Dave Knapik’s American Buttermilk Pancakes

Batter Ingredients:

300g plain flour
1 level teaspoon baking powder
2 pinches of salt
240ml buttermilk
150ml cold water
6 large eggs, beaten

Extra Ingredients to finish the pancakes:

100g butter – for the frying pan
M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces or chocolate chips – to put inside the pancakes
Maple syrup and a bit of butter – to put atop the pancakes when finished cooking (but before eating)

Making the batter:

1. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl and make a hollow in the centre.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk and water together.
3. Slowly mix this liquid into the mixing bowl.
4 Add the beaten eggs a little at a time until you have a smooth batter.

Making the pancakes:

1. Heat the frying pan with a small piece of butter in the centre. Allow this to melt and spread over the pan.
2. Get the buttered pan quite hot (you should be able to flick a bit of water on it and have it sizzle). Then, drop a healthy scoop of batter (approximately 3 tablespoon or so) into the frying pan. You could use less batter and make several small pancakes in the same pan, but you’ll create a far more formidable pancake monster if you use the entire pan for one pancake at a time.
3. Cook until nicely golden brown on the bottom. This shouldn’t take more than a minute. Once the batter starts to bubble up around the edges, it’s time to add the extra ingredients.
4. Drop in your M&M’s, Reese’s Pieces or chocolate chips. Use enough to so that each bit of the pancake has equal coverage. Add a tiny bit more batter to cover the sweets you just added.
5. Gently turn the pancake with a spatula or large wooden spoon and cook for about another 45 seconds. It may spill and drip around a bit, but don’t worry: all great pancakes have their imperfections.
6. Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup on top.