The Two Secret Ingredients In My Grandmother’s Super Fluffy Pancakes
I will tell you one, you have to guess the second.
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My grandmother used to make the best possible pancakes. They were fluffy, light and sweet, and simply irresistible! They were mouthwatering.
Her name was Ruby. Grandma Ruby.
I was a kid. I wasn’t interested in the how, I just wanted to eat.
They would appear before me smothered in maple syrup, butter, and blueberries or strawberries.
And that first bite. I will never forget.
I tried various store bought mixtures and homemade recipes to no avail. The secret ingredients forever elusive.
It wasn’t until a few months ago I was “flipping” through an old recipe book that I discovered something.
Conventional pancake recipes call for flour, milk, eggs, baking soda, a little salt, sugar and melted butter.
This was no exception.
Except for one ingredient.
There is not much one can do different with eggs, baking soda, salt sugar, flour or butter. These ingredients are pretty standard.
It was the milk substitute that caught my eye and made me wonder.
I whipped up a bunch of these pancakes with the recommended alternate ingredient.
And voila! They tasted just like Grandma Ruby’s! I had done it. They were light, fluffy and sweet just as I remembered. Almost.
The recipe recommended replacing the milk with soda water or sparkling water. That is the only change I made, but it made all of the difference in the world.
I had found the first secret ingredient.
I started to think about my grandmother and all of the little things she did to make my sister and I happy. The special gifts at Christmas, never forgetting a birthday, our trips to the zoo or ice cream shop. She always remembered our favorite color, and she knew exactly what to say to make us laugh.
When I think about the second special ingredient in my grandmother’s delicious pancakes it is actually an ingredient that makes everything in life worthwhile.
The second ingredient had been in my heart the whole time.
Happy cooking.
