You can't go wrong with the classic crêpe served with lemon and sugar but I fancied doing something a little different for pancake day this year. These fluffy and light American style ones are a firm favourite in my house but we keep them for special occasions. I wish I could eat a huge stack of pancakes for breakfast everyday but I don't think my body could cope with the obscene amount of maple syrup I pour on the top of mine.

If you want to try making these yourself just follow the simple instructions below.

You will need:


1 tablespoon baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 large eggs (beaten)
30 grams butter (melted and cooled)
300 ml milk
225 grams plain flour
butter for frying

Super straightforward method:

• Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl.


• Pour the milk, eggs and butter into the flour mixture and, using a whisk, beat until you have a smooth batter. If it's lumpy keep on whisking it. It will seem really thick but that's what we're looking for. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.
  
  
• Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter. I add two/three because my pan is big and it means I can cook a few at the same time.  Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.
  
  
• Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan. Once I had roughly used half of my batter I tipped in a tub of M&S Belgian Chocolate chunks so I had some plain pancakes and some with gooey chocolate in the middle.

Serve with lashings of whatever takes your fancy and enjoy. I topped mine with strawberries and flaked almonds and Martyn had chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate sauce. These would be great for a weekend breakfast treat served with maple syrup and crispy bacon


 I hope I've inspired you to try something new. What type of pancakes will you be having tonight?