RAVE

Trader Joe’s BUTTERMILK PANCAKE MIX has got to be one of the better if not “The Best” pancake mix out there. For one, TJ’s “Buttermilk Pancake & All Purpose Mix” is better than the well-known big brands such as Aunt Jemima’s. TJ’s pancake mix is a “Complete Mix”, which makes it easy to use. However, what I think makes it better is it is NOT “100% complete” meaning you do add one ingredient (besides water). EGGS, people. Yes thats what I said, you have to add an egg (or 2) along with water to make this. Have you recovered from your momentary shock? Relax, this is what makes it the Best mix out there. Come on if cracking an egg sounds like too much work frankly you’re way too lazy. Seriously, having to add a real egg is the exact reason this pancake mix tastes far better than other “complete”  commercial mixes out there. 

Supermarket brand “complete” mixes where you add only water are inferior to this because let’s face it, if there is “egg” listed in the ingredients it is dehydrated eggs made into powder. Think about it… Won’t a real egg taste better than some dried powdered eggs such as Aunt Jemima Complete Mix and others have? Did you ever eat powdered eggs, maybe back at Summer Camp? I can still remember the fake scrambled eggs made from powered eggs they served us in the mess hall back at Camp Winamac in New Hampshire in 1970. The so called scrambled eggs were hard as a rock and disgusting. Therefore its worth the tiny bit of extra effort and expense to crack open a real egg when you mix up the TJ pancake batter, and when you do you, will get a batch of wonderful pancakes !

Q: Is This Mix Easy To Make? 

Here’s the recipe from the back of the Trader Joe’s Box

• 1 3/4 Cups Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Pancake Mix
• 1 Cup Water
• 1 Egg 
• Put ingredients into a bowl and stir

Pretty easy right? That real egg gives this a real homemade taste, not to mention a lovely yellow color that makes this a “homemade” pancake compared to any commercial mix where you only add water. The ingredients list does say powered buttermilk, which is where “buttermilk pancakes” comes from. Now if you wanted to, you could even improvise a bit by mixing in a bit of milk (or buttermilk for that matter) or yogurt or kefir for some, or all of the water. I sometimes add some milk (in a 50/50 ration of 1/2 cup milk plus a 1/2 cup water). This will make an even richer velvety pancake. One reader here says he does add some buttermilk, which could be great extra flavor I would think. Or you can add some Almond or Soy milk if you prefer. But this is of course optional. Just following the box’s directions exactly adding water plus egg makes very decent nice fluffy pancakes, about as good or better than most diners make.

OPTIONS: On occasion I might add other things to the pancake mix, for example adding Cornmeal: which makes you some nice “Corn Cakes”. I also add a tiny bit of oil or butter for those. These Corn Cake pancakes are quite good! You just compensate for the extra dry stuff with a little extra wet stuff (water or milk or buttermilk, etc). Keep the ratio so they are the same density.

Other substitutions for varieties sake:  Adding Regular or Quick Rolled Oats will yield OATCAKES. Add some Wheat Germ will give you get a extra nutty flavor and healthiness! Bananas? Jamaican Pancakes. Raisins? Nuts? Blueberries (TJ FROZEN BLUEBERRIES) Frozen strawberries? You get the picture. You can improvise with this mix to make a variety of pancakes easily from it.

Its also a “versatile base”….it says “Pancake And All Purpose Baking Mix” and on the back of the box they give some recipes for other things you could make using it such as Waffles, Drop Biscuits, Scones, even Focaccia (by adding yeast). I haven’t tried using it yet for these, but I should. I must try making some scones someday. I love them.

The box says “No Preservatives”. We like that right? Price-wise its pretty reasonable, $1.99 for 2 lbs of mix which is not bad compared to big brands like Aunt Jemima’s…which by the way also has “trans-fats”! So why would you not use this? Bottom line: This mix makes excellent pancakes and is worth trying instead of the supermarket brands you might normally get. Get some of this to keep in your pantry and maybe next Sunday make some wonderful pancakes for the family. They will rave about them and say you’re the Number One Pancake Maker!

TOP WITH BUTTER, SYRUP, FRUIT, JAM…. or what ever you like best on your pancakes!

BONUS RECIPE: Spiced Chai Pancakes (see link)

https://www.traderjoes.com/recipes/breakfast/spiced-chai-pancakes

UPDATE 1 – Since writing the original post, I’ve learned my blood pressure was a wee bit higher than it should be, so I am now reading product labels carefully for Sodium, trying to be careful about my daily salt intake. Upon examining the NUTRITION INFO on the box I found this mix has a pretty high Sodium content! See below: One half cup of mix has a pretty whopping 900mg of sodium or about 45% of the recommended daily level of salt (roughly 2000mg which is only 1 teaspoon of salt!)  Therefore I’ve decided that if I would eat these pancakes, to lower the sodium content, I would add a cup of flour to each cup of mix. Of course this will change the mix of ingredients but 900mg salt in just a 1/2 cup (1-2 pancakes?) is just way too much. Be advised! Americans in general eat far too much salt daily, most of it ‘hidden’ in foods (like this)

NUTRITON FACTS
Serving size .5 cup mix
Calories 220 Kcal
Total Fat 3 g
Saturated Fat 0 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg
Sodium 900 mg
Total Carbohydrate 42 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 5 g
Protein 7 g
Vitamin A 0 IU
Calcium 40 mg
Iron 1.44 mg

UPDATE 2 – SINCE I ORIGINALLY REVIEWED THIS THEY HAVE REDUCED THE SODIUM  LISTED TO 520 mg (was 900 mg) About 1/2 of the previous recipe! So better now!

INGREDIENTS
Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, May Contain Malted Barley Flour, Enzymes, Ascorbic Acid), Leavening (Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate), Buttermilk, Canola or Soybean Oil, Dextrose, Salt.

Now let’s be honest, other than the Oil, you could make your own “pancake mix” a la Alton Brown’s recipe (link below) and keep it, ready to use, in a cupboard, fridge, or freezer. Then just add oil or butter and buttermilk and eggs, to the dry mix (and forego seperating the eggs) Of course this will cost far less than TJ’s or any other commercial mix and you can control the salt / sodium.

Alton Brown’s pancake (mix) recipe

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/instant-pancake-mix-recipe/index.html