As Massachusetts Maple Month comes to an end, I’m departing from my usual practice of making savory maple recipes. Instead, I’m preparing something sweet that most Americans associate with maple syrup: pancakes.

My pancakes are inspired by a vintage television show. For my doctoral degree in American studies I specialized in American popular culture, film and television in particular.

My dissertation discussed the onscreen and off-screen lives of three TV couples of the 1950s: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Ozzie Nelson and Harriet Hilliard Nelson. All three couples were married in real life as well as in television.

People often laugh when I describe the hundreds of hours of television viewing that supported my research into these couples. I won’t say that watching television was as difficult as, say, laying bricks or programming a computer.

Nevertheless, there were times when I was loath to sit down to watch yet another half hour of comedy. This was particularly true when it came to the comedy in “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.”

Loosely based on the home life of the title characters and their two sons, David and Ricky, “Ozzie and Harriet” started as a radio program in 1944. Like many radio performers, the Nelsons moved over to the medium of television in the 1950s. They brought their sons with them.

Their ABC television show was popular. It ran from 1952 until 1966, and viewers watched the Nelson boys grow up. I had and have a lot of trouble warming up to the series, however. The plots revolve around lessons in masculinity. Ozzie frequently tries to teach the boys how to comport themselves as young men.

The paterfamilias is almost always exposed as a weak fraud, however. Harriet gently but firmly shows up his boastfulness and lack of intelligence. It’s all treated as a joke, of course, but it’s also depressing.

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One episode with which I could identify aired in the first season. In “Pancake Mix,” the Nelson males discover at breakfast that instead of preparing her usual pancakes, Harriet has tried a commercial formula, Hasty Tasty Pancake Mix.

Ricky, who would eventually grow up to be a singing idol and Hollywood heartthrob, was 13 at the time. He was often the instigator of humor on the show, referred to as “the irrepressible Ricky.”

When he discovers that the Hasty Tasty company offers a refund of double the purchase price to customers who say that the pancakes are not the finest they have ever tasted, Ricky grabs the box. He returns it to the store for the refund, a whopping 94 cents.

In the program’s climax, the Nelsons receive a visit from the president of the pancake-mix company and several minions. They commandeer the kitchen and serve Ricky a plate of their pancakes topped with chocolate ice cream, strawberry jam, whipped cream, and a cherry.

Ricky pronounces them “absolutely the finest pancakes [he] ever tasted.” The whole family digs in, in fact.

The point of the episode is that we are all hypocrites to some extent. In the opening scene, the men of the house praise the pancakes as delicious and Harriet as the finest cook in the world … until Harriet reveals that she is using the mix.

After that, Ozzie makes a point of saying that while the pancakes are perfectly fine, they’re not up to Harriet’s usual standard.

Despite the banality of the dialogue and the static camera work (Ozzie Nelson himself directed the show and didn’t seem very fond of moving the camera or editing footage), I found something to identify with in this episode.

In college, I had worked very hard to get a refund from a company that sold me an inferior jar of glue. I had significantly less luck than Ricky Nelson. I didn’t ever get my refund, let alone a plate of goopy sweet food.

I admired Ricky’s determination to get what he wanted. His catchphrase at this time in his life (at least on television) was, “I don’t mess around, boy.” I’m thinking of adopting it.

In tribute to Ricky and Harriet (I still can’t warm up to David and Ozzie), here is my own Hasty Tasty Pancake Mix. It makes pancakes that are as good as the ones I create from scratch. The secret is buttermilk powder.

I have tried two brands. The more common one, found in many larger grocery stores, is from a company called Saco. Use it if you find it; it’s fine. I was more impressed with Hoosier Hill Farm brand buttermilk powder.

I may have been deluding myself just as much as Ozzie Nelson did when he criticized Harriet’s pancakes, however. I recently learned that Hoosier Hill Farm was bought by Saco in 2021. Perhaps the companies’ buttermilk products are the same, and I just like the idea that my buttermilk comes from a farm.

In any case, the powder makes lovely pancakes. The consistency of the batter works for me, and I can think of old TV shows as I eat.

You may double this recipe easily. In fact, you may make up to eight times as much mix as the recipe suggests; just make sure that it is well mixed together.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/4 cup buttermilk powder (in larger grocery stores under “baking needs”)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:

Sift together these ingredients, and whisk them as well to make sure that they are thoroughly combined. Store the mix in an unrefrigerated, airtight container until it is needed (but not for more than 3 months).

To make a batch of pancakes: In a bowl or measuring cup whisk together 1 cup water, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Gently stir in the cup of pancake mix. Do not overmix the batter.

Heat a griddle or a skillet to medium heat (about 375 degrees), and melt a small amount of butter in it. Dollop just under 1/4 cup batter onto the pan for each pancake.

Turn the pancakes after a minute or two, when they are nice and bubbly on the surface and easy to lift; then cook them on the other side. Add a bit more butter as needed to prevent sticking.

Remove and serve with butter and warm maple syrup — or ice cream, jam, whipped cream, and a cherry. Each recipe makes about 10 pancakes.

Harriet Nelson didn’t seem to get any pancakes herself because she was too busy serving her menfolk. I live in the 21st century, however, so I serve and eat these.

Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.