Always have an adult helping you in the kitchen, it keeps you safer & it's fun to cook together!
I love scotch pancakes (drop scones or, american pancakes if you like) & we used to often have a packet in the freezer ready for a school day breakfast treat, we'd buy them & freeze them when they were discounted in the supermarket.
Dad said that really we were being lazy, because they are simple to make.
He said the pancake pan needed to stretch its legs & that he reckoned we could possibly make 4x the amount for the same as a single packet bought in the shops.
The recipe we used is from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's "River Cottage every day" cookbook, click the picture above & it will take you to the recipe page.
Dad spoils me & lets me have home-made vanilla sugar, or maple syrup or butterscotch sauce or golden syrup on top, with whipped cream sprinkles... sometimes with a sliced banana so it "looks" a bit healthier.
This is a great camp breakfast food to make too, lots of energy but quick & simple, for kids like me, sweet toppings, but for adults this can be eaten as part of a camp fried breakfast, with bacon or sausage.
The great thing about this recipe is that it makes around 30 which once cool can be placed in a tupperware type box with baking paper between each layer s they don't stick together, then when you fancy a few get them out of the freezer, pop a few in the microwave for a minute or more & make yourself a quick treat, it's a great way to start any day, not just shrove Tuesday, & makes a nice change from eating the same old boring breakfast cereal.
A typical kid like me would have 4 or 5 as a good serving.
INGREDIENTS
- 250g self-raising wholemeal flour
- Pinch baking powder
- Pinch sea salt
- 25g caster sugar
- 2 medium eggs
- up to 275ml milk
- 50g butter, melted
- A little sunflower oil
- Butter
- Caster sugar
- Pinch ground cinnamon (optional)
- Jam, honey or macerated fruit
METHOD
How to make wholemeal drop scones / scotch pancakes
1. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir in the sugar. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Pour in about half the milk. Whisk, gently at first, and then as you start to get a thick paste, add more milk and the melted butter. Beat until you get a creamy batter a little thicker than double cream - you might not need all the milk.
2. Put a large, heavy-based frying pan or a flat griddle over a medium/high heat. Add a few drops of oil and rub with a thick wad of kitchen paper to oil the pan very lightly. Pour (or 'drop') a scant tablespoon of batter into the pan - to get a disc about the size of a digestive biscuit; you should be able to fit 4 or 5 in the pan.
3. After about a minute, little bubbles will start to appear on the surface of the drop scones. As soon as they cover the surface, flip the scones over with a spatula - be warned, the first batch may stick. Cook the other side for 40-60 seconds or so, then transfer the drop scones to a warm plate and cover them with a clean tea towel so they stay soft - or hand them over to those waiting eagerly to get stuck in.
4. Cook the remaining drop scones in the same way, adjusting the heat level if they start browning too quickly and re-oiling the pan with kitchen paper as necessary. To serve, top with a little butter and sprinkle with some sugar, and a fine dusting of cinnamon, if you like. Or serve buttered and spread with jam, honey or macerated fruit. Eat quickly, while still hot.
(Please can we have these on our next camp)!?
If you don't want sweet pancakes miss out the sugar &, cook off some rashers of crispy bacon first then chop it up & add it into the batter mix along with some finely grated cheddar cheese... & a few twists of black pepper, ...mmm!