Adventures in Cooking from Scratch: pancakes edition

It's been awhile since I posted something regarding cooking, and that's because I've been in a cooking rut. Work was crazy for about a month, so I just stuck to basic stuff and didn't venture outside the box. But today, thanks to my mom, I jumped outside the box again.

During a morning FaceTime chat, she asked JJ what Mommy was making for breakfast. He said eggs and rice [which is what we had decided - well, I had decided - i was making]. Then my mom suggested pancakes, and JJ wouldn't let it go. Problem was, I didn't have any Bisquick. And, I'd never made pancakes from scratch because I leave that up to my mom. She makes the best pancakes. How am I supposed to compete with Grandma's pancakes?

But, because JJ wouldn't rest until I made his pancakes, I took to the Interwebz and found a simple recipe. I actually had all the ingredients [including a sifter!] - which was great, because it was really cold this morning, and there was no way we were venturing out - so I went to work. Recipe is as follows, which I found on allrecipes.com:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons butter, melted

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

I used an ice cream scoop to scoop the batter into a frying pan, and it worked perfectly. The batter made about 10 medium-sized pancakes and 2 baby pancakes that I gave JJ. I totally expected him to not like them because he's a picky eater, but he LOVED them. Add a little syrup, and the pancakes were gone in no time. The sugar adds a little sweetness to the batter, and they came out nice and fluffy - just like pancakes should. I will never, EVER use boxed pancake mix again.

I felt so domesticated this morning while I was making those pancakes. I was so proud of myself that I even posted pictures of my perfect pancakes on Instagram. Yes, I'm a nerd. But, thanks to my mom, I'm back on the cooking game and wanting to try more things from scratch again. Next up will probably be stuffed bell peppers and maybe a pie or cake. Yum.

Pancakes. Nom.