Since pancakes are a weekend staple at my house, I (almost) always make sure to make them as healthy as possible, using whole grains and little to no refined sugar (like in my banana chia seed pancakes and my pumpkin pie pancakes). These fluffy berry oat pancakes are just that- they are made with 100% whole grains (a mixture of whole wheat flour and oats) and only 2 tablespoons of brown sugar (for which honey can be substituted- see recipe below). The flavor is slightly sweet and salty, kind of like a biscuit, balanced out by the natural sugars in the fresh (or frozen) berries that are folded into the batter.
The best thing about them? THE FLUFFY. Made with baking soda AND baking powder, these pancakes poof up (a highly technical culinary term) while cooking to make air pockets and a melt-in-your-mouth pancake. Let me tell you why I love pancakes so much. Here’s the most important thing to remember when making whole grain pancakes: do not over mix the batter. When you mix too much, gluten begins to form from the flour, which will make the batter stick together and cause a dense pancake. (Note: this applies when making muffins, bread, or other baked goods with whole wheat flour as well.)
For these pancakes, I made my own “buttermilk” by adding vinegar to whole milk. Have you ever tried this? It works so well! Because when do you EVER have buttermilk just lying around? If you do have buttermilk, you can absolutely use it in this recipe. But milk + vinegar will work just fine.
What’s your favorite pancake recipe? I need some more ideas! :-) Enjoy!
