Buttermilk Extravaganza

Thats right, ladies & gents.  This morning we had a buttermilk extravaganza here at my abode.

But we did it without buttermilk.  In case that bottles your mind, here's the easy-peazy-lemon-squeezy substitution for buttermilk.

For breakfast, since Handsome is just home from a 2-day shift, I was making Perfect Pancakes.
And since we're currently without the Mrs. Butterworths, I decided I could make homemade syrup, too.

And since this is my space here, and I get to do whatever I want, I'm going to do a step-by-step cooking post.

If you want to leave now, I understand.  This isn't for everyone, and there's gonna be a lot of pictures.  But here's the teaser, just in case you can be swayed:

OHMYGOODNESS IWANTTOEATTHISALLRIGHTNOW! (AGAIN)

Alrighty, so here we go.

Perfect Pancakes:

Milk, Flour, White Vinegar, White Sugar, Brown Sugar (NP),
B. Soda, B. Pwd, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon, 1 egg, Butter, Salt (NP)

I made a double batch so I could freeze them and eat them all week, but I'm giving you the recipe for a single.  
Just to clear up any confusion about the two eggs.

Step 1:  3/4 C Milk   2 T White Vinegar  

 Combine together in a small bowl and set aside

This mixture will hereafter be dubbed "Milk Grossness".
You'll see why.

Step 2:
1 C Flour    1 T Sugar   1 T Br. Sugar   1 t B. Pwd   1/2 t B. Soda   1/2 t Salt   1/2 t Cinnamon

Combine in a large bowl & Sift Whisk

This is me whisking.

Did you know that in most recipes, whisking dry ingredients can substitute for sifting?

Step 3:  2 T Butter

Melt it

Do you see the time, dear reader?  Don't be like me.  Don't put your butter in the Microwave for 1 whole minute.
Choose something more sensible, like 20 seconds at a time.

This is what happens when you microwave butter for 1 minute without checking it.

Don't do this.

Step 4: 1 Egg, 1/2 t Vanilla Extract, All previously dealt with ingredients (we're at the end of the line, here)

Crack Egg into the dry ingredients.

Add the Milk Grossness

Pour in the melted butter & vanilla

Stir it all until combined.  I recommend using a whisk.

Step 5:  Drop by 1/3 Cupfulls (its just the measuring cup I used) onto a sprayed & heated skillet.

In case you can tell, I don't have a skillet (butIwishIdid!) and so I used a non-stick frying pan.

Step 6:  Flip when bubbles come through and don't fill back in (or until the edges look dry, or until right before the smoke alarm goes off.  I can't really explain it.  You'll get a feel for it if you don't have one already).

Buttermilk Syrup:

Milk, Sugar, White Vinegar, B. Soda, Vanilla Extract, Butter, and Light Corn Syrup.
Why is my Corn Syrup in a container like that, you ask?  Cause I dropped the big jar Christmas morning and broke it.

 Step 1: 1 1/2 t Vinegar, 1/2 C Milk

Same song and dance as before, add them together and let them sit to become Milk Grossness

Step 2: Milk Grossness, 1 Stick Butter, 1 C Sugar, 1 T Corn Syrup

Combine in a large saucepan, and set on medium heat

Step 3: Wait for it...

Cook, stirring, until it boils, and then continue boiling for 3 minutes

Step 4:  1 t Vanilla, 1 t B. Soda

While still on the stove, add in vanilla & baking soda.  Mixture will bubble violently.

Take note of how far up on the whisk this goes, it is doubled from before the soda

Step 5:  Stir around for 30 seconds, then remove from heat, and stir every minute (ish) for about... 7 minutes (I'm just telling you what I experienced).

When syrup is ready, it should look more like this: 

Pancakes & Syrup

Finally, you've earned it.  Plate the pancakes, slather with butter, pour on the syrup, and let the Buttermilk Extravaganza begin!

Enjoy!  I know I did!

Survey Says:

Excellent.

And that, dear people who have stuck out what may be my longest post yet, is how you have a Buttermilk Extravaganza, sans Buttermilk.  I'm hungry for them again.  And if you're skeptical about the whole, as Handsome put it, "Syrup that doesn't come from a tree," let me say that I might not like this variety more than maple syrup, but I might like it just as well.  *GASP*

Enjoying the fact that WW is down so I can't tell how much I've consumed, 

TFW