Eggless Pancakes

Awhile back, I experimented with making eggless pancakes one morning when I started my usual Saturday routine and then realized we had no eggs. Rather than doing the classic move of walking next door to borrow an egg from the neighbors (who does that these days?), I decided to see what would happen if I left out the egg. They turned out fine.

Considering the high price of eggs these days and the fact that I was cooking for myself this morning (and one egg in pancakes for one person leads to very eggy pancakes — good, but eggy), I decided to try leaving out the egg again, and I could hardly tell the difference.

What follows is a variation on my Cavalier Pancakes. If you’ve read my recipes, you’ll know I’m not a big fan of measuring, so what follows is an estimate of what I did. You could also take your favorite pancake recipe, omit the egg, and add a little more baking soda, flour, and buttermilk until you feel you have the volume and the consistecy you want. Maybe make the batter just a little thicker than usual to help it hold together.

For one person, I started with a slightly heaping 1/4 cup of white flour and a slightly heaping 1/4 cup of wheat flour. (Normally, I’d use a level 1/4 cup or even a little less per person). Add 1/4 tsp or less of salt, 1/2 tsp or so of baking soda, and approximately one half tablespoon of sugar. Stir with a wire whisk until well combined.

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients, add 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of oil (probably closer to 1/2 but you may want a little more oil than your recipe calls for to replace some of the liquid and consistency of the egg yolk). Then add vanilla and buttermilk. For one person, I used 3/4 C of buttermilk plus a dolop more.

Keep your batter a little on the thick side if you want the pancakes to be fluffier, rather than runny. This is true when you use an egg, too, but err on the side of thicker if you don’t have an egg. If your batter is a little too runny, the pancakes will still taste fine, they will just be thinner and spread out more on the pan. How much buttermilk to use might depend on how thick and creamy your buttermilk is today. I like buttermilk that’s been in the refrigerator for a few weeks and has thickened up a bit. And different brands have different consistencies. If you don’t have buttermilk, the best substitute is a mixture of yoghurt and a little milk. Keep it thick and creamy.

Then cook on a skillet as you would any pancake. People probably won’t even notice the difference.

So why put an egg in your pancakes? They are meant to add a little rise and also to help bind the batter as the pancake cooks, which I’m sure they do. But in a pinch or if the price of eggs has you down, pancakes are one thing that you can make without the egg and it won’t make a huge difference.

I’ve done the same with cornbread, actually, and that turned out really well, too. The secret is using the right amount of good, creamy buttermilk to get the consistency where you want it.

I’ve seen recipes for eggless baking that substitute apple sauce for the egg, and I have nothing against that except that I usually don’t have applesauce just lying around. I’m sure that would be good, too, but you can take your usual pancake recipe and adapt it by omitting the egg and adjusting the other ingredients a little to get the consistency you want. The results should turn out fine, and if you don’t quite like the way it worked this time, adjust a litte more or less next time until you find the way you like it.