Baked Pancakes? Homemade Syrup? Can you do that?

The answer to the question is yes and both are simple to make. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so why not start it off with something easy and yummy. Everyone has their favorites at the breakfast table and my family was no exception. The one thing we could all agree upon is that syrup from the store or restaurant tastes nasty. You see at my house we always had homemade syrup. Grandma Thurston’s syrup is simple and easy to make. In the time it takes to heat up store bought syrup you can make her simple recipe and know what you are eating.

Grandma Thurston’s Syrup

2 C Sugar

1 C Water

Maple Flavoring to taste

Directions: Mix together sugar and water in a pan. Heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved, do not boil. When sugar is dissolved add maple flavoring to taste.  Store any unused syrup in the refrigerator.

Now if you are going to make syrup you will need something to pour it on. What about baked pancakes? Now you can use any pancake or biscuit mix but I like to make mine from scratch because: (1) they take no longer to make than the boxed kind; (2) why buy and store different mixes when they all contain the same basic ingredients – flour, sugar, baking powder and salt plus who knows what preservatives; and (3) I know what is in my pancakes.

Baked Pancakes

1 ¼ C Flour

1 C Milk

1 Egg

1T Sugar

2T Vegetable Oil

2 ½ t Baking Powder

½ t Salt

Toppings - optional (blue berries, raspberries, cooked sausage pieces, chocolate chips, nuts, granola  or whatever your favorites are)

Mix together all ingredients then pour into a greased and floured 9"x 9" pan. Drop any of your favorite toppings on top. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes.

Tips and Tweaks 

Grandma Thurston’s syrup is basically a 2 to 1 simple syrup recipe, two parts sugar to one part water. The recipe can easily be double, tripled or halved with the same results. It can also be made in the microwave. The syrup is easy to reheat if you make more than you can use so don’t throw away any leftovers.

Maple flavoring it fairly potent so add a little at a time, stir the syrup then take a sniff and a taste to see if it is to your liking before adding more. I would start with ½ t and add as you see fit.

Sometimes maple flavoring is called mapleine. You will find these products where the spices and vanilla are at your local grocery store.

I generally use powered milk in this recipe (1/3 C powdered milk + 7/8 C water). Powdered milk has a long shelf life plus you can fortify most baked goods by adding an additional ¼ C for every cup of flour in a recipe. With that in mind I usually just pour the powdered milk into the flour mixture and guesstimate the amount.

Don't know if it is done? Insert a toothpick into the middle of the pancake just like you would do if you were baking a cake. If the toothpick comes out clean when removed the pancake is done, if not cook a few minutes longer. Be sure to retest after the additional cooking time.

Any basic pancake recipe will work for this recipe, so if you have a favorite use it.