Pancakes Every Morning!! Homemade Whole Grain Pancake Mix

OK, I know what some of you are thinking, but contrary to the photos we do not eats ginourmous stacks of pancakes every morning. That just made a better picture.

But it is true that I crave starchy sweets upon awakening the way some people crave coffee. So I decided, rather than fight this, I would embrace it and make it as healthy as possible. So I pulled out my King Arthur Whole Grain Baking and made a batch of pancake mix to live in my freezer.

I should have done this eons ago.

It is loaded with whole grains, reasonable on fat and sugar, and combined with some sort of protein, it makes a pretty fabulous breakfast. It is also receptive to variations–like this one, with lemon oil (you could use zest if you have it) and blueberries. And with the mix totally ready, it only requires whisking some egg and buttermilk with the mix and leaving it to sit while I shower.

I grew up on Bisquick pancakes, although I tend to make them from scratch myself. These were easily as good as others I have eaten, although not as fluffy (probably because of the whole grains). The pancakes you see were even thinner than usual, because I added some sugar to the batter as well which acted as additional liquid (I do not like syrup on my blueberry pancakes, so I like the batter to be sweeter–but I do like loads of butter, as you can see–which is pretty much the opposite of how I feel about plain pancakes).

Homemade Whole Grain Pancake Mix
Adapted from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking

For the mix:

3 1/2 cups (12 1/4 oz) old fashioned rolled oats
4 cups (1 lb) white whole wheat flour
1 cup (4 1/4 oz) AP flour
3 T (1 1/4 oz) sugar
3 T (1 1/2 oz) baking powder
1 T salt
1 T baking soda
3/4 cup (5 1/4 oz) vegetable oil

Grind the oats in a food processor until they are finely chopped–but not a powder. Place all of the dry ingredients into a mixer with the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, slowly drizzle the oil into the mix. When the all of the oil has been added, squeeze a clump of the mix in your hand–if it holds together it is just right. If it won’t hold together, add an additional tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is right. Place the mix in a sealed container and store in a freezer.

For the pancakes:

1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 T orange juice, optional (use buttermilk if you do not have it–I did not think it needed it, it is to counteract the tannic flavor from whole wheat flour, which I don’t find very strong in white whole wheat flour)
1 cup dry mix

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Leave them for 15 minutes, during which time the batter will thicken a bit and the flours will absorb some moisture. King Arthur calls for ladling out 1/4 cup batter, but I prefer more like 6 tablespoons. Anyway, pre-heat a skillet on medium heat until water skitters across the skillet. I like to rub a stick of butter quickly over the pan–and I noticed even with a nonstick skillet this batter seemed to prefer some butter. Anyway, ladle the batter onto the skillet. When bubbles rise, the edges darken and the top of the batter is less shiny, flip the pancake. The second side will take less time. I find that as time goes on, I need to keep lowering the temperature to keep the skillet surface a steady temp–otherwise it will get too hot.