You don't have to spend Shrove Tuesday standing over a frying pan making an endless stack of pancakes.
Or even if, like us, you're not that great at making the flipping things, there's an answer.
And it's ready made pancakes!
From ready-to-fry batters to fancy buttermilk ready made pancakes to the traditional British thin delights, there's something for all.
Read more: The best places to get pancakes in Cardiff for Pancake Day
Keeping it classic
DIY pancakes are probably the best way to get delicious results and they're possibly the most simple recipe ever. That being said, good luck!
Ingredients:
- Plain flour (100g)
- Eggs (x2)
- Milk (300ml)
- Knob of butter (for frying)
- Your favourite toppings
Method:
- Put 100g of plain flour into a bowl, make a well in the middle of the flour heap and crack two eggs into it.
- Start whisking from the inside out and slowly add 300ml of milk to the mixture a little bit at a time. Whisk until there are no lumps.
- Heat a drizzle of oil or a small knob of butter in a frying pan on medium heat and wait until the pan gets hot and fully greased.
- Pour in enough pancake mix to coat the base of the frying pan and cook for 1 minute on each side until golden. You might need to use a spatula to loosen around the edge of your pancake until you attempt a flip.
- Once cooked, transfer the pancake to a hot plate and top with your favourite toppings.
Mix it up!
If you can't be bothered to make pancakes yourself (no judgement!) then there are plenty of batters out there to save you time and ingredients.
M&S do their fresh mix (£2.25) and they also do a shaker bottle from their Plant Kitchen range if you want vegan pancakes.
Also Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Aldi have shaker bottles, too.
All in the prep
Some social media users are swearing by the ice-cube tray prep method.
If you have a busy schedule and want to prepare as much as you can in advance, TikTok user @cookiterica has a handy top tip.
Whip up your pancake batter in advance, and then pour the mixture into the moulds of ice cube trays.
The ice cube mould size can hold the perfect amount of batter for mini-pancakes.
When you're ready to cook, press the frozen pancake mix cubes into a pan and fry until piping hot all the way through.
Ready-made
Pop to your nearest bakery or supermarket and just buy a pancake.
All the major stores have ready-made pancakes, traditional British or the more fluffy American style, or support local and pop down the high street.
If you're lucky, like those who live in Pontypridd and can visit Princes Restaurant, you can pick up some flipping lush pancakes made fresh.
Get a topping station
Have each topping ready in bowls with serving spoons and a stack of preheated plates.
Get creative with your topping options too - and use up as many items as you can that are already in your cupboards.
Along with maple syrup, sugar and lemon, and Nutella - try other ingredients including marshmallows, peanut butter, squeezed orange, golden syrup, crushed biscuits, and chopped chocolate bars.
Go healthy
Don't want to fry your pancakes? You can bake them.
Grease up a fairy cake tray and fill each pocket with batter - you'll be able to cook 12 perfectly circular mini-pancakes at a time.
Or make those two-ingredient, healthy banana pancakes - mind you, they will taste of banana.
All you will need is two eggs and a ripe banana.
Method:
1. Get the ingredients.
2. Mash and whisk them together.
3. Cook in a frying pan until golden brown on both sides.
4. Eat. It's that simple.
Get colourful
Make your pancakes that little bit more fun with some food colouring.
Once you've made your batter, split it into separate bowls and add a blob of different coloured food dye to each bowl.
You can then make a selection of pancakes from each coloured batter or drop spoonfuls from each mixture into the pan to create a rainbow effect.
Don't forget...
If you want to make several at once - remember to preheat the oven instead of leaving your pancakes to go cold on the side.
And slide in your serving plates on a lower shelf too so you're not eating off freezing cold plates.
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