Homemade “Instant” Pancake Mix and Blueberry Pancakes
After the maple festivities last Saturday, Hubby really wanted pancakes on Sunday morning. He was sad to find out that we didn’t have any pancake mix in the house and asked me to grab some at the store. I scoffed at him and said I’d make them from scratch.
We rarely eat processed foods at home. Except for pancakes. We don’t eat them very often, but usually there is a container with the mix that you just add water to. I’m sure the ingredient list on that container is pretty scarey and contains tons of ingredients that no one knows how to pronouce. So I decided to take this opportunity to prevent those super-long-there’s-no-way-I-can-read-this-ingredient-so-I-probably-shouldn’t-be-eating-it ingredients from getting into our bodies.
Aside from my baking obsession, we eat pretty healthy in the Beantown Baker household. We both eat our 5 fruits/veggies a day thanks to Hubby packing lunches for us every morning. He includes something for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. A lot of produce and the rest is homemade. For dinner we always cook unless we’re eating out.
So I set out to find a pancake recipe to make from scratch. I did grab some beautiful blueberries while I was at the store that morning to throw into our pancakes (I used the rest to make our favorite banana-blueberry muffins). I was going to start with Google, but instead headed towards my shelf of cookbooks. I do have quite a few and I’m trying to use them more often. I opened my trusty Alton Brown cookbook and found a perfect solution. A recipe for a pancake mix! So I would be able to have pancakes that morning and have a mix to use in the future.
The mix is very simple to throw together. I’m storing mine in the freezer because I doubt we’ll use it up in three months. I found the pancake batter to be a bit thick, so I added more buttermilk to thin them out. This recipe yields some really tasty pancakes. The addition of those plump blueberries and real maple syrup definitely took these over the top!
One Year Ago: Cinnamon Biscuits
Yield: 3 batches of 12 pancakes
Ingredients:
For the Instant Pancake Mix
6 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp sugar
For the Pancakes
2 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
4 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups Instant Pancake Mix, recipe above
1 stick butter, for greasing the pan
2 cups fresh blueberries, optional
Directions:
Heat an electric griddle or frying pan to 350 degrees F.
Whisk together the egg whites and the buttermilk in a small bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the melted butter.
Combine the buttermilk mixture with the egg yolk mixture in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until thoroughly combined. Pour the liquid ingredients on top of the pancake mix. Using a whisk, mix the batter just enough to bring it together. Don't try to work all the lumps out.
Lightly butter the griddle. Wipe off thoroughly with a paper towel so that no butter is visible.
For the Instant Pancake Mix
Combine all of the ingredients in a lidded container. Shake to mix.
Use the mix within 3 months.
Pancakes
Gently ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and sprinkle on fruit if desired. When bubbles begin to set around the edges of the pancake and the griddle-side of the cake is golden, gently flip the pancakes. Continue to cook 2 to 3 minutes or until the pancake is set.
Serve immediately or remove to a towel-lined baking sheet and cover with a towel.
Recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats and The Early Years Cookbook
I am Jen the Beantown Baker. Engineer by day and baking maven by night. Hubby serves as my #1 fan and official taste tester. We got hitched back in 2006. Barefoot. In the sand. With the waves crashing behind us. It was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. 
ooh, i am drooling thinking about this over melty brie!! fabulous 🙂
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:08 pm
It’s definitely as good as it sounds.
what a lovely jam! there are still some peaches at the market and i need to make this asap.
Sounds wonderful! When do you add the liquid pectin and how long do you let it boil after you add it?
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:14 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
That sounds delicious, but when do we add the pectin, and can we use powdered pectin instead of the liquid one? Thank you so much…
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
I’m still new to canning, but I read in the Ball book that you can’t swap different kinds of pectin and should only use what the recipe calls for…
when do you add the pectin ??????
beantownbaker — September 25th, 2013 @ 4:15 pm
Sorry about the mistake in the recipe, I have updated the recipe to reflect when to add the pectin.
How long does this keep?
beantownbaker — September 28th, 2013 @ 8:36 pm
If you process the jars in a water bath, they will be fine on a shelf for up to a year. Once opened, you want to refrigerate it and it will keep for about a month in the fridge.
The number of cups of chopped peaches would be very helpful. Also, are the pectin pouches 3 or 6 oz?
The flavor was outstanding! However, it never fully set-up into a jelly. It was more of a jam/thick sauce – even after re-processing with a 2nd pack of pectin (I gave in and used the powder) On my other batches, I used 2 dry packs – and I’m not sure if those will even set correctly. 🙁
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:22 pm
Sorry to hear this didn’t set up for you…
With sealed jars what is the shelf life of something like this?
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:22 pm
In general, I would try to open them within 6 months. I have kept jars of jam for up to a year without any problems.
This is my second year making this and i just wanted to tell you that it is outstanding. i’m sure others are wondering about yield — I got 9 half-pints from one batch. How long do you process this? I did 15 mins to err on the side of caution. Thanks!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:26 pm
I always process for 10 minutes.
Does this make the five half-pint jars shown or does it make more? Since everything sort of comes together at the end in canning (hot jam, sterilized jars, etc., and boiling water) I like to know ahead of time how many jars to prepare. Thanks.
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:28 pm
It made 6 jars for me. It will depend how big your peaches are too.
With my jams, I usually use real lemon juice, but not in such large quantity,Did you use fresh or “jarred” lemon juice?
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:29 pm
Yes, I use jarred lemon juice here.
According to “foodinjars.com” you can substitute 2 TBSP powdered pectin for 1 pouch of liquid pectin. 🙂 just thought I’d share that little tidbit! This recipe is FANTASTIC! Thanks Jen!
http://foodinjars.com/2013/07/canning-101-how-to-substitute-pectin/
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:30 pm
Thanks for sharing this!
I am looking forward to making this jam this evening!! I was seaching for a recipe for peach and jalapeno jam and this one caught my eye! Because you posted it my the day I was married, then reading your story and that you live in Cincy! I was born and raised north of that area!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:31 pm
Small world! I hope you enjoyed this jam.
This recipe should come with a warning label. I feel like I just made crack. I changed it up a bit and used cherries instead of peaches. I was having a hard time finding a cherry pepper recipe and had cherries in my freezer needing evicted and this one looked so good I used it as my baseline. THANK YOU for sharing it! If you are interested, it was a mix of sweet and tart cherries, and I added an extra jalapeno to a double batch. I just got done putting up nearly 11 pints of the stuff and am sitting here like a child licking the residue off my ladle it is that freaking good. Definitely recommend you try it with cherries some day if you like them. I am picking peaches this weekend and will definitely be making this as posted because I am sure it is divine. Ive been making jams and jellies since i was a child and this is the best one yet. Thank you again, can’t wait to try it properly with peaches!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:32 pm
Cherries! What a great change. I’m goign to have to try that out.
It would have been nice to know how many jars I would need to make this recipe!!!
beantownbaker — September 2nd, 2014 @ 7:33 pm
I got 6 jars. I’ll update the recipe to reflect the yield.
Oooooh. I am making this this weekend – thanks for a fantastic-looking recipe!
First time jam maker. Went to the farmer’s market this weekend and bought peaches and jalapenos (along with a bunch of other stuff). Thought I’d try my hand at making a jam/jelly because we love it on pork chops. This recipe was perfect. Thanks for sharing… and thank you to Google for popping it towards the top of the search list. Thank you Beantown Baker!
How long do you need to water bath can it??
Made this today – delicious but decidedly soupy. I thought maybe once it cooled it would set up more, but no.