Magazine Recipe Favorites

There are some favorites our family enjoys torn from magazines of year's past. The first one we'd like to share is called "perfect pancakes" and was found in The Family Circle Feb. 09 edition on pg. 174 by Julie Miltenberger of Food University. These bake up so light and fluffy - they really are the very best pancake recipe we've ever had. The key is to take the time to fold the whipped egg whites into the batter.

Perfect Pancakes

"It's supereasy to make pancakes from a mix. But odds are you have everything you need to make these breakfast (or anytime!) crowd-pleasers from scratch.

Makes 16 4-inch pancakes
Prep 10 minutes
Cook 2 minutes per batch

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (we also like to add cardamom)
2 eggs (separated)
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Butter, maple or pancake syrup, confections' sugar, for serving

1. Heat a griddle or large pan to medium heat. Heat oven to warm (180F) and place a foil-lined baking sheet inside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt and allspice. Separate eggs and whisk egg yolks in small bowl with milk and oil.
3. With an electric mixer, beat egg whites to stiff peaks, about 1 minute. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture just until combined. Fold in egg whites in two additions, until no white streaks remain.
4. Using a ladle, drop 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter onto heated griddle. Repeat, spacing at least 1 inch apart. Cook 1 minutes, or until bubbles in batter pop and remain open (see third illustration). Carefully flip pancakes and cook an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute.
5. Transfer to baking sheet in warm oven; repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm with butter and syrup or confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Per Pancake 101 calories; 5 g fat (1 g sat.); 2 g protein, 12g carbohydrate; 0g fiber; 133 mg sodium; 28 mg cholesterol"

Gather ingredients

 Sift flour

Measure carefully

 Adding 1/4 tsp cream of tartar to the egg whites produces better results

 Beat very little; just enough to combine - batter will be lumpy

Gently fold in the egg whites until it looks like this:

Heat griddle pan to 325 degrees Fahrenheit, then spray with Pam or add oil

1/3 cup of batter for each pancake

Almost enough bubbles to turn...

Oven at 180 degrees Fahrenheit to keep everything warm

Fresh, hot pancakes to serve to your family!

A happy breakfaster!

Food University on Tour

Next shows

•  Saturday, April 30, 2011, IKEA CHARLOTTE, from 2-4 p.m. with Curtis Aikens 

•  Saturday, May 7, 2011, IKEA SCHAUMBURG, from 2-4 p.m. with Mary Ann Esposito

For more information:

http://www.myfoodu.com/