I like to savor my weekends. I try to fill them beginning-to-end with all the things I love to do when I have two whole days to myself. I am loathe to waste a single minute in bed that I could’ve spent going for a run or a long bike ride, practicing guitar, or reading an amazing book. And the prospect of a special, hot breakfast — the kind of luxury I don’t have on a weekday — really gets me excited about waking up early and embarking on whatever special project I have planned.

So since I started working Monday through Friday six months ago, it’s been my Saturday ritual to roll out of bed, put on a record, make a big french press of dark roast coffee, and sit down to a pancake breakfast with my partner.

I don’t think I’ve ever loved Saturdays more.

Suffice it to say, I’ve made dozens of vegan pancake recipes. Most of them were delightful in their own individual ways, but what I was really after was a vegan pancake that was soft and fluffy, not heavy and floppy. I was looking for the kind of pancakes I grew up eating, that were designed for mopping up maple syrup.

These are the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made — and they taste great, too. Plus, wonder of wonders, this is a one-bowl recipe! Don’t be freaked out by the shortening in the recipe; that solid fat source, packed with suspended air bubbles, is what gives them such impressive height, and it’s what makes pancakes made with Bisquick turn out the way they do. The second you flip these pancakes, they double in thickness. Oh, and feel free to substitute whole wheat flour for up to half the white flour if you’re into that sort of thing; it tastes awesome!

I spent weeks perfecting this recipe, and I really think I’ve nailed it. I hope you do, too!

