Almost Whole Wheat Pancakes

I work at including whole grains in our diet but sometimes baking or cooking with whole wheat results in a leaden texture that I just don't care for.  Pancakes are like that.  Put only whole wheat flour in the batter and they're just too heavy for words.  I've found, though, that if I use 2 parts whole wheat flour and 1 part all purpose flour, I get a pancake that I like to eat, and one that brings whole grains to our diet too.  Sometimes a little compromise is a very good thing.

These pancakes contain no sugar at all, making them a very useful addition to my recipe file.  I can top them with savoury foods as well as sweet.  Leftover stew?  Scrambled eggs?  Bring 'em on!

I rarely have buttermilk in the house so I make these pancakes with a combination of lemon juice and 2% milk.  If you prefer to use an equal quantity of buttermilk, please do.

To make these pancakes, you'll need:

• 1 cup wholewheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1-1/2 Tablespoons of lemon juice, plus enough milk to make 1-1/2 cups total
• 6 Tablespoons butter, melted

Whisk together the flours, salt, and baking soda.

Beat the eggs.  Stir in the milk mixture and butter.

Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Leave some lumps in the batter.

As you can see, this makes a very thick batter.  We like thick, fluffy pancakes but if you prefer a thinner batter you can increase the liquid to as much as 2 cups.  Just remember that you need to maintain a proportion of 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice in every 1 cup of milk mixture.

Preheat a griddle to medium high heat.  Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle and use the back of the ladle to spread it out a bit.

Cook the pancakes until a few little bubbles work their way through to the top and they're starting to set around the outside edges.

When you flip the pancakes, the cooked sides should be a light golden brown.

When the pancakes are cooked on both sides, transfer them to a baking sheet and keep them warm in the oven until the entire batch is done.  Serve them hot with whatever toppings you like best.

I topped our pancakes with warmed, canned peaches.  I drained the syrup from the peaches and stirred some cornstarch into the syrup until it was dissolved.

I transferred the cornstarch slurry into a small pot and cooked it, stirring constantly, until it boiled and thickened.  Once the syrup had thickened, I added the peaches into the pot and cooked them until the entire mixture was heated through.

They were so good!
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This post is linked to the Hearth and Soul blog hop hosted by Premeditated Leftovers, 21st Century Housewife, Zesty South Indian Kitchen, and Penniless Parenting.