Roly-Poly Pancakes

Ingredients

 * 1½ cups + 1 tablespoon skim milk
 * 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon egg, beaten
 * 1 cup unbleached bread flour, King Arthur brand
 * ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions
Sift the flour and salt together. Do not use skim milk prepared from a dry mix. Whole or 2% milk work just fine; however, if you use whole milk, you will need to add one to two additional tablespoons to the amount specified for the skim milk. Almond milk is an okay substitute if you are lactose intolerant, have dairy allergies or your body rejects complex sugars; however, soy milk and coconut milk do not work. Remove one teaspoon of milk rather than adding an extra tablespoon of milk when using Almond Breeze brand unsweetened almond milk (2014 formula). If you double the recipe, you can use 1 whole large size egg. Beat the egg slowly to mix the yolk and the white before adding to the milk. A frothy egg mixture with air in it is very undesirable. Stir the egg and milk mixture slowly a couple times with a spoon; however, do not try to mix well.

Add the flour mixture to a bowl and then add about 2/3 of the milk mixture. Mix well with a wire whisk. Add 1/3 at a time of the remaining milk mixture, mixing well each time before adding the additional milk mixture. Run through a wire sieve if necessary to eliminate lumps. Pour the batter into a sealable pitcher with narrow spout or 4-cornered sealable plastic container.

A large heavy skillet with a low edge and a nonstick surface is best. Preheat for around 8 minutes over the largest burner if you have an electric stove. Less preheat time is needed if that you have a pan with a thinner bottom than the one that I use. Preheat at the same setting that you will be cooking the pancakes at. A heat setting of 6 out of 10 works well with some stoves. A pancake should be finished in 1 minute 35 seconds. Increase or decrease the heat setting as needed to obtain this ideal frying time.

Pour the pancake batter to 2/3 to 3/4 of the desired finished size of the pancake. In two of the attached pictures, you can see the size of the pancake just after it was poured and before spreading out by tilting the pan as the pour size shows up as a circular marking on the pancake. Pick up the pan immediately after pouring the batter and tilt it so that the batter spreads and flows to the full intended size. If the batter is fairly thick, do not be afraid to tilt the pan almost vertically, if needed, to get the batter to spread out quickly. Immediately tilt the pan in the opposite direction that you just tilted it, to even out the depth of the batter and the shape of the pancake. You will probably need to tilt the pan in several different directions to even out the shape and depth of the pancake. Lifting the pan off of the stove to do this is why that the pan needs to have a thick bottom so that it can continue cooking with minimal heat loss.

The first side of the pancake should be fried for about 50 to 55 seconds before flipping and should be done after a total fry time of 1 minute 35 seconds. The second side, after it has been fried, will have a very different appearance than the first side. A sign of a batter that is thin enough and has been spread out well by tilting the pan is that you may see the edge of the pancake loosen and rise up in several spots to create ruffles as the end of the frying time is neared. A hard nylon slotted turner spatula, 2 3/4 inch by 5 3/4 inch with a sharp chiseled edge like the one pictured to the right and below works much better for me than a silicone spatula as the pancakes seem to stick to a silicone spatula. Wiggling the spatula rapidly from side to side as I reach in under the pancake helps to loosen it nicely.

When using Almond Breeze brand unsweetened almond milk instead of skim milk, the heat should be increased ever so slightly so that the first side of the pancake is done at the 30 second mark and the second side of the pancake is done at the 56 second mark, for a total frying time of 56 seconds. A heat setting of 7 out of 10 works well with some stoves. The pancake dries out too much and is somewhat crisp if you follow the directions for skim milk when that you are using almond milk.

Refrigerating left over batter for one to 5 days in a sealable plastic container works well. Batter made with fresh lactose free milk stores longer. Before using the refrigerated batter, stir slowly and thoroughly to loosen any settled flour in the bottom and in the corners of the container with a spoon or spatula.

Rose's Lime Fine Cut Marmalade is one of my favorite spreads. A thin layer of warmed and softened Philadelphia cream cheese alone or with an additional thin layer of jelly or jam over the top makes a great topping. Cream cheese can be softened easily by placing a single serving on stainless steel table knives and placing over the edge of the pan as the pan is preheating and/or you are cooking the pancakes. Cream cheese and raspberry jam are a good combination.

If using syrup as a topping, the pancake can be folded twice rather than rolled up. For a nutty version, try spreading margarine and then honey over the entire pancake. Then add finely chopped pecans or English walnuts on 1/2 of the pancake before making the first fold.

2 servings, makes 6 pancakes that are 7 inches in diameter.