How to make simple Scotch pancakes

There is something terribly cheering about Scotch pancakes. Even the best normal pancakes are a bit floppy, a bit (whisper it) flabby. They give the cook the choice of eating them one by one as they cook, or resigning themselves to the reality of a mostly tepid, slightly clammy pile. Scotch pancakes are not like this.

So let’s get this straight: what are they? A Scotch pancake, sometimes known by its other name, a drop scone, is a leavened and griddled pancake. It is far thicker and smaller than its unscotched sister, and although on the face of it bears a strong a resemblance to its American sibling, it’s really rather different.

There’s more flour, for one thing, which means Scotch pancakes have more substance than the fluffier American type and that they cook with a very slight crust. Both of these factors give rise to the loveliest, most comforting, joyful feature of the scotch pancake: it can, and traditionally should be, buttered like a slice of toast.