American pancakes are ideal for breakfast or snack. We explain how to make traditional American pancakes at home, and also with butter, jam and honey.
Today we will give you a little taste with a food as delicious as it is famous: pancakes. Although they are a symbol of breakfasts, especially of Americans as we see in their series and movies, we also enjoy them here in Spain.
And not only can we do it to start the day, but also in the afternoon or -in a salty version- for lunch, American pancakes can be a delicious option. This time we bring you some recipes with different variants of pancakes, according to each one you like more. But what is the origin of pancakes and why are they popularly known by the name of American pancakes?
This is a classic and traditional dessert that is very popular in the United States, where they are known as pancakes. Basically. However, although in our country they are known by the name of American pancakes, you will surely be surprised to discover that their origin is Russian, not American.
They basically consist of a kind of round flatbread, generally sweet, which is made with flour, eggs, butter and yeast to make them much more fluffy. And they differ from traditional crepes not only in the use of yeast, but also in that the crepe dough is left to rest for a few minutes in the refrigerator before cooking.
Basic pancake recipe
As you will see, this recipe is very simple to make and due to its mild flavor it is ideal to accompany different types of food. Take note of the ingredients (with these amounts you get about 16 pancakes) and their preparation.
In the first place we will need 4 eggs, to which we will have to separate the yolks from their whites. This step is very important, and you have to do it with some patience (we recommend separating the white from one egg, transfer it to another container, then make the second one and transfer it together with the first one, and so on, that way if one egg breaks or part of the yolk is mixed, we will not waste all the previous ones!). Once this is done, we reserve for a moment.
We look for a large bowl and in it we have to sift common flour (200 grams), sugar (3 tablespoons) and a pinch of salt. Once the dry ingredients have been sifted, make a hole in the center – it will be in the shape of a crown – and pour in the 4 egg yolks that we separated, milk (250 ml) and 250 ml of melted butter or margarine. You can now heat the pan over moderate heat (remember that it should not get too hot or the pancakes may burn a little).
The next step is to mix everything until you get a homogeneous and dense dough (if it is very loose, add sifted flour little by little until it looks good). Then we are going to beat the 4 egg whites that we had set aside to stiff peaks and add it to the mixture, stirring very gently so that both preparations are integrated, without rushing it or you will lose the typical spongy consistency of American pancakes.
With the dough ready, brush the hot pan with some margarine. With a ladle we pour the preparation, we wait only between 1 to 2 minutes and we will see that the lower part has browned, then we turn helping us with a spatula and wait one more minute to remove. Before each new pancake don’t forget to brush the pan with butter again.
Make your most delicious pancakes with butter, honey or jam
In addition to having used butter in the preparation of American pancakes (in its composition, to be more precise), it is also common to cut two or three squares of butter and place them on top of the pancakes, which due to the effect of heat tend to melt and be much softer.
If you already have your American pancakes, delicious and steamy, you can put a little cold butter on top or give them that added touch that will elevate their flavor even more. In this sense, a classic and infallible option is honey.
While they are still hot, pour honey over them and it will cover a large part of the surface and you will not only sweeten your breakfast with this food so healthy and rich in properties, they will look amazing, worthy of a photo on your favorite social network and be the envy of all.
If you prefer, you can opt for a jam instead of honey, much better if it is a homemade jam! The infallible option to accompany these delicious American pancakes is strawberry jam, but we can also try other flavors, or serve different fruit jams at the table so that everyone can choose their favorite.
