Note: My article does not include info about other places that serve pancakes or other pancake mixes. (I do include a few links to scratch recipes farther down.)
Whataburger Pancakes—Buy at Restaurant
The least amount of effort for obtaining pancakes is going to Whataburger. The info doesn't state the diameter, but does state the calories as 720. Guessing the price might be less than $3, if available, as the pancake platter lists as $3.35. "Platter" indicates added sausage or bacon.
Whataburger Pancakes—Buy Powder and Make at Home
The next least effort for obtaining pancakes is making up a batch from Whataburger pancake powder. I bought a box (32 ounces) for $2.78. The batch had 2 cups of powder (~10 ounces) and 1 1/2 cup of water. One yield was 10 4" diameter cakes, another yield was 9 pancakes. OKaaaay. The box says that one serving is two 4" pancakes, totaling 180 calories—using 1/3 cup of powder.
According to a Whataburger press release,
The 32-ounce pancake mix uses the same ingredients and recipe used in Whataburger restaurants. Customers simply combine the mix with water and follow the instructions on the label to enjoy the light and fluffy Whataburger pancakes they love. Each package makes approximately 32 pancakes.Um, the info conflicts with the package I bought, which claims 36 pancakes. Even weirder is the online two-package bundle info:
Two 1.75 lb (794g) pouches. Each pouch makes approximately 32 pancakes. ... Price: $14.99 (Yow! My one 32-oz box cost only $2.78.)So now we have three stats for weight and estimated yield of pancakes:
- 2#, 32
- 2#, 36
- 1.75#, 32
By my calculations, a 3-pancake Whataburger restaurant stack (720 calories) equals 4—FOUR powder-mixed pancake servings. ¡Ay, caramba! But wait! If I used 4 as a multiplier for powder stats vs. restaurant stats, the sodium ratios look to be way out of whack—1650 for restaurant pancakes, and 2560 for the powder-made pancakes. In any case, those sodium stats are way high!
Alrighty then. Because I made the middle range number of pancakes, the total calories came to 1080, ~540 for each of two people. Feeling better already that those two plates have fewer calories than two restaurant pancake stacks. Of course, I'm ignoring the addition of calories because of butter-type spread and syrup. Comparison of price: ~$6 vs less than $1 ($2.78 divided by 3 batches) if you supply your own labor.
Now inching towards discussing scratch pancakes. I use a half recipe from the Pillsbury scratch booklet, and I tweak it with added vanilla and cinnamon. The table below shows ingredients (but not quantity) mapped to Whataburger's powder:
| Ingredient | W | Scratch |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | y | y |
| Soy flour | y | n |
| Sugar | y | y |
| Dextrose | y | n |
| Whey | y | n |
| Sodium caseinate | y | n |
| Milk | n | y |
| Vinegar | n | y |
| Cooking oil (whatever's handy) | n | y |
| Palm oil | y | n |
| Sodium bi aka baking soda | y | y |
| Baking powder | n | y |
| Sodium acid pyrophosphate | y | n |
| Salt | y | y |
| Corn syrup solids | y | n |
| Monocalcium phosphate | y | n |
| Egg white | y | n |
| Egg | n | y |
| Dipotasium phosphate | y | n |
| Monglycerides | y | n |
In light of the Whataburger powder having so many more ingredients than my scratch ingredients, I think when I finish off the powder, I'll not buy more. Instead, I'll consider experimenting with other brands' powders that have fewer ingredients.
Scratch Pancakes, Tweaked From Pillsbury's Simply From Scratch Volume 2 booklet
The following tables list the main ingredients for my batch of scratch pancakes for amounts, cost, calories, and sodium:
| Dry Ingredient | Cost, Calories, Sodium |
|---|---|
| ~1 cup flour | 9¢ (1.68/5#, using 1/4#), 450, 3 mg |
| 1 T sugar | 2¢ (2.78/4#, using 1/128#), 50, 0 mg |
| 1 t baking powder | 2¢ (1.18/10oz, using 8/473 container), 0, 480 mg |
| 1/2 t baking soda | 0¢ (68/16oz, using 4/908 container), 0, 476 mg |
| 1/2 t salt | 0¢ (62/26oz, using 2/491 container), 0, 1180 mg |
| 1 t cinnamon | 6¢ (2.49/4oz, using 1/40 container), 6, 1 mg |
| Wet Ingredient | Cost, Calories, Sodium |
|---|---|
| 1 cup nonfat milk | 25¢ ($2/64oz, using 1/8 container), 80, 100 mg |
| 1 T vinegar | 1¢ (44/16oz, using 1/32 container), 0, 0 mg |
| 2 T cooking oil | 5¢ (2.38/48oz, using 1/48 container), 240, 0 mg |
| 1 egg | 17¢ ($2/dozen), 70, 70 mg |
| 1 t vanilla extract | 18¢ (2.67/1.5oz, using 1/15 container), 12, 0 mg |
Main Recommended Instructions for Making Scratch Pancakes
- Note that ingredients and quantities vary slightly from recipe to recipe.
- Have a separate bowl for mixing dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients.
- Grease or spray oil onto the pan or griddle.
- Make sure the pan is hot enough before pouring batter into it.
- For each pancake, watch for bubbles to emerge from the uncooked side before flipping it over.
- Recipe that calls for nearly identical ingredients and amounts as mine (Scroll down about 1/3 of the screen for ingredients and instructions.)
No Butter Homemade Pancakes - One slightly different and highly touted recipe
Essential and Easy Pancake Recipe - YouTube video that demonstrates principles and calls for most of the same ingredients
Pancakes Recipe Demonstration - Joyofbaking.com
- Scratch batch (9 to 10 pancakes): 908 calories, 2310 mg. $1.22 (excluding cinnamon and vanilla)
- Whataburger batch (also 9 to 10 pancakes): 1086 calories, 3840 mg, $ .93
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