Hectic Morning? Chef Eric's Sweet Buttermilk Baking Blend and Pancakes to the Rescue!

Vacuum packing is one of the ways professional chefs and savvy home cooks have been able to save money, reduce kitchen stress and offer better tasting foods using this versatile technology.

Case in point, breakfast. With a preschooler and a tween, the morning meal can be hectic to say the least. Sure, it’s easy to pour a bowl of cereal or heat up one of the countless grocery toaster treats but cooking is what I do, cooking is who I am. Whenever the situation allows, I love the opportunity to offer my family and friends real food simply prepared with lots of love.

My girls love pancakes in all shapes and forms but true to my style I have countless pancake recipes. Whipping up a batch of custom cakes is pretty easy for me normally but now with those hectic mornings it can be even too much for me - vacuum packing to the rescue!

I, too, wanted to streamline my home kitchen duties and few years ago I developed some assorted baking mixes. Today I want to offer you my Sweet Buttermilk Baking Blend along with my super easy buttermilk pancakes. I like to whip up a big batch and after it’s completed I simply vacuum seal the mix into VacMaster resealable bags and pop them into the freezer. Whenever the girls are craving cakes I portion out a bit of the blend add a little milk, eggs, vegetable oil and literally within minutes, I have some fantastic flapjacks! I have the option to reseal the bag from the bottom in my machine or simply use my fingers for the resealable top portion - either way they are the perfect way to utilize the technology with ease. This recipe isn’t meant to be the ultimate pancake recipe by any means but it is a wonderful way to get your own pancakes onto the table for your family using high quality ingredients that you have chosen and are proud to feed to your family.

Buttermilk Pancakes

PREP TIME: 10 minutes | COOK TIME: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups milk, whole

3 1/2 cups Buttermilk baking blend (sweet)

2 large whole eggs

1/4 cup soybean oil, plus more for cooking, preferably from Michigan

Unsalted "sweet" butter, for serving

Maple syrup, for serving

Directions:

Place the baking blend in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center add the milk, eggs, and soybean oil.

Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just moistened. (Don’t overmix or the pancakes will be tough. The batter should be lumpy.)

Heat a cast iron skillet, or nonstick, over medium heat

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Ladle about 1/4 cup batter into the pan for each pancake. (You should be able to fit 3 to 4 pancakes at a time.)

Cook until pancakes rise slightly and form lots of bubbles on top, about 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until bottoms are golden brown, about another minute.

Repeat with remaining batter, adding 1 tablespoon oil between batches if the pan seems dry.

Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup.