National Pancake Day?!?

So I was all excited to blog today about the awesomeness of National Pancake Day, and was super proud of myself for actually having a pancake recipe to share, only to discover that today, in fact, is not the only National Pancake Day. In fact, today is truly not about pancakes at all, but rather about the end of Mardi Gras and the beginning of Lent. And traditionally, today--also known as Fat Tuesday--was just a day to use up the richer, fattier staples such as milk, butter, and eggs before the fasting of Lent began. And it just so happens that pancakes happen to be a quick, easy, delicious recipe that use all of those ingredients. In fact, according to Food.com, National Pancake Day is actually not until September 26th. How disappointing is that?!?

But, since IHOP recognizes today as National Pancake Day by giving away FREE pancakes (yes--even your local IHOP is probably participating in this giveaway), I'm going to follow suit. And, just for fun, I'll probably celebrate again come September 26th. Because really, any day with a built-in excuse to eat pancakes is a good day in my book.

Buttermilk Pancakes
(recipe originally found here)

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients, folding to combine. Batter will be lumpy. Cook pancakes on a preheated pan or griddle (approximately 300 degrees) until bubbles begin to form (three to four minutes). Flip and cook another minute or two.

If you need a quick substitute for buttermilk (because who really keeps that stocked in their fridge?), pour one tablespoon lemon juice into a measuring cup and fill to one cup with milk. Let stand for five minutes before using.

Oh, and fingers crossed this works as my shelf-stable dry pancake mix! I mixed up a few extra servings of the dry ingredients in a storage container and hopefully I'll be able to just scoop out a cup or two whenever Darrell and I want to make pancakes. Granted, we'll still have to measure out the correct ratio of wet ingredients, so it won't be quite as simple as those "just add water" mixes, but they should definitely be way more delicious. As long as the dry ingredients stay homogeneously mixed and don't get clumpy. I'll check back in after a few weeks/months to let you know how the experiment is going.