Perfect Weekend Pancakes

There are two things my Mama taught me that have really served me well in the kitchen over the years: gather all your ingredients before you start cooking/baking, and clean as you go. By gathering all your ingredients before you begin a recipe, you can make sure you don't leave something important out (and by putting them all away after using them, you can insure you don't double anything), and by cleaning as you go, you get more time enjoying what you've made and less time cleaning up after yourself.

Brilliant.

I follow those rules every time I find myself in the kitchen, be it for an elaborate family meal, a simple summer afternoon lunch, or a Sunday morning, when no one wants to clean up, everyone's hungry, and the kiddos are crying for pancakes.

And cry for pancakes they do, especially these.

Note: don't be intimidated by the amount of ingredients in this recipe- together they make a moist, fluffy, wholesome pancake that any picky eater will enjoy, and they're easy to boot!

Courtney's Perfect Weekend Pancakes

Makes around 2 dozen pancakes, which freeze beautifully, by the way

1/2 C whole-wheat pastry flour (unbleached all-purpose flour works too)

1/2 C oat flour*

1/2 C rye flour*

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 C buttermilk

3/4 C nonfat milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 generous TBS honey (maple syrup works well too)

2 large eggs

2 TBS canola oil (or melted butter)

Any add-ins you might enjoy, like blueberries, walnuts, chocolate chips, etc.

Combine flours with baking powder, baking soda, and salt (aka the "dry" ingredients) in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine milks, eggs, vanilla, honey, and oil (aka the "wet" ingredients). Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, and mix until just combined (don't over-mix, or pancakes will not be as fluffy!). Heat a pan or griddle to a medium-low heat, rub hot surface with a little butter, and cook pancakes (I use a 1/4-C ice cream scoop to measure the batter) until bubbles form and don't fill back in on the surface of each 'cake. Flip and cook ~1 min more (if using add-ins like blueberries, etc., sprinkle on the top of each pancake just after you pour the batter onto the pan/griddle,). 

Serve warm with butter and syrup, butter and powdered sugar, warm fruit compote, or my daughter's favorite- cinnamon applesauce.

Enjoy!

*You can substitute almost any type of flour in this recipe- you can leave out the rye and double up on all-purpose or whole-wheat pastry flour, you can do the entire recipe with all-purpose flour, or you can sub buckwheat for the oat flour... whatever you have on hand!