Cheddar Pancakes

Shavuot this week — the holiday that commemorates the giving of the Torah at Sinai and which is celebrated, culinarily, with dairy. Blintzes, cheesecake, lasagna (yes, lasagna is Shavuot food in houses that have accepted the Italian influence, which this house has, partially, under controlled conditions). I made blintzes — cheese blintzes, the thin crepes filled with sweetened ricotta and farmer's cheese, fried in butter until golden, served with sour cream and a dusting of powdered sugar. The blintzes are Sylvia's, and I make them on Shavuot the way I make everything on every holiday: without alteration, without innovation, without the slightest deviation from the recipe as it was given to me, because these recipes are not suggestions, they are commandments, and I follow them with the literalism of a woman who takes her inheritance seriously.

The school year is ending and I will not see my students graduate in person. The seniors will have a virtual ceremony, which is like calling a photograph of the ocean a beach vacation — technically it contains the relevant elements but the experience is categorically different. I wrote each of my seniors a personal note. One hundred and twelve notes. I wrote them by hand because a typed note is not a note, it is a document, and my students deserve notes. My hand cramped on the sixty-seventh note. I kept writing. A teacher who stops writing notes because her hand hurts is a teacher who has forgotten that teaching is, at its core, an act of physical endurance performed in service of people who don't yet know they need you.

Marvin watched me write the notes. He sat across the table and watched my hand move and at one point he said, "You have beautiful handwriting." I looked up. He was looking at me with something I recognized — not memory exactly, but attention, the quality of focused seeing that used to be his default state and is now rare and valuable. "Thank you, Marv," I said. "I'm writing to my students." He said, "You're a teacher." I said, "Yes." He said, "A good one." He said it with certainty. I believe he meant it. I believe the knowledge of what I am is still in there, even when the details of who I am are fading. He knows I'm a teacher. He knows I'm good. That is enough. That is, today, everything.

After one hundred and twelve handwritten notes and a pan of blintzes made exactly as Sylvia taught me, I wanted something for the morning that asked the same thing of me — attention, butter, a hot pan, and no shortcuts. These Cheddar Pancakes are not blintzes, but they belong to the same family: dairy and honest, golden at the edges, the kind of thing you make when you want the kitchen to feel like it means something. Marvin sat with his coffee while I made them, and I thought about what he said — a good one — and I flipped each pancake like I was turning something carefully over in my mind.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup whole milk
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, freshly shredded
2 tablespoons sour cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until evenly combined.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, and melted butter until smooth.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently until just combined — a few lumps are fine. Do not overmix. Fold in the shredded cheddar.
Heat the pan. Place a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Add a small pat of butter and let it melt until it foams and subsides.
Cook the pancakes. Pour approximately 1/4 cup of batter per pancake onto the skillet. Cook until bubbles form across the surface and the edges look set, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip carefully and cook an additional 1 to 2 minutes until golden on the second side.
Keep warm and repeat. Transfer finished pancakes to a plate in a low oven (200°F) while you cook the remaining batter, adding butter to the pan as needed.
Serve. Plate the pancakes warm, with sour cream alongside if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Cheddar Pancakes — The Batter That Holds Everything Together