Tips for making dense pancakes?

[1990txgirl]

I prefer dense pancakes to the light & fluffy variety. I'm talking a dense, kind of spongy texture. (Examples can be found at the Empire Cafe in Houston and the 1886 Bakery Cafe at the Driskill in Austin.)

I've tried to duplicate this at home with no success. I've tried increasing the amount of egg and using heavy cream instead of milk. Both have resulted in a cake-y texture. Blech.

This must involve some kind of cooking chemistry! (Calling Dallas Cowpoke...) Any of the HF chefs have suggestions? Thanks!

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Experiment with reducing the amount of baking powder and/or baking soda. This will take a little trial-n-error, but you should get what your after.

Also, consider making Johnny Cakes, those are generally very "dense".

Gook luck.

 

[12thStudStan]

what DallasCowpoke said, plus you might try adding more egg yolk to thin the batter a bit. Overmixing the batter can make the pancakes turn out heavier and less delicate too. More oil on the griddle will also tend to make them less fluffy.

What kind of flour are you using?

Cowpoke has me hankering for some JohnnyCakes now.

 

[Napoleon]

What about puree-ing a banana and including it in the batter. Would that work?

 

[DallasCowpoke]

only if the banana was aggy.

 

[judgroybeanbag]

well Dallas beat me to it. I was going to suggest 1 1/4 cups of flour, 2 tbs sugar, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, 1 tbs oil, and an Okie. That there is dense. Oh, and throw in a couple drops of vanilla extract, so the Okie don't stink so much. Watch the pan as when it gets hot, it usually burns the first one. Medium low is fine.

 

[Mrs. Reboot]

I don't know if this is the texture you are looking for, but I use the recipe on the box of Bisquck for their ultimate pancakes or something like that. I can't remember the extras they have in them, but they are good for quick non homemade pancakes. I also throw in a bit of vanilla.

 

[celis]

Use more flour or more milk. Baking powder makes pancakes rise.

Or mix the the pancake mix and milk more. You will make gluten and have a tougher pancake.

 

[ousuxndallas]

To make dense pancakes, I fry mine. Just cook them in a cast iron skillet with a bit of shortening melted in there.

Gives them a crisp edge, and the batter doesn't rise as much.

 

[2002_Horn]

More flour and less milk. My recipe for pancakes calls for 1 c. flour and 1 c. milk, but I vary the two amounts to get thinner pancakes. If I don't, they are traditionally thicker and more dense.

 

[MirrOlure]

I caught an episode of Good Eats with Alton Brown at the beginning of last summer, and we lived off of these heavy-duty bad boys all summer:

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