook the batter long enough before trying to flip. No need to worry about undercooked batter though--the batter is safe to eat raw.
Then make pancakes. Or make waffles. If you're adventurous like me, make striped waffles using your panini press (the truth is that I don't have a waffle maker).
Cooking is a great way to create something that doesn't end up sitting around in your home, since you can hopefully consume it!
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