Whole Wheat Pancakes with Creamy Maple Syrup
Also known as hotcakes, griddlecakes, and flapjacks (or slapjacks according to some of my friends), pancakes are a welcomed menu item for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert.
Ahh, pancakes – an almost, every Sunday morning ritual at our house when my son was little. As soon as he became skilled at using a spatula, he was our go-to flipper. My husband was (and still is) a plain, buttermilk pancake kind of guy. My son and I were all about chocolate chip pancakes.
Using whole-wheat flour in pancake recipes is a great way to boost the nutritional value, but it can make pancakes a bit heavy and dense. To create lighter, more tender flapjacks, give these four steps a try.
Step #1 – Mastering the mixing
The way the ingredients are mixed is probably the most important step in creating light and fluffy pancakes. First, mix the wet and dry ingredients separately before combining. A thorough mixing of each set of ingredients helps to avoid overmixing once combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until the batter comes together. Overmixing the batter develops too much gluten which creates tougher pancakes. The batter should resemble a slightly thick, lumpy cake batter. Yes, you want some lumps.
Step #2 – Give the batter a rest
Let the batter rest for 20 minutes at room temperature before you begin cooking your pancakes. Resting helps the gluten that was formed relax. Also, some of the lumps will smooth out a bit during this resting phase.
Step #3 – Preheat the griddle
Be sure the griddle is hot before pouring on the batter. While a medium heat setting typically works best, here’s an easy perfect temperature test. Place a few drops of cold water on the heated cooking surface. If the drops sizzle immediately and dance around a bit before they disappear, you’re ready to go. If the water drops immediately evaporate, the pan is too hot. If the water drops just sit there without sizzling, the pan is too cool. A griddle that’s too hot results in pancakes with burnt exteriors and raw or doughy centers. A griddle that’s too cool produces pancakes that don’t brown nicely.
Step #4 – Know when to flip
A pancake is ready to be flipped when the edges appear dry and bubbles form on the top. Bake the second side about half as long as the first side. Avoid pressing down on the pancake with the spatula while it’s cooking. Doing so will undo your efforts to create light, fluffy pancakes.
To your health,
Darlene
WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES with CREAMY MAPLE SYRUP
Yield:Â 4 servings
Serving Size: 3 pancakes topped with 3 tablespoons syrup and 1/4 cup blueberries
Prep: 15 minutes
Ready: 50 minutes (including batter resting time)
INGREDIENTS
1 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups cultured low-fat buttermilk
2 tablespoons, plus 1 to 2 teaspoons canola oil, divided
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup fresh blueberries
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, stir together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk egg. Add buttermilk, 2 tablespoons oil, and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.
Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture and stir just until batter comes together, allowing some lumps to remain. Let batter rest for 20 minutes at room temperature before cooking pancakes.
Evenly coat a non-stick skillet or griddle pan with 1 teaspoon oil and set over medium heat. When hot, pour batter, using a 1/4-cup measure, onto skillet. Cook, turning pancakes over when edges appear slightly dry and surface of batter begins to bubble. Cook second side of pancakes about half as long as first side. Use additional teaspoon of oil if needed to cook remaining batches of pancakes. Batter will yield 12 pancakes.
To prepare syrup, whisk together yogurt and maple syrup until smooth. One serving consists of 3 pancakes topped with 3 tablespoons creamy syrup and a 1/4 cup blueberries.
Nutrition Information per Serving
460 Calories, 11 g Total fat, 2 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 51 mg Cholesterol, 455 mg Sodium, 82 g Total carbohydrate, 5 g Dietary fiber, 42 g Total sugars, 33 g Added sugars, 12 g Protein, 1 mcg (6%) Vitamin D, 201 mg (15%) Calcium, 2 mg (10%) Iron, 112 mg (2%) Potassium
© 2022 RECIPES MADE HEALTHY BY DARLENE ZIMMERMAN, MS, RD LLC
You absolutely could add chia seeds or flaxseeds for extra crunch, and extra nutrition. Both are great sources of healthy, omega-3 fatty acids.
Because the chia seeds will swell and soak up liquid, I probably wouldn’t add more than a tablespoon to this recipe. As for the flaxseeds, if you’re looking for crunch, add whole flaxseeds. However, your body will absorb more of the nutrients packed inside if they’re ground. You can grind them yourself in a spice grinder or you can purchase ground flaxseed, sometimes referred to as ground flaxseed meal. Hope you like them Stacey!
I made these today. I followed the recipe as written with the exception of regular whole wheat instead of white whole wheat as I didn’t have any in my pantry. I’ve never included cinnamon in my pancake batter before but it adds a nice sweetness and warmth to these pancakes. They were delicious! Light and airy. I loved the addition of the creamy maple syrup too. I would have to say the hardest part of this recipe is waiting 20 minutes for the batter to rest. Lol! I give this a high recommendation and I will be making these again.