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JK Makes Pancakes with Chef Zac

Foodservice Director Zac Maness worked with JK students to make pancakes in a hands-on learning experience.

To help Parker’s youngest students better understand the math, measurement and magic of working in a kitchen, Chef Zac invited them to join him.

Students and parent/guardian helpers gathered in small groups, and Chef Zac greeted and seated them around his workspace. He asked students about their prior experience making pancakes and reviewed the list of ingredients they would be using that day, including flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, eggs, buttermilk and butter.

Chef Zac guided students as they took turns measuring out the required amounts of dry and wet ingredients into separate bowls, mixing those ingredients thoroughly and combining the mixed ingredients to create their batter. He noted the role of baking soda and baking powder in this recipe: Both are chemical leavening agents, and when mixed with buttermilk, they create carbon dioxide bubbles, causing the batter to rise and creating a fluffy texture in the cooked pancakes. Students also learned the difficulty of combining wet and dry ingredients in a single bowl—a task that required one student to focus their efforts on stirring while another student held the bowl stationary.

With the batter prepared, Chef Zac poured similarly sized dollops onto a portable griddle and called attention to the way each puffed up because of the baking powder and baking soda. After flipping each pancake a number of times to ensure they were golden brown and cooked through, Chef Zac presented each of his helpers with a pancake of their own—fresh off the griddle!

Parent/guardian helpers helped each student adorn their treat with toppings of their choice, including fresh bananas, strawberries, blackberries, bananas and blueberries, before Chef Zac thanked them for their help and dismissed them to enjoy their delicious pancakes.

Check out photos from pancake making here.
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Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.