DIY pancake mix (save your wallet, save the environment)

Pancake day today! I nearly forgot because it kind of crept up on me. It is hard to believe it is March already (it feels like only the other day I was making New Year’s Resolutions – doh!)

We often have pancakes on the weekend, usually Saturday mornings.  My boys love pancakes. And when they are made at home, they are surprisingly easy.

Usually, I make at home from scratch.  But often when we go away, especially if camping, someone will buy one of those shaker things for pancakes.  You know the ones: just add water and shake, shake, shake.  But the flour always gets stuck to the bottom. And then we end up just throwing the container away, so it’s not especially sustainable.  That seems like such a waste to me, and so sad especially when staying in such a pristine environment.  Plus many of the mixes are full of sugar.

They SEEM cheap, but are they really?  The average price is between $2 to $3 for 325g to 375g (some gourmet ones are a lot more), and you can make a lot of mixture from basic ingredients for the same price.

So I decided to make my own.  It costs 75c a serve to make, although this will depend a lot on where you buy the ingredients and whether or not you purchase in bulk.  The most expensive item is soy flour, which you only need a small amount of, followed by the milk powder, which is way cheaper than using real milk in any case. I purchased my soy flour for $3.95 for a kilogram at a health food shop.

I find this works so well that I make up extra to have at the ready for weekends.  Because often on a Saturday morning I will wake up feeling exhausted while my kids will be full of energy and super keen to have pancakes.  So I spend a bit of time on a Sunday afternoon after doing the shopping prepping say four or five of these mixes up, and then they are all ready and waiting for the next time I need them.

I make my mix in leftover 500g pasta jars.  My eldest is a fussy eater and tomato sauce in jars on pasta is often all he wants to eat. Sad but true. (Yes, I do make my own pasta sauce but often I cheat and just buy it).  I found that this recipe is the EXACT right size for the jars, which helps further to reduce waste and makes them much more transportable for camping.  Plus it helps keep the weevils out (sadly an issue in my cupboard).

Ingredients (makes four medium or three very large pancakes).

1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup full cream milk powder
1 tablespoon soy flour
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
Butter or oil (for frying)

Method

1. Combine all ingredients into a leftover 500g jar (e.g. used for pasta sauce).  Shake to combine the dry ingredients, label and set aside. (Hint: make several in a batch and you will thank your future self one weekend when you want to make an impressive brunch in a hurry.)
2. To use, slowly pour in 1 1/8 cup of cool water and shake.  I didn’t think all the water would fit into the jar, but it is exactly the right amount for thick pancakes. The trick is to add around 1/2 a cup at first, shake, then add more until it is up to 1-2cm down from the rim.  Add a bit more if you would like thinner pancakes.  The mixture might be slightly lumpy: this is okay, but the most important thing is to allow the pancake mixture to rest for ideally 30 minutes before using.
3. Heat a frypan, add some butter/margarine or oil and cook as normal for pancakes.  Enjoy!

Cost:

Flour 10c
Full cream milk powder 20c
Soy flour 20c
Sugar (optional) 5c
Butter 20c
Total:  75c