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You may have heard of affirmations, gift giving, and physical touch, but there’s a sixth love language: freshly made pancakes. A steaming stack of fluffy, golden pancakes, doused in fruit, syrup, and bacon, is a sure way to show you care. And celebrity chef Nigella Lawson knows this all too well. American pancakes are well-loved in her household, and they’re also her favorite weekend breakfast.
On her website, the lifestyle entrepreneur praises breakfast as a joyful way to welcome in a new day. While she recommends granola or breakfast bars for a quick morning meal, to her, classic American flapjacks are the perfect choice for a slow weekend of self-care and treating yourself. She also notes that using an instant mixture will make things easier.
However, the British baking expert didn’t grow up eating thick, puffed-up American pancakes, but rather the French classic of paper-thin crêpes, which she simply sprinkles with granulated sugar and a spritz of lemon juice. A queen of all things breakfast, there’s also a third type of pancake she likes to make, featured on her BBC show “Simply Nigella,” which involves stirring pulverized porridge oats (not the instant kind), cinnamon, and oat milk into the batter. (She tops them with a homemade raspberry compote.) So, whether you’re team American, team French, or have a partiality for oats, Lawson has a pancake that’s sure to perk up your morning.
How to make your pancakes stand out like Nigella Lawson’s
Warm maple syrup and crispy bacon are classic additions to any respectable American pancake tower. According to Nigella Lawson, using streaky bacon is best, and she even suggests sprinkling blueberries into the batter for a bright pop of color.
Lawson’s favorite American-style pancakes are featured in her second cookbook, “How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking.” Whether you’re making basic buttermilk pancakes or the European variety, there are several unique ways you can upgrade your recipe. Stirring in creamy cheeses will boost your breakfast to restaurant quality, you can elevate the texture with chopped almonds, and bananas will add natural sweetness and tenderness.
You can even freeze pre-cooked batter for an easy hack to whip up a batch whenever the craving hits. But whatever the flavor, shape, or filling, Lawson’s right: Pancakes are truly the best way to celebrate being alive on cozy weekend mornings.
