A few weeks ago, I decided to try making pancakes once a week. I’d always thought of them as a "special" breakfast, and a not-very-healthy one, but a little research and practice showed me that (a) they’re actually quite easy, and quick enough to make on a weekday, and (b) if you make whole-grain pancakes, they’re not unhealthy at all — assuming you go easy on the syrup.
I fine-tuned my recipe over the course of several weeks. Perfection was reached when I finally bought one of those big two-burner nonstick griddles; now I can make the whole family’s pancakes in two or three batches. I also discovered that itsy-bitsy pancakes, dipped in a dish of syrup and eaten out of hand, are far less messy for the two-year-old than they would be if you involved a fork and knife.
So here is the recipe, just enough for my family of four if you add some sausage and eggs for those who want ’em. You can vary the proportions of flour, buttermilk, and egg to get the thickness you want. (Really, the recipe’s quite robust; you can add all kinds of things to the batter, from spices to nuts to berries to chocolate chips.)
- 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups cultured buttermilk or yogurt
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda, well dispersed in 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup melted butter, melted coconut oil, or other oil
The night before, mix whole wheat flour and buttermilk in a batter bowl. Cover and let soak at room temperature overnight.
In the morning, mix in remaining ingredients. Thin with milk or buttermilk if desired. Ladle onto hot, ungreased nonstick griddle to make any size pancakes. When small bubbles appear on top, turn with spatula. Cook until golden brown. Keep warm in 200-degree oven for up to 30 minutes.
Soaking the flour overnight makes the pancakes much softer, more like a white-flour pancake would be. Also, supposedly, overnight soaking breaks down compounds in whole grains that can inhibit nutrient absorption. Because of the "good cultures" in the buttermilk or yogurt, the mix shouldn’t spoil on the countertop, but if it worries you you could put it in the refrigerator; if you’re going to do that, you might want to soak it for longer, perhaps 24 hours. And it’s convenient that it takes exactly half a container of buttermilk; so we buy a quart every two weeks.
My family has really come to enjoy the tradition of "Wednesday Pancakes." I had no idea that my husband could put that many pancakes away at one sitting (undoubtedly his family won’t be surprised to hear that, but let’s face it, I’ve made more pancakes in the last seven weeks than in seven years of marriage).
I did discover one downside though — last Wednesday I must have needed a little more sleep, and didn’t wake up when Mark’s alarm went off. There’s really no place I have to be on most mornings, so it’s not such a big deal for me to sleep in till the kids wake up. Only Mark actually shook me awake before he got out of bed. At first I thought perhaps he was hoping to get a bit romantic, but then reality struck: "You’re waking me up so I’ll go down and make pancakes for you, aren’t you?"
"Well, yes."
Unintended consequences. My family likes the pancakes so much, now they expect the pancakes.
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