Silver Dollar Buttermilk Pancakes
City Grocery, Oxford, MS
"I am not sure who the fool was who presented me and my brother with silver dollar pancakes when we were lads, but I am certain that my parents still want to do terrible things to him or her. Because the moment the first one crossed my lips, no other pancake size would ever again be acceptable. You see, there is something weirdly mystical about miniaturized food that makes kids go insane. Maybe it’s that the scale of the food gives children a greater sense control. As a youngster, I imagined the little pancakes made me a giant. We loved that we could eat them in spades rather than in a mere stack of three.
These are amazingly light and fluffy and the heavy hand of vanilla extract gives them a punch-in-the-mouth flavor. They are a good make-ahead-and-freeze breakfast to reheat for the kids. But make no mistake, they are never better than eaten straight out of the pan, no matter what size you make them."
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup whole milk
3 eggs
2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Clarified butter or your preferred cooking fat
Unsalted butter, cane syrup, fresh fruit, peanut butter, or sausage, for topping (optional)
Method
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk together until the batter is smooth. Pour in the melted butter and stir with a spatula until fully incorporated.
Warm 1 1/2 tablespoons of the clarified butter in a sauté pan over medium heat for 30 seconds. To make silver dollar pancakes, spoon heaping tablespoonfuls of batter into the pan. To make regular pancakes, spoon the batter into the pan a scant 1⁄2 cup at a time. Cook until the tops begin to bubble lightly, about 1 1⁄2 minutes. Flip over and cook until the other side begins to brown lightly and the pancakes look good and fluffy, about 30 seconds more. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more clarified butter between batches as needed. Consume immediately with butter and cane syrup and strawberries, and bananas, and peanut butter, and sausage.
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Reprinted with permission from Big Bad Breakfast by John Currence, copyright © 2016. Photography by Ed Anderson. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Random House LLC.
Yield
about 30 silver dollar-sized pancakes or 8 giant-sized ones
