I want to remind everyone how easy it is to make pancakes from scratch. How easy? Twelve minutes. Yes, it takes just 12 minutes to make my whole grain oatmeal pancakes. It was our Sunday breakfast, served with a little butter and a lot of real maple syrup.
These easy, healthy pancakes are made with buttermilk, oats, and whole wheat pastry flour so they are 100% whole grain. Buttermilk really makes the best pancakes! My usual breakfast is a hard-boiled egg, a slice of my homemade bread, a little fruit, and a cup of tea, but Sunday is the day for special treats – I should have called it Sunday brunch because we didn’t eat until after 11:00.
I found these pretty plates at Walmart so I took a new picture. Next Sunday, or maybe tomorrow, if you want a healthy whole grain breakfast that’s fun and easy, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Pssst! Don’t tell anyone these are whole wheat! Just tell them you made delicious apple pancakes for breakfast. Even I was surprised how soft and fluffy these yummy pancakes are. And there’s a ton of apples in there. I use a huge Granny Smith apple that usually weighs over a half pound, which I peel, core, and dice into 1/2- inch pieces. The batter is thick and lumpy and that’s a good thing.
This is my basic buttermilk pancake recipe that I use for blueberry pancakes too. And buttermilk makes the best pancakes! The key to great pancakes is not to over-mix. Never use an electric mixer. Just combine the dry and liquid ingredients together gently by hand until just barely combined. Some bits of visible flour is fine. Then fold in the apples… gently… and you will have a thick and lumpy batter. That’s perfect.
If buttermilk is not available where you live, look at my “Substitutions” blog category. You can make your own but the real thing is better. For cooking my apple pancakes, I use a non-stick electric griddle but you can make pancakes in your largest flat pan. If it’s non-stick you don’t need to grease the pan at all but if you like, you can rub the pan first with a stick of butter.
Everyone’s stoves and griddles are different so the cooking temperature should be somewhere between 360 and 375 degrees F or just below medium-high on the stove. The pancakes should cook in about two minutes per side. For soft and fluffy pancakes, make sure to use whole wheat pastry flour and not whole wheat flour. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Remember buckwheat pancakes? Did you know that buckwheat has more antioxidants than some vegetables? So forget the pancake mix! You can make these healthy, high fiber, and really delicious pancakes for breakfast in ten minutes. While the griddle heats up, you mix together a few simple ingredients and ten minutes later, you’re doing your body a lot of good. Here’s why you should eat buckwheat…
~It’s high in fiber.
~It can help stabilize blood sugar.
~It’s a complete protein.
~It’s a good source of magnesium, which reduces blood pressure.
~ It’s rich in B vitamins, particularly niacin, folate and B6, all beneficial to cardiovascular health.
~It’s full of antioxidants, including lignans, which protect against breast cancer.
~The powerful antioxidants and flavonoids in buckwheat prevent premature skin aging.
~It tastes great!!
Don’t skip breakfast. Take a few minutes to have this healthy, high fiber breakfast and you’ll have sustained energy and stable blood sugar, so you won’t be snacking on things you shouldn’t. This is an easy pancake recipe, but then all pancakes are easy to make from scratch. I use a non-stick griddle, which doesn’t need greasing but I sometimes just rub it with a stick of butter. If you can’t find buckwheat flour at the grocery store, look for it at a health food store. You can also order it online. And it’s good to store it in a tightly sealed container in the fridge. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Fiber is good. We need fiber. It helps with weight loss because it keeps you full longer, plus it keeps your blood sugar stable. So it makes sense that morning is the best time to have a healthy, high fiber meal. But this does not mean eating something that tastes like toasted particle board or a bowl of spackle! With me, it means light and fluffy pancakes.
Yes, even 100% whole grain pancakes can be light and fluffy if you use buttermilk – real buttermilk from the store, not the one they SAY you can make by adding lemon juice to a cup of milk – hogwash! That is not a substitute for buttermilk, it’s only a cup of lemon-flavored milk. So get some real buttermilk and make my easy, light & fluffy, delicious, healthy whole grain pancakes. And here’s even better news: You can use extra-light olive oil… or canola… or any oil of your choice. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones