Food52
Growing up, my sister and I often had sleepovers at our grandma Betsy's house. Grammy wasn't a big cook, but we eagerly looked forward to breakfast because she always made pancakes. Wide and evenly golden all over, sometimes studded with blueberries or chocolate chips (or both), my sister and I could gobble up dozens of those pancakes. But we always made sure to save a few, because Grammy would let us tear up leftovers and toss them to the birds in her backyard (we did *not* get to do this at home!). Grandma Betsy used Bisquick baking mix for her pancakes, but over the years I've actually perfected my own pancake mix dupe that tastes quite similar to the packaged version. Don’t get me wrong, I love a tangy buttermilk or nutty whole-wheat pancake, and there’s absolutely a time and place for those craggy fritter-like cakes fried in too much butter—but these simple, lightly sweet pancakes have a special nostalgic flavor for me. Grammy's now struggling with Alzheimer's, and she doesn't remember too much. I'm grateful that today she can still recognize me and my sister, and we can still share pancakes together, only I'm the one at the stove now. Bisquick baking mix includes vegetable oil (the additional fat produces moist, fluffy pancakes), so pancake-makers need only add eggs and milk when mixing up the batter. You’ll often see pancake recipes call for melted butter, and other DIY mix recipes may recommend vegetable shortening, but I prefer to use similarly textured coconut oil. This is already a common ingredient in my pantry (whereas I basically never buy shortening) *and* I specifically love the subtle coconutty fragrance that the unrefined coconut oil adds to pancakes. If your coconut oil is liquid at room temperature (this can happen when it’s warm in the kitchen), divide 1 cup in an ice cube tray and refrigerate until just firm, about 15 minutes—this way, you can skip measuring out the oil and simply add it to the food processor. If you don’t have a spare ice cube tray, place the oil in a liquid measuring cup and refrigerate until it’s just solidified, about 30 minutes. From there, if it’s too firm to scoop into spoonfuls, let it sit at room temperature to soften a bit. Note: While you need just two cups of pancake mix for a batch of 10 pancakes, the pancake mix portion in the recipe below makes eight cups, so you’re set for a few more breakfasts beyond the first one. Store the pancake mix in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three months.
