DIY Buttermilk. Thank me later.

We 3 Happy Eaters kind of stumbled upon Breakfast Week. You might say it was fate, but whatever you call it, we all separately had our minds on the most important thing of the things you eat. Katie with French toast, Amanda with a fresh herb omelet, and me with pancakes.

While my fellow Happy Eaters ate their aforementioned breakfast foods at the appropriate time of day, I whipped mine up for a weekday dinner. Pancakes are great for when you're just too lazy to go to the store, because the ingredients are all things you normally have on hand anyway! It's like a free meal!

 

[Read on to find out how easy homemade whipped cream is! Really!]

I used this recipe for the pancakes. Obviously the key ingredient in buttermilk pancakes is the buttermilk. Let me stop you before you run to the store because I said the ingredients were all things you have on hand and I stand by that.

Buttermilk is expensive and you rarely need the entire half-gallon you're required to purchase when all you need is 1/4 cup (so the rest rots in your fridge). So allow me to change your life with this simple kitchen trick.

When recipes call for buttermilk, more specifically baking recipes, what they are really calling for is the chemical part of buttermilk (baking is a science, folks!). By adding regular vinegar to milk you've already got on hand, you can re-create this chemical state. It's really that easy! Never buy buttermilk again!

DIY Buttermilk

3/4 cup regular milk

1/4 cup vinegar

Before you start your recipe, combine the milk and vinegar and give it a little stir. You'll see that the milk is already becoming thick, like buttermilk. Let it sit while you're preparing the other ingredients, then add whatever amount the recipe calls for. I always make the above proportions even if the recipe calls for less than a cup.

I really like this pancake recipe because they have a slight crisp to them and they aren't too sweet. That means you can heap loads of sugary things on them without hesitation!

 

[An homage to Paris's Nutella-banan crêpes. Sigh.]

I layered mine with Nutella and sliced bananas and topped the stack with a dollop of homemade whipped cream. Speaking of awesome kitchen tricks, homemade whipped cream is so easy there's no excuse to buy the hydrogenated stuff ever again. And it tastes so much better. And your friends will be so impressed. I dare you to try it.

Easiest-ever Homemade Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbs white granulated sugar (not powered!)

Beat the cream until it's a little bit frothy, so it'll hold the sugar without it all falling to the bottom of the bowl. While beating, slowly add the sugar. Then beat until peaks form that don't fall. (Don't over beat though.) Put. on. everything.