“Did you know that you can make your own pancake mixes?  My free e-book, ‘The Perfect Pancake,’ will tell you how.  It will also give you tips and recipes.  To make your own mixes, you’ll need dry buttermilk or sour cream powder but you can buy those at The Prepared Pantry.”—Dennis Weaver

Pancakes from scratch just taste better than mixes in the stores but when you’re in a hurry, who has time for scratch? We’ll tell you how to make your own gourmet buttermilk or sour cream pancake mix so that you can have great “from scratch” pancakes when you are in a hurry.  It will have more buttermilk or sour cream than the store mixes and so will taste better.  Add some tasty inclusions for a real treat.

To understand the art and science of baking, including how buttermilk and sour cream work as leaveners in pancakes, download How to Bake.  It’s free and it’s 318 pages, a great reference book or an easy read.

Directions for Making Buttermilk or Sour Cream Pancake Mixes

Choose to make either a small, medium, or large mix.   The ratio of ingredients is the same.

For easier measurement, remember that one tablespoon equals three teaspoons.

Combine all the ingredients and whisk together to distribute evenly. Store your pancake mixes in an air-tight container in a cool place and it should last a long time (We asked three processors the shelf life of buttermilk powder.  Two said indefinitely and one said three years).

You can buy buttermilk powder in your grocery store. You can also buy a quality, long lasting buttermilk powder at the Prepared Pantry at a very good price.  We have seen sour cream in some stores but your best bet may be to buy dry sour cream powder at a reasonable price at The Prepared Pantry.

Use the pancake mix as a base mix for by adding fruit, nuts, baking chips or more.  Of course, you can make it plain for some special, extra rich pancakes.  We guarantee that it is better than most store mixes.

To use your mix:

1. Measure the desired mix into a large bowl.
2. In a smaller bowl, whisk one egg for every one to 1 1/2 cups of mix.
3. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter or oil to the egg for every one cup of mix.
4. Add 2/3 cup water to the egg mixture for every one cup of mix. Add the liquid mixture to the mix and stir until just combined. The batter will probably be too dry so add more water to reach the desired consistency.

Variations

Here are 20 mixes that you can make.  Of course, this is just a beginning; use your imagination to create more great gourmet pancakes.

1. Gourmet Chocolate Chip Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add mini milk chocolate chips). Serve with maple syrup, coconut cream syrup, or vanilla cream syrup.
2. Gourmet Cinnamon Chip Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add mini cinnamon chips). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon cream syrup, or cinnamon apple syrup.
3. Gourmet Peanut Butter Chip Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add mini peanut butter chips). Serve with maple syrup or maple cream syrup.
4. Gourmet Walnut and Date Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add chopped walnuts and dates). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon cream syrup, or maple cream syrup.
5. Gourmet Apple Cinnamon Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add grated fresh apples or Fuji dry apples plus cinnamon). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon apple syrup, or maple cream syrup.
6. Gourmet Baked Apple Pancakes (Add grated fresh apples or Fuji dry apples plus maple flavoring). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon apple syrup, or maple cream syrup.
7. Gourmet Cranberry Nut Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add chopped walnuts and dry cranberries). Serve with maple syrup, cinnamon apple syrup, or coconut cream syrup.
8. Gourmet Caramel Pear Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add diced dry pears plus a touch of nutmeg and a little cinnamon). Serve with Cinnamon Cream or Vanilla Cream syrup or a sprinkle of brown sugar.
9. Gourmet Blueberry Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add blueberry baking bits plus a touch of lemon and nutmeg). Serve with blueberry syrup or cinnamon cream syrup.
10. Gourmet Fresh Peach and Pecan Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add chopped fresh peaches and chopped pecans plus a touch of lemon and nutmeg). Serve with Orchard Peach or Vanilla Cream Syrup.

1. Gourmet Raspberry Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add raspberry baking chips plus a touch of lemon). Serve with raspberry syrup.
2. Gourmet Banana Pecan Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add a mashed banana and a little banana flavoring along with cinnamon and chopped pecans). Top with more sliced bananas. Serve with maple syrup or cinnamon cream syrup.
3. Gourmet Fresh Strawberry Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add fresh strawberries thinly sliced and a touch of lemon). It’s easier to slice your strawberries with a strawberry slicer. Serve with strawberry syrup or vanilla cream syrup.
4. Gourmet Tropical Coconut Banana Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add flaked coconut and mashed bananas).  Serve with coconut cream syrup or vanilla cream syrup.
5. Gourmet Hawaiian Pineapple Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add granulated pineapple available at The Prepared Pantry). These are really good pancakes—we sell this in a mix. Serve with coconut cream syrup or vanilla cream syrup.
6. Gourmet Honey Buckwheat Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add a fourth cup buckwheat flour for every cup of flour.  Sweeten the pancakes with dry honey instead of sugar). Both dry honey and buckwheat flour is available at the Prepared Pantry.  Serve with any syrup.
7. Gourmet Pineapple Banana Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add granulated pineapple and mashed bananas).  Serve with coconut cream syrup or vanilla cream syrup.
8. Gourmet Sourdough Pancakes (Add sourdough flavor available from The Prepared Pantry).  Serve with any syrup.
9. Gourmet Pumpkin Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (For each1 ½ cups of flour, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 3/4 cup canned or pureed pumpkin). Serve with vanilla cream or cinnamon cream syrup.
10. Gourmet Strawberry Banana Sour Cream/Buttermilk Pancakes (Add strawberry chips and mashed banana.). Serve with strawberry syrup or vanilla cream syrup.

In some cases, you will want to supplement the fruit in these mixes with additional flavor.  You can purchase a wide variety of quality flavors from The Prepared Pantry.

You can buy gourmet pancake mixes from The Prepared Pantry including many similar to the mixes suggested here.

Sources:  Most of the ingredients mentioned here can be purchased at The Prepared Pantry.  The Prepared Pantry also carries a full line of kitchen tools and cookware.

• Buttermilk Powder
• Sour Cream Powder
• Both fruit and cream pancake syrups
• Baking chips including raspberry, strawberry, and blueberry baking bits
• Dried fruit and nuts
• Flavors
• Spices
• Granulated pineapple
• Dry honey
• Buckwheat flour
• Oat flour

Can’t get enough of pancakes? Get our free pancake e-book here.