Homemade Whole Grain Pancake Mix

Remember my little brunch problem?

Well I’ve found, processed, and tested (thoroughly, I might add) another solution. And no, despite what your eyes may spy in the food processor above, it’s not my usual stand-by straight up oatmeal!

Rather it’s pancakes! But not just any pancakes. Whole grain pancakes! A recipe that allows me to get both my daily AM dose of whole grains and delicious pancakes. At once! And although the whole grains do make them slightly lower guilt, they do not make them any less delicious!

You might be thinking that pancakes are not exactly the fastest of brunch foods, especially whole grain ones, which typically need a longer set time to absorb the liquid in the batter enough to fluff up into lovely cakes instead of puddling into a runny mess.

But thanks to the ingenious authors of the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook, and their idea to make a not just a one time batter, but rather a whole grain pancake mix, I can have pancakes any weekend day, with just 15 minutes of resting time and a really hot skillet! Imagine my delight when I learned that with a little effort up front, I could basically have whole grain bisquick in my freezer! SCORE! I think Noel did a happy dance at the realization that he might get a hot breakfast on the weekend more often.

Whole Grain Pancake Mix
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

This recipe takes a little bit of effort up front, but the payoff is big–enough dry mix to make ten batches of 10 pancakes. Or enough pancakes for lots of happy weekend breakfasts. I’ve found that the pancake batter works best if you mix it immediately after removing it from the freezer, then let it set for 15 minutes before using on a really hot skillet. If the pancakes aren’t fluffy enough for you, try adding another half teaspoon on baking soda to each 1 cup of mix when you add the liquid ingredients. Mix ins like fruit, nuts, citrus zest, and other goodies do wonderfully in these pancakes, and will help you to get a different flavor every time!

Ingredients:

Makes 10 cups of mix

3 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, grind oats until they’re chopped fine but not a powder. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the oats and the other dry ingredients. Mixing on slow speed, slowly add in oil. When all of the oil has been added, stop the mixer, and squeeze a clump of the mix in your hand. If it just holds together, it’s done. If it doesn’t hold together, add 1 tablespoon of oil at a time until it does. My mix didn’t require an extra oil.

Store the mix in an airtight container (a gallon zip top bag worked for me!) in the freezer until it’s all gone.

To make pancakes from the mix (yields 10, 3 1/2 inch pancakes):

Remove one cup of mix from the freezer, making sure you tightly reseal the airtight container, since you wouldn’t want any of the lovely mix to get freezer burn and be ruined!

In a large bowl, combine the mix, 1 cup of buttermilk OR 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup of regular milk, 1 tablespoon orange juice (if you don’t have any you can leave it out), and one large egg. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes; it will thicken as it rests.

While the batter is resting, heat a griddle or frying pan until it is good and hot. Melt some butter over the surface. When both the batter and the griddle are ready, drop the batter on the skillet 1/4 cup at a time. After 3 to 4 minutes, or when the edges are done, flip the pancake. Cook until golden on both sides. Serve either with maple syrup or fresh fruit. My field research indicates that they’re delicious either way!

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