World Famous Pancakes

Last Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday.  In my native province it is celebrated as Pancake Night, another one of those calendar customs that share religious roots but evolve into something quite different over time.  It seemed we all had pancakes on that night and for extra fun, my mother would put money in ours, pennies, nickels and dimes.  This would have been back in the sixties and change like this was rare for us children to have and much coveted as a result.
I continue the practice and always try out different recipes (minus any money).  Here is the pancake recipe I have been favouring lately.  It is from Gwyneth Paltrow's book My Father's Daughter and I'm sorry about the photo; I'd already frozen my extras by the time I thought of getting a photo.  This recipe can make about 3 dozen pancakes, depending on the size you make them, so it is great for a crowd.

Bruce Paltrow's World-Famous Pancakes

3 cups flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
3 cups buttermilk
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled plus more for cooking
6 organic large eggs
Up to 1 cup milk, as needed to thin the batter
Real Vermont maple syrup, warmed for serving

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  Whisk the buttermilk, butter and eggs together in another bowl.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, whisking just enough to combine, small lumps are okay.  Let the batter sit, covered, overnight.  The next morning, heat up your griddle or nonstick pan and slick it with a little butter.  Add enough milk to the batter to thin it to the consistency you like.  Cook the pancakes, flipping when bubbles appear on the surface of the uncooked side.  Let cook 2 - 3 minutes more, then remove and eat with lots of syrup.
The first time I made them, I did not have buttermilk and did not let the batter sit overnight.  I soured my milk with a little vinegar and used that instead and I mixed the batter in the morning and it sat all day.  I used our local maple syrup, of course, too.  Anyway, the pancakes were quite good and I have been making this recipe for the past year.  This time I did let the batter sit overnight and used real buttermilk and liked the result even more.  

Happy Pancake Making!