Finding your pancake recipe is like finding a favorite pair of jeans, a favorite author or a favorite vacation spot–it’s comfortable, comforting and always makes you happy. Our family go-to pancake recipe for the last 30+ years has been Brill Williams’s Pancakes from the L.L. Bean Book of New New England Cookery (1987) by Judith and Evan Jones.
Brill Williams pancakes are thin and crisp as opposed to the traditional thick pancake. They’re small, silver dollar size, and cook quickly, so don’t turn your back on the griddle for too long. Delicious served with fruit or syrup, they’re light, so you can eat a surprising number of them. They also freeze well; layer them between sheets of waxed paper so they don’t become a frozen block of pancake. Per the cookbook, you can also refrigerate the batter to use over the next few days.
The full recipe makes a lot of pancakes, we usually halve it with complete success. And yes, if you are an artist with pancake batter you can make critter and other shapes easily.
Brill Williams’s Pancakes
makes about 40
4 cups flour
4 eggs
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup sugar (we cut this back a little)
4 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
butter
maple syrup
Mix all of the ingredients (except the butter and maple syrup) together thoroughly. Be sure to have your griddle very hot and grease it only lightly. Once you’ve greased it, work quickly or the grease will burn. Wipe off any excess. Pour on enough batter so that each pancake spreads to a circle about 4-4 1/2″ diameter. Cook about 45 seconds on one side, turn and cook the other side for just about 45 seconds. Serve warm with butter and maple syrup.
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