Grandma Hinrichs's Pancakes

There's nothing quite like waking up on a Sunday morning.  It's relaxed, peaceful, and content.  Sundays don't have the same get-up-and-go feeling as Saturdays do.  So I love to lounge around with a giant mug of coffee, read the Sunday paper, and eat breakfast.  But Sundays in St. Paul are nothing compared to Sunday mornings at my grandparents' house up in Osakis.  The country air knocks me out at about 9pm so I wake up around 6am, the smell of coffee, bacon, and pancakes as my subtle alarm.  For as long as I can remember, staying at my grandparents' house meant big country breakfasts with family in pajamas.  If I'm up early enough, I get to enjoy a steaming cup of coffee with my grandma, just the two of us. 



Grandma Hinrichs and me, circa a long time ago!

As soon as the rest of the family wakes up (and there are a lot of us on the Hinrichs side!), the kitchen bustles, the sausage starts sizzling, and the pancakes are flipping.  I've grown up with my grandma's pancakes.  I eat them at my grandparents' house, my parents' house, and now at my St. Paul apartment.  There's nothing quite like them and no matter how many recipes I try, nothing compares.  These pancakes have a certain comfort about them, bringing me back to mornings up at the lake, holiday breakfasts with my family, and funny stories about my grandpa's use of pancakes as sandwich bread.  They are perfect rounds -- not too sweet, not to cake-y.  The batter also gets better with time.  Making pancakes with day-old batter yields even better pancakes than with day-of batter.  It's a delightfully easy recipe and I made a batch this morning in about 6 minutes.  Love Sunday breakfasts with grandma's pancakes!

Grandma Hinrichs's Pancakes

makes about 15 medium-sized pancakes

Ingredients

3 egg yolks (reserve the egg whites in a separate bowl)

3 tablespoons sugar

2 cups of milk

2 cups of all-purpose flour (I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour to give the pancakes extra heartiness)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

Add all of the ingredients in order and mix together.  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are light and frothy.  Gently mix the egg whites into the pancake batter. 

Heat a large pan or griddle over medium heat.  Grease the pan with cooking spray or butter.  Using a ladle, spoon equal amounts of the pancake batter onto the pan, in as many rounds as can comfortably fit on your pan. 

Once the sides of the pancakes start the bubble and the bubbles set, they are ready to flip!  Cook the other side until golden brown.  Continue cooking pancakes until you have as many as needed.  Serve with butter and syrup.