Have you ever thought to yourself, or awoke in the middle of the night in thought: "what if I had pancakes that actually had texture, rather than eating pillowy, doughness?" I'm seriously not about to judge your life. I've done it.
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Found all over the Eastern seaboard and the South, these classic diner cakes are a great addition to your repertoire, with generally easy ratios/measurements to memorize to surprise your significant other on a Sunday morning (or evening).
Shopping List:
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Hardware:
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Prep:
Preheat your cast iron griddle or pan while you're assembling everything. You want your pan to be at a pretty much constant temperature to get even cooking, as you'll be cooking in batches.
Also preheat that oven to keep your hoe cakes warm.
In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and almond milk together and allow it to slightly curdle (this should take a few minutes, but you'll start to see it separate pretty quickly). You're just looking for an acidic environment to dissolve the baking soda into. Once your milk is a little foamy, stir in the baking soda and set aside to let it work some magic. It'll get even more foamy with the soda.
In a large bowl, sift or whisk your flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and baking powder together. Set aside.
In a small ramekin or microwave safe bowl, melt the coconut oil. I do this on the defrost setting since coconut oil doesn't take much to melt, but you do you. Allow the oil to cool a little bit and then slowly combine it with the egg yolks that you've reserved in a (yet another) small bowl. Set those aside.
In a medium sized bowl, and I like to do this by hand, beat the two egg whites together until you have stiff peaks. Work a lot of air into it, and get your arm workout in for the day. Set those aside.
Toss a handful of fresh blueberries in some AP flour until lightly dusted. I like to do this in a colander so excess flour doesn't get on the berries as you only want a thin layer. However, any old bowl will do fine.
Add the milk and soda to the dry goods. Stir until JUST combined. Don't overwork it, and it will look dry, so don't worry. Add the egg yolks and coconut oil. Stir.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites, trying not to deflate them too much. Streaks of egg white are fine, because now you'll need to add those flour-dusted blueberries and continue mixing those in gently.
The Business:
So disclaimer: I have spent a painstaking amount of time with cook time, temperatures, and whether or not to add any oil to your cast iron skillet or griddle. One might even say an obsessive amount of time.
If you've got an electric griddle, set it to 485 deg F. Yes, it sounds hot, but trust me. Adjust your stove to the necessary temperature if you've got one of those fancy infrared temperature probes. Barring that, you can always sprinkle water on top and it should very quickly sizzle, spurt, and jump around.
Now, take a 1/3 c. measuring cup and scoop out some batter and place it into an UNGREASED cast iron pan. Trust me. Give it a little nudge here and there to shape it into discs if it looks oblong, and do not touch it again.
Wait 1 minute and 45 seconds, and flip.
Wait another 1 minute and 30 seconds, and evacuate to a sheet pan and place into the warm oven.
Repeat ad nauseum.
Enjoy the benefits of your labor.
Preheat your cast iron griddle or pan while you're assembling everything. You want your pan to be at a pretty much constant temperature to get even cooking, as you'll be cooking in batches.
Also preheat that oven to keep your hoe cakes warm.
In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and almond milk together and allow it to slightly curdle (this should take a few minutes, but you'll start to see it separate pretty quickly). You're just looking for an acidic environment to dissolve the baking soda into. Once your milk is a little foamy, stir in the baking soda and set aside to let it work some magic. It'll get even more foamy with the soda.
In a large bowl, sift or whisk your flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and baking powder together. Set aside.
In a small ramekin or microwave safe bowl, melt the coconut oil. I do this on the defrost setting since coconut oil doesn't take much to melt, but you do you. Allow the oil to cool a little bit and then slowly combine it with the egg yolks that you've reserved in a (yet another) small bowl. Set those aside.
In a medium sized bowl, and I like to do this by hand, beat the two egg whites together until you have stiff peaks. Work a lot of air into it, and get your arm workout in for the day. Set those aside.
Toss a handful of fresh blueberries in some AP flour until lightly dusted. I like to do this in a colander so excess flour doesn't get on the berries as you only want a thin layer. However, any old bowl will do fine.
Add the milk and soda to the dry goods. Stir until JUST combined. Don't overwork it, and it will look dry, so don't worry. Add the egg yolks and coconut oil. Stir.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites, trying not to deflate them too much. Streaks of egg white are fine, because now you'll need to add those flour-dusted blueberries and continue mixing those in gently.
The Business:
So disclaimer: I have spent a painstaking amount of time with cook time, temperatures, and whether or not to add any oil to your cast iron skillet or griddle. One might even say an obsessive amount of time.
If you've got an electric griddle, set it to 485 deg F. Yes, it sounds hot, but trust me. Adjust your stove to the necessary temperature if you've got one of those fancy infrared temperature probes. Barring that, you can always sprinkle water on top and it should very quickly sizzle, spurt, and jump around.
Now, take a 1/3 c. measuring cup and scoop out some batter and place it into an UNGREASED cast iron pan. Trust me. Give it a little nudge here and there to shape it into discs if it looks oblong, and do not touch it again.
Wait 1 minute and 45 seconds, and flip.
Wait another 1 minute and 30 seconds, and evacuate to a sheet pan and place into the warm oven.
Repeat ad nauseum.
Enjoy the benefits of your labor.
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