Stay Connected

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Pancakes for 1


Sometimes I'm the only one who wants pancakes for breakfast (or I'm the only one home when making my breakfast). Pancakes don't have to be a "batch" item. You can make just one pancake. I now do this a couple of times per week for myself.

for one 5-inch pancake:

2 tablespoons flour
between 1/8 and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder (it's basically 1/16 of a tablespoon)
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
about 2 teaspoons oil
about 2 tablespoons milk
splash of vanilla extract


Heat a small skillet over Medium (I use a non-stick that has lost most of its non-stickness).

In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add liquids and stir. (I use a small rubber spatula to both mix the batter and scrape/pour into the hot skillet. Saves some washing.) 

Add a bit of oil or butter to the hot skillet. Pour all of the batter into the hot, buttered skillet. Cook, flip, cook, serve.

I typically eat just one large pancake alongside a scrambled egg, when I have a "pancake breakfast." (And when I scramble the egg, I reuse the pancake batter bowl, after a quick rinse. Again, saves washing.) I top the pancake with fruit and consider this a complete meal for me.

Just a note: because eggs set at a lower temperature than a flour/milk mixture, an egg-less pancake batter should not be too thin, and they need to cook thoroughly on the bottom side before flipping.

20 comments:

  1. It's hard to imagine using just 2 tablespoons of flour for anything, but it seems to be just right for a pancake. While I like pancakes, I would rather have a piece of toast with my eggs. And of course, you know me, I tend to lean toward the easier.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      Since I quit caffeine, I've been kind of craving something sweet in the mornings, I think to perk me up. So pancakes have been a favorite of mine -- you know, an excuse to eat maple syrup.

      Delete
    2. What are you drinking instead of caffeine? Herbal teas?

      Delete
    3. Hi Kris,
      herb tea and decaf coffee. I realize that decaf has a small amount of caffeine. But its negligible. According to Mayo Clinic, a cup of decaf coffee has 2-5 mg of caffeine, compared to a cup of regular coffee which has 95-165 mg. I occasionally drink decaf tea, which also has 2-5 mg per cup.
      Anyway, quitting caffeine (or mostly so) has really, really helped me. I'll write more about this soon. It's been that big of an improvement.

      Delete
    4. I'm interested in hearing about it! What about the really hard one ... chocolate????

      Delete
    5. I've cut way back on my chocolate consumption, too. Mostly when I have chocolate it is in the form of cocoa powder, and not the candy. But I haven't cut it out completely. A teaspoon of cocoa powder has 4 mg of caffeine. So if I make a cup of cocoa for myself (or cold chocolate milk), I use 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder and get 6 to 8 mg caffeine in the cup. That's not bad. 1 oz. of 60-85% dark chocolate bar has 23 mg. 1 oz of 45-59% dark chocolate, like 3 Hershey's Miniature Special Dark bars has 12 mg of caffeine. More and more I'm choosing other flavors of sweets, though. Chocolate also has theobromine, which can be worse than caffeine for some people.

      Delete
  2. That's a fantastic idea! I didn't know you could make pancakes without eggs, so I usually just make a whole batch... which means I usually end up eating a whole batch! Not good! Anyhow, thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Cat,
      I hope this works as well for you as it does me!

      Delete
  3. I never thought of this back in my single years. Now, I just make extra if I want leftovers to reheat. One of my easy mainstay dinners before I got married was French toast--I think it was eggier (not a word, I know!) than how I usually make it, but so easy! One egg, a tiny bit of milk or water, and vanilla/cinnamon beaten together; I used 2 slices of bread. I used applesauce as a topping and called it good. Then again, maybe you shouldn't listen too much to me--I had a lot of frozen yogurt with peanut butter mixed in as a dinner, too ....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      I never thought I would get to the point of making pancakes in batches of 1! Your kids will be grown before you know it, too.
      French toast is another great breakfast for 1. One daughter and my husband love to do just that for themselves. Hey, frozen yogurt with peanut butter is perfectly acceptable for dinner! I found it really hard to cook for just myself, back when I was single. I ate a lot of cooked pasta with veggies mixed in, and topped with Parmesan. That and beans/rice which I cooked in large batches and ate breakfast, lunch or dinner.

      Delete
  4. Hi Lili,
    I love how you "think outside the box"! Thanks for the great idea of pancakes for 1. I will try it with oat flour and a little arrowroot for my non-traditional gluten-free picky tummy.
    Jo Ann

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jo Ann,
      One of the bonuses is that I make these for myself with soy milk and half whole wheat flour,/half all-purpose flour. So, I get the kind of pancake that I prefer and can eat. I think the oat flour and arrowroot should work just fine.

      Delete
  5. Would it work to add one or two tablespoons of your whipped egg to your pancake mixture prior to cooking the egg? That would give you the egg needed for a "regular" pancake using egg.

    I love blueberry pancakes but no one else does. My youngest like mini chocolate chip pancakes and my men like plain ones. We have a wonderful recipe that has no fat in it at all and they are nice and fluffy. So we make a full batch or 1/2 batch when we feel like pancakes. It is so much easier to make than even pancake mix from a box. The family knows when it's a pancake from a box so I haven't bought that in probably 15 years.

    That sounds like a delicious supper one of these days. I first have to find the blueberries hidden in my freezer.

    Alice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Alice,
      I'm sure that would work, too. But, also, I'm fine with an egg-free pancake, as they do work well for me.
      Do your no-fat pancakes stick to the pan at all? Or is your pan/griddle a non-stick?
      Blueberry pancakes are a favorite of mine. But I like the blueberries on top, not in the pancake. I think I get more of the blueberry flavor that way.

      Delete
    2. It is a non-stick pan but my husband does spray it with olive oil or a pat of butter although I do not. They never stick. The recipe does has buttermilk (or I mix milk with vinegar) and they have eggs, baking soda and salt along with the flour and milk and that is it. I got some frozen wild blueberries at the food pantry I volunteer at last night so I'll be having blueberry pancakes on Saturday. Maybe I'll make some blueberry muffins for my daughter who is home and loves them.

      Alice

      Delete
    3. Here's the recipe:
      2 cups flour
      2 tsp. baking soda
      1 tsp. salt
      2 cups buttermilk

      Go lightly on the buttermilk at first as you can always add the rest. I like a medium thick batter and not a runny batter.

      Delete
    4. Thanks for the recipe, Alice. I don't see eggs in it, though. Is it 1 egg?

      Delete
  6. Very nice breakfast for one, Lili. :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for joining the discussion today. Here at creative savv, we strive to maintain a respectful community centered around frugal living. Creative savv would like to continue to be a welcoming and safe place for discussion, and as such reserves the right to remove comments that are inappropriate for the conversation.

FOLLOW CREATIVE SAVV ON BLOGLOVIN'

Follow
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Be a voice that helps someone else on their frugal living journey

Are you interested in writing for creative savv?
What's your frugal story?

Do you have a favorite frugal recipe, special insight, DIY project, or tips that could make frugal living more do-able for someone else?

Creative savv is seeking new voices.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

share this post