It’s Sunday and that means my girls are going to wake up with either pancakes or waffles on the brain. I’m usually fine with that because it means butter, syrup, and bacon or sausage too. Even though I love pancakes, I’m more of a waffle girl. All those places for butter and syrup to pool! This means I’m more likely to play around with different recipes and variations on pancakes, since I’m not as attached to them. That’s how I arrived at these Puffy Lemon Pancakes; I tweaked a recipe that sounded good, sliced strawberries to top them, and finished with a generous dusting of powdered sugar. Fully expecting to miss the syrup, the first bite was skeptical, but I was quickly hooked on the delicate lemon and the sweet berries. My youngest dubbed them ‘puffy pancakes’ just two days later as she requested them again, and this recipe was born. Go ahead and make them for breakfast, brunch, or even dinner! I really don’t think anyone will object. 

  
Puffy Lemon Pancakes 

3/4 cup Milk

2 tablespoons White Vinegar

1 cup Flour 

2 tablespoons Sugar 

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

Zest of one Lemon 

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 Egg

2 tablespoons Butter, melted

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract 

Sliced Strawberries and Powdered Sugar, for topping
Combine the milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Let sit for at least 10 minutes. Stir. Don’t rush this step. Set aside.

Mix flour, sugar, baking soda, lemon zest, and salt in a medium bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk the milk, egg, vanilla and melted butter together. Pour into the dry ingredients.  Whisk just until most of the lumps are gone, being careful not to overmix the batter.

This is a thick batter. Resist the urge to add any more liquid. Let the batter sit for 10 minutes, undisturbed. 

After 10 minutes, you will see bubbles in the batter. This is a very good thing! Whatever you do, don’t stir the batter!  Not stirring keeps the pancakes ‘puffy’. 

Heat skillet over medium heat. Just before cooking, pour a little oil on a paper towel and swipe it around the pan. 

Gently scoop out 1/4 cup of batter and place it in the prepared pan. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface of the pancake and then flip to cook on the other side.

Top with butter, sliced strawberries, and powdered sugar. This will feed 3 or 4 people, and can easily be doubled or tripled to feed more. 

We’ve also done a confetti variation of this pancake recipe! After pouring each pancake into the pan, sprinkle about a 1/2 teaspoon of sprinkles or jimmies on each one. Cook as usual, flipping to brown other side.

I’ll leave you now with our favorite pancake poem by Shel Silverstein. It never gets old:

 
 
*Recipe adapted from Coleen’s Recipes*