Chez Ma Tante’s Pancakes

Chez Ma Tante’s Pancakes
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times
Total Time
20 minutes
Rating
4(4,858)
Comments
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At the Brooklyn restaurant Chez Ma Tante, the brunch pancakes come two to an order, big as dessert plates and almost burnt. “I knew I wanted them to be really, really crispy,” said the chef de cuisine Jake Leiber. He was inspired by a fairly straightforward pancake recipe made with bacon fat he found in “How America Eats,” the seminal cookbook by Clementine Paddleford, an American food historian. Mr. Leiber swaps the lard for butter, adds an extra egg yolk to his batter, cranks up the heat on his vintage cast-iron skillet, then pours in an outrageous amount of melted clarified butter. Fried in shallow pools of hot fat, each pancake gets fritter-like crisped edges. Mr. Leiber serves them with more butter, and glugs of maple syrup. —Daniela Galarza

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Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 large pancakes
  • 1large egg
  • 1egg yolk
  • tablespoons baking powder
  • 2tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1teaspoon kosher salt
  • cups whole milk
  • 1cup all-purpose flour
  • 1cup plus 2 tablespoons clarified butter (or store-bought), melted
  • Salted butter, for serving (optional)
  • Maple syrup, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

401 calories; 33 grams fat; 20 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 0 grams dietary fiber; 11 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 380 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Whisk egg and yolk together in a medium bowl. Add baking powder, sugar and salt; whisk until smooth and fluffy. Pour in half the milk, then half the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine. Add the remaining milk and flour plus 2 tablespoons clarified butter and stir briefly just until batter comes together but is still somewhat lumpy.

  2. Step 2

    Heat a large 12-inch cast-iron skillet or griddle over medium-high for at least 5 minutes. Pour about ¼ cup clarified butter into the pan. When the surface of the clarified butter starts to shimmer, ladle about ⅓ cup of the batter into the skillet for each pancake, leaving a couple of inches between each pancake. Add more clarified butter as pancakes cook to keep about ⅛ inch of fat in the bottom of the pan at all times.

  3. Step 3

    Cook until the top of the pancake starts to bubble and edges turn browned and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Use a spatula to flip each pancake. The cooked surface should be very crispy, with a dark ring around the edge. Cook until the second side is browned and crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat to cook the remaining pancakes, adding more clarified butter as needed.

  4. Step 4

    Serve immediately with pats of salted butter, if desired, and maple syrup. If making a large batch, cooked pancakes can be kept warm on a wire rack set in a rimmed metal baking sheet in a 300-degree oven.

Tip
  • The batter can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight. You might need to increase cook time on the pancakes by 1 minute or so on each side.

Ratings

4 out of 5
4,858 user ratings
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Comments

Melt butter, more than the recipe calls for and put in in the refrigerator. As it cools, the fat solids will rise to the top. Remove the top layer of fat and the remainder is clarified butter. Also called Ghee in the grocery store.

You are never going to make really great pancakes until you get the right flour ! Not all purpose and heaven forbid not bread flour. You need soft wheat flour - biscuit flour. Try it you will taste the difference.

For anyone trying these out and turned off by all the pearl-clutchers with the "TOO GREASY AND SALTY OMG MY STARS AND GARTERS": make sure your pan is nice and hot before adding the clarified butter, then make sure the butter is hot before adding the batter. I bet their pans/butter weren't hot enough, which would indeed give you a heavy, greasy pancake. If, on the other hand, you just don't like butter and salt then don't make these, make a different pancake. Good lord.

Way too much baking powder! I love how buttery these are. And I love that they are made with ingredients in your pantry (I don’t know about you but I don’t keep buttermilk in my fridge). But the large amount of baking powder means every bite leaves a chemical aftertaste in your mouth.

Pancakes had a nice crunch rim and fluffy inside. Not greasy as mentioned in the comments. My favorite pancake recipe on NYT.

Only had skim milk and unsalted butter that I just melted in the cast iron skillet. All went well. DELICIOUS! Watch or they will burn quickly.

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Credits

Adapted from Jake Leiber, Chez Ma Tante, New York

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