Dad’s Pancakes

When I moved to Tucson, AZ in 2000 for my first round of college, I asked my dad to provide me with a collection of my favorite recipes of his. He jotted a few of his classics down on a notepad, which I keep to this day. Among these gems is my dad’s recipe for the best pancakes!

This is, by far, my favorite recipe for pancakes. They have a chewy texture with a crispy exterior that, in my opinion, cannot be beat! And do you know what the secret to this magic is? Tofu! This is one instance where vegetarianizing up a standard recipe really results in a superior product. Try it for yourself, you won’t be disappointed! And if you are disappointed, well, I’m afraid that’s just a YOU problem.

TOFU PANCAKES RECIPE

2 ¼ cup flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon baking powder

¼ cup sugar

4 ounces of soft/silken tofu

5 tablespoons of melted butter (can substitute olive oil for vegan recipe)

2 cups of milk (can substitute water for vegan recipe)

½ to ¾ cup water

Special Equipment: Blender/food processor, griddle or pancake pan

METHOD

Preheat your griddle over a medium-high heat burner.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer.

Place the tofu, butter, and milk into a blender and blend until smooth.

Add the blended ingredients and additional water to the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth.

PANCAKE MAKING SECRETS

Now, spoon the mixture, 1/3 cup per pancake, onto your hot griddle. Here is the trick to perfect pancakes: wait until the top of the pancake has started to dry and has become porous. When the cakes look like this:

Flip them. Wait 2 minutes, and remove them from the griddle.

Eat them while they’re hot!

Now that you have the basic batter and technique down, you can make pancake variations by either folding additional ingredients into the batter or by sprinkling them on individual cakes while they are on the griddle. Popular options include blueberries or chocolate chips, but I’m also a big fan of bacon and chocolate chip: