Martha Stewart – Merci! I got the idea for this recipe from a Martha magazine. The pancake recipe is my tried and true substitute for Bisquick (Buttermilk Better than Bisquick) but the idea of sticking pansies in pancakes belongs solely to Ms. Martha and it’s so pretty on the plate. Love it! And although she needs no media attention from me, I think her Pancake Recipe is also delicious just very different than mine…
I grow a myriad of edible of flowers in my garden from nasturtiums and violas to hollyhock and elderberry flower and so many more. My girls love planting flowers and using them in creative ways. We dry rose petals in our dehydrator for party confetti, press flowers to use in crafts and on thank you cards, eat flowers in salads and sweets, and arrange flowers around the house!
To make these pancakes whip up the pancake batter below and pour into a hot greased non-stick pan. Cook mostly through on the first side and place violas and pansies on top. Flip, and cook for a minute on the second side and serve!
I didn’t want to glaze these pancakes with syrup so instead I garnished with a pat of butter, a blizzard of granulated sugar and a squeeze of Meyer lemon overtop. So pretty and so perfect for pansy pancakes…
Back to the pancake recipe… I grew up on Bisquick and I love Bisquick and it’s what I expect when I sit down to a short stack. But I do not like hydrogenated oils and you simply cannot prove to me that Crisco is better than butter and the fat in Bisquick is essentially that – Partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil. Back in the day Bisquick used partially hydrogenated beef fat and lard in case you were wondering, but those days are long gone.
My pie crusts are just as flaky if not more so with butter and they don’t have a greasy aftertaste, my biscuits are light and fluffy with butter and this pancake recipe, that only uses butter, is simply the best tasting I know of and it has the lightest texture. Lighter in fact, than Bisquick.
Years ago when I started googling homemade Bisquick recipes I was shocked at how many people were simply using Crisco as a base. Why? It’s the same thing!?! Why bother? If you’re interested in the argument about Trans Fats, NPR had a really interesting article called the “Skinny on Trans Fat“. But you know, I’m the girl who will literally smear a stick of butter on toast, so of course I’m going to stand up for it regardless!
So what makes my ‘Buttermilk Better than Bisquick’ recipe so good and how do I do it? I freeze a stick of butter overnight and grate half into my dry ingredients. Then I cut the butter in a little further so my crumb is super tiny. I use Bread Flour instead of All-Purpose, although you can use the later with great results. I mix buttermilk, milk, eggs and vanilla together (the wet ingredients) and stir them into my dry ingredients.
It might look slightly lumpy bumby at first but trust me (please trust me!), it melts instantly and rises so high and it’s so flavorful you really don’t even need butter overtop.
Whether or not you’re growing violas or edible flowers, I hope you’ll save my pancake recipe. you can also use the base for biscuits too but I’ll share that recipe in another post!
Happy Pansy Pancake day!
Ingredients
- 2 cups bread flour (you can use All Purpose too)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder + 2 teaspoons
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup cold frozen salted butter
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon sugar (you can add more if you want them sweet)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
This pancake recipe tastes just like Bisquick. It's light and fluffy but best of all, you there are no strange ingredients or trans-fats! In order to make these pancakes you need to cut the fat into the flour first in the same way you would make biscuits or pie crust and then add the other ingredients, but the butter needs to be frozen over night...
In a mixing bowl whisk the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt and sugar). Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients using the larger holes on the grater and watch out that you don't cut your fingers! Lightly mix the frozen butter into the dry ingredients and cut it in even further to make a fine crumb using a pastry cutter or two knives. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk and vanilla together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and lightly mix with a spatula. This is a quick bread of sorts, so do not over mix, there will be some bumps from the frozen butter and that's okay. The consistency should be thick but pourable so if necessary you can add a splash more milk or buttermilk.
Heat a griddle or medium sized non-stick skillet over medium heat. Grease the pan with a pat of salted butter. Scoop batter out with a 1/2 measuring cup (or whatever size/method you prefer for pouring batter into a pan) and allow to cook until the sides of the pancakes look dry and the bubbles have stopped popping on top. Place the pansies and violas on top and flip the pancake for 30 seconds onto the other side. It is important to cook the pancake mostly through on the first side so keep the heat medium to medium low if necessary so that it doesn't burn.
Cook the pancakes briefly on the flower side or the flowers will turn brown. To serve, place a thin pat of butter over each pancake, sprinkle sugar over top and squeeze Meyer lemon over all.
Enjoy!
