Pancakes represent a parenting win for me. I’ve been making them on most Sundays, ever since Sunday mornings became an acceptable time to be awake (hard to pinpoint when exactly, but it was some time in my early thirties). When I imagined what it would be like to feed the tiny person, who was, at this point, just a speck, this was a meal that always featured.
I was lucky, then, that pancakes – in the early days of weaning – were one of the few things the wilful little boy that speck grew into would eat. He took a while to warm up to food in general, often turning his nose up at the various purées I’d lovingly blitzed.
But pancakes – soft and seemingly the perfect shape for little hands – have a 99% success rate. And the best bit is they can be eaten by everyone. I learned early on the perils of making something specifically for the household’s fussiest eater.
So this week, my never-fail base recipe and some ideas for toppings and flavour riffs. While I love a crepe, my go-to is fluffy American-style pancakes. I’ve always found the thin ones to be a faff to make, particularly if you’re the unlucky person standing at the stove flipping while everyone else eats.
These are for more than just once a year. They will happily sit in a low oven to keep warm while you make the rest, ready to be served up in a big tray. For an even lower-effort version, use the same batter and simply spoon the lot into a parchment-lined baking tray then bake at 180C fan for 15-20 minutes, adding sliced bananas and blueberries, if you like – no pan-frying required.
The Fluffiest pancakes
3 eggs
140ml milk (of your choice – non-dairy milks work)
115g plain flour (if you have it, use 00 flour)
1 tsp baking powder
Butter and oil, to cook
Separate the eggs. Whisk the whites with an electric whisk until soft peaks form (2-3 minutes). Whisk the milk, flour and baking powder in a separate bowl, then carefully fold in the egg whites.
Preheat the oven to 150C fan and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Heat 1 tsp butter and a tiny drizzle of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add 3-4 large spoonfuls of mixture to the pan, depending on the size you like your pancakes, and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until you see the tops start to bubble. Flip and cook for another minute or so, until golden brown on both sides. Repeat with the remaining mixture, keeping the cooked pancakes warm in the baking tray in the oven as you go.
Five flavour riffs
Blood orange and maple yoghurt
Stir a teaspoonful of maple syrup to 4 tablespoons of natural yoghurt (skip the maple for babies). Cut segments from two blood oranges, allowing them to sit in their juices in a bowl. Serve the pancakes with the maple yoghurt and the oranges along with some of their pink juices.
Banana, cinnamon and peanut butter
Add ½ tsp ground cinnamon to the pancake batter. After you’ve spooned some of the batter into the pan, place a couple of slices of banana on top. Allow to cook as normal before flipping. Serve with a spoonful of peanut butter and, for grownups, a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.
Roasted rhubarb and vanilla
Add 1 tsp vanilla extract to the pancake batter. Arrange 4 stalks washed, chopped forced rhubarb on a parchment-lined baking tray. Sprinkle generously with caster sugar (around 3 tbsp) and grate over the zest of an orange. Cover with foil and bake at 180C fan for 15 minutes before removing the foil and baking for another 5 minutes. Spoon the rhubarb and its pink syrup on top of your pancakes along with some chopped pistachios, if you like.
Oaty pancakes with Chia seed berry jam
Blitz 50g oats to form a fine powder and use this in place of 50g of the flour in the batter. To a saucepan add 250g frozen berries, 2 tsp chia seeds and 1 tbsp honey (leave out the honey for babies). Cook until the mixture thickens. Serve the pancakes with the fruity chia seed jam and a spoonful of crème fraîche. These oaty versions make an excellent, filling hand-held baby snack or lunch when you’re out and about.
Triple chocolate
One for grownups and older children. Add 25g cocoa powder to the batter, adjusting the quantity of flour to 90g. Scatter over a small handful of chocolate chips, chocolate buttons or broken chocolate to the batter in the pan as you fry each pancake. Serve with chocolate spread.
Great timing! I've promised my kid pancakes this half term and am looking forward to trying out one of your flavour variations. Just need to decide which one...