Pancakes and the joys of whole grain flour

If you've been to a Whole Foods (which my mom calls Whole Paycheck) recently, you've probably noticed the bins of various types of grains and flours.  What I feel when I walk into a place like this is probably similar to what Charlie felt when he first stepped into Wonka's factory: excitement, elation and mouth-watering anticipation for all the recipes I can incorporate these grains into.  Oh yeah, I'm a total dork and proud of it :-)  I love to peruse the bins and experiment with different flours: whole wheat pastry, oat, buckwheat, quinoa, brown rice, etc...  And each time I buy different amounts of different flours to create my own mix at home.  Two things, however, remains consistent.  I use about half finely ground whole wheat a.k.a whole wheat pastry flour and 50% mix of others.  Always in my flour mix I add ground flax seed (about one cup per 5 lbs of flour)

I will fully admit that this is a recipe that I pulled from the internet and modified quite a bit in order to add a little more nutritional value.  You see, if I make goodies with a little whole grain flour and flax seed (especially without butter) it greatly reduces any guilt I may feel about pouring on the syrup.

Now, at first glance this may look a little complicated, but really, how hard is it to whip up egg whites?  What does it take? an extra 2-3 minutes, maybe?  But let me tell you, it is sooooo worth the effort.  These are the lightest, fluffiest whole grain pancakes you will ever taste.  If you have a stand mixer with a whisk attachement, this is a breeze.  Otherwise just bust out the old hand mixer and go to town.

This recipe originally called for buttermilk.  I almost never use this for a number of reasons.  Primarily, I try to only use fat-free dairy products and it is darn near impossible to find ff buttermilk. Plus, I hate to buy a whole container just to use a cup or so.  Therefore I ususally use a 50/50 mixture of plain ff yogurt (this is a staple item for me) and ff milk.  I add a squeeze of lemon when I have it available, but this is not necessary. 

So here goes...
begin by separating 3 eggs.  Whip the egg whites until soft peaks form.
In another container (I like to use a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup to save on dishes) whisk together either 1 and 2/3 cup buttermilk OR the yogurt/milk/lemon substitution that  I mentioned above,  (remember that lemon is optional), the egg yolks, 1/4c canola oil, 1T sugar and about a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

To that add 3/4c white flour and 3/4c whole grain flour, 2t baking powder (I always use aluminum free), 1t baking soda and 1/2t salt.  If you want more hearty pancakes use all whole grain flour and forget the white all together.  They will still be delicious.  Whisk this all together (but don't over mix).

Lastly, fold in the egg whites until you have a light and fluffy batter.  Let this sit for 10 or 15 mins to develop a magical extra yumminess.  If you're really hungry you can skip this step. 

pour batter (I use a 1/4c measuring cup) onto a hot griddle.  I like to use my large electric griddle set to 350F.  If you're going stovetop, good luck.  You may burn the first few, so until you get the temp right I suggest only cooking one at a time.  If you want to add extra awesomeness, sprinkle copped pecans into the batter as it's cooking on the griddle- YUM.

Cook on each side until golden, remove from pan, top with pure malpe syrup and voila.  Fab-u-lous pancakes!  I hope you and your family enjoy them as much as mine does.