Diners do a big business in pancakes the size of dinner plates. They often have an item on the menu called "Silver Dollar Pancakes", which are a stack of small cakes often targeted towards children. I believe that the theory is that children want small sized things and they want a lot of them. I am fairly sure that you end up with the same amount of pancake regardless of the size you order. Personally, I loved the idea of stacking pancakes. I would never attempt to eat them in a stack, preferring to separate the layers and eat them one by one, but I loved the look. Hence, my stack o' pancakes shown above, rather than an assortment of evenly sized pancakes.
Cake flour makes them tender and the beaten egg whites make them light. The pancakes are thin and light, a little bit eggy and a little bit sweet. You can eat a lot without filling up. They absorb syrup faster than a sponge, though, so I recommend dipping them judiciously if you are not someone who likes a lot of syrup with breakfast. Make them into small rounds - silver dollar sized, or about 2 inches across - and eat them with your hands.
Light and Fluffy Silver Dollar Pancakes
1 cup ap flour
1/3 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 egg yolks
1 cup low fat milk
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 egg whites, at room temperature
Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk together egg yolks, milk, butter and vanilla in a small bowl and pour into dry ingredients. Stir until throughly combined.
Beat egg whites to soft peaks and fold into batter. Make sure there are no streaks of egg white remaining.
Heat a nonstick skillet or griddle (grease with butter if not nonstick) over high heat and drop batter into 2 inch rounds. Cook 1-2 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Turn down the heat slightly if the pancakes cook too quickly.
Serve immediately.
Serves 6-8 kids and about 4 kids at heart.
