Recipe American Style Pancakes

American style pancakes are light, fluffy and perfect for an indulgent breakfast or as a dessert to celebrate Pancake Day. Whip them up in 10 minutes, stack them and serve with syrup or fresh fruits.

What’s the main difference between British and American pancakes?

The difference between British and American pancakes is a raising agent. The British-style pancakes don’t use one, whereas the Americanstyle pancakes do – typically baking powder, or whipped egg white, or both. We’ve used both in our recipe below.

Ingredients

225g Plain White Flour

4 tsp Baking powder

2 tsp Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar

1 tsp Salt

2 Egg(s) (free range)

300ml Milk (whole)

50g Butter (unsalted)

Drizzle Maple syrup

Method

Step 1: Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the sugar and salt.

Step 2: Make a well in the centre and add the eggs and milk. Whisk to a smooth batter and ideally leave for 30 minutes.

Step 3: Lightly grease a pan with butter and spoon the mixture on to the hot pan. Cook on each side for a couple of minutes.

Step 4: Transfer to a plate and keep warm while you cook the remaining batter. Use the remaining butter in between to re-grease the pan.

Step 5: Enjoy drizzled with syrup or stack and serve with fresh fruits.

Pancakes and Shrove Tuesday

In Christian traditions, the 40 days before Easter are known as Lent, and they mark the time that Jesus spent fasting in the desert. Traditionally, Christians would mark the period with prayers and fasting, abstaining from a whole range of foods, including meat, eggs, fish, fats and milk. The word ‘shrove’ comes from the old Roman Catholic practice of being ‘shriven’ – meaning to confess one’s sins. The shriving bell would be rung on Shrove Tuesday to call people to church to confess.

Before Lent could begin in earnest, all edible temptations needed to be removed. This took place over a period of days known as ‘Shrovetide’. Meat such as bacon would be eaten up on ‘Collop Monday’ (a collop is a thin slice of meat). And on Shrove Tuesday eggs, butter and stocks of fat would be used up. One of the easiest ways to dispose of these items was to turn them into pancakes or fritters, a custom which continued long after the Church of England separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century.

Pancake Day: February 21st, 2023