Every morning I have the same conversation with my 4 year old. It goes like this:
Me: Hey buddy, what do you want for breakfast, cereal or oatmeal?
Him: Um.. pancakes.
Every once and a while just to throw him off and make myself appear to be Supermom I say, “Okay”. I wish I could capture the look on his face when this happens because it’s priceless.
This recipe is a staple at our house. It uses half all purpose flour and half whole wheat. (If you want a 100% whole wheat recipe, click here) And we’re not adding whole wheat just to try and be kind of healthy, it actually tastes amazing with the part whole wheat flour. You get a good dose of whole grain, and the recipe uses only a little sugar, a little oil, and an added egg white. Top them with fruit and I feel pretty good feeding them to my kiddos a couple days a week.
The other thing I love is that these make great freezer pancakes. I can get 24 perfect kid-sized pancakes from this recipe and I keep them in the freezer in a zip lock bag. That way when my son bats his eyelids and pleads for pancakes I have no problem whipping them out and becoming a star for the day (or at least for like 30 minutes). Kind of like when I pull my other sneaky Mom trick and let him eat ice cream for breakfast. Later in this post I’ll show you some of my favorite kid-friendly healthy pancake toppers.
Here we go:
Dry Ingredients: Whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar. And can I just say that I’m not one of those people who likes whole wheat in everything? I know you people are out there because you comment on every recipe we post that involves flour asking for whole wheat instructions. So trust me- these taste REALLY good.
Wet Ingredients: low-fat buttermilk, egg, egg white, vanilla, and just a touch of canola oil. I do suggest using real buttermilk (as opposed to souring your own milk with lemon juice or vinegar) the shortcut totally works, but I think they turn out much fluffier with real buttermilk. When I use milk I always end up with a super thin batter and flatter pancakes.
All you do is whisk the dry and whisk the wet and then stir together. Easy breezy. And really, you could even make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients and whisk your wet stuff right there to keep it all in one bowl. Since we make these fairly often I sometimes mix up a few batches of just the dry ingredients and keep them in ziplock baggies in the freezer. Then it’s even easier to whip them up.
Watch for bubbles to form around the pancake. You can usually tell when a pancake is done because if nudge it with your spatula it holds its shape pretty well around the edges- as opposed to mushing all over.
And there you have it. Soft, fluffy, delicious, pancakes that are relatively healthy and easy enough to whip up on a week day.
Since I consider these to be a semi-healthy pancake we try to top ours with something semi-healthy too. For a super easy fruit syrup, just heat up a little jam in the microwave and it easily pours like a syrup. You can do the same thing to peanut butter, and add a little hot water to either of those to make them thinner if needed.
My kids like them with a smear of peanut butter- and with some of the warm jelly syrup poured on top it’s just like a yummy PB & Jelly pancake sandwich!
It’s also a great way to get fruit into my kiddos when otherwise they’d probably just be downing bowls of “fruit” loops. They easily gulp up berries, bananas, stonefruits, etc. when they’re sitting on top of a fluffy pancake; who wouldn’t?!
Whole Grain Buttermilk Pancakes
Description
Fluffy, soft pancakes made with part whole-wheat flour.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg white
- butter for pan
Instructions
- Preheat griddle pan.
- Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl combine buttermilk, eggs, oil, and vanilla and whisk well. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix just until moistened and combined.
- Coat pan with butter and then pour on pancake batter. Use about 1/4 C batter for large pancakes (5-6″) and 2 T for kid-sized ones (2 /2-3″). Wait until bubbles form and edges are set and then flip.
- Makes 12 large or 24 small pancakes.
- Freezer Instructions: These pancakes freeze wonderfully. Just lay out pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet or other pan. Freeze until solid and then place in a zip-lock bag. To serve, just warm up in the microwave or toaster.
Questions & Reviews
I made these for my four year old today and between each bite he said things like "Mom, you are the best cooker ever!" and "These are super duper yummy!" (He ate 4 pancakes!)
I love making things that are healthy AND get that kind of response from my kids, so thank you!
I made these for the 2nd time this morning (green for st. patty's day!). They were fabulous! I took the tip from one of these comments and tried the dried buttermilk. So good and easy! I'm going to throw together all of the dry ingredients and put it in the fridge for quick pancakes in the mornings. Also, I used whole wheat pastry flour, which eleminates the grainy texture that regular wheat flour has. Thanks for the great recipe!
I am a big pancake snob, but I had to try this recipe. I made the recipe after we had already eaten dinner so we wouldn't eat them. I wanted to see how well they would freeze and reheat. Well, I made them and they looked so good, my husband and I had to try them. They were SO GOOD! We didn't even use pancake syrup or jam; we ate them plain, right off the griddle. I am sharing this recipe with everyone I know that loves pancakes. I am thrilled to have a whole wheat pancake recipe that is worth eating! Thank you!
I love it… I am reading along and see the whole (healthy recipes post)… go to the next one and it's a giant stack-o-pancakes! Wheat pancakes mind you… but still pancakes. I am still laughing!
I have caught a flu bug and today I am sick. Why does that make me happy? Because I am blessed with a loving husband who took the day off to take me to the doctor, pick up my medication, and to make me soup for supper.
Camilla, I noted in my post that it is just warm jam!
I just know that the syrup in these pictures is homemade because my syrup doesn't look thick and yummy like that. Can you give us the recipe for that too?
Yum… Your pancakes look great! Love all of your photos… They are beautiful!
These are really great tasting! We loved them! Thanks for this recipe!
I just stumbled onto your blog and can't wait to get cooking. Thanks!
I made these this morning. LOVED them. And my two year old…LOVED them! I did the warm jam trick. It was soooooo good!
Peachdenise- tell your Momma thanks! Love that tip!
My mom told me about a great topping everyone gobbled up! Heat up a cup of honey & add a cup of your favorite fruit. Berries work quite well. Let stand until the warm honey breaks down the fruit. Warm again before serving. Easy and healthy. 🙂 Love my mom.
oh no not another recipe I am going to love. I made your breadsticks last week and even my picky 7year old loved them. I can't wait to make these and try the freezer trick.
Thanks for the buttermilk tip–I always want to try recipes that call for buttermilk, but never have it.
I made these this morning for the daycare kids. What a huge hit! I topped them with melted creamy peanut butter and melted strawberry jam and they devoured them! Great pancake!
we do the very same thing! Make a big batch to freeze so we can have one on a workday.
Check out my latest blog post about ourbestbites, i thought you guys might like to hear from a superfan!: http://lindsayswhimsicalramblings.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-cooking-creations.html
I'm going to have to try these. I've been wanting a good whole wheat pancake recipe and this looks amazing!
Are they really that fluffy and full?
I am going to try them next weekend.
you should try Vanilla flavored or just plain Agave. It tastes so good, better the syrup!
Ps. just found this and love it. Thanks for you hard work!
Carrie, it's purely a taste thing for me! And generally speaking I think real buttermilk is usually the best, so I only use the substitute in a pinch.
These look delicious and can't wait to try them. Just wondering, when you use milk with lemon juice as a substitute why do you prefer lemon juice over vinegar? I typically use vinegar, but the last two times, it didn't really work. Wondering if lemon juice is more successful at curdling the milk?
I'm trying your recipe tonight! I have been trying to get more whole grains in my picky daughter's diet. Great idea to freeze them so they'll be ready for school mornings!
Ellie Krieger makes a similar pancake recipe but uses only honey and no oil. This recipe looks really good too! Along with her recipe is a simple way to make strawberry "syrup." It's so easy and so good! You just blend up some strawberries, heat them in a pan with maple syrup and lemon juice and it's so freakin good on these kind of pancakes-well any kind of pancakes!
looks wonderful. I love cooking light
Pancakes with berries-Mmmmm! Whole wheat are the best too!
I LOVE whole wheat pancakes! There is just something about wheat pancakes, not too sweet, and then adding the sweetness on top. I have tried them using stuff other than buttermilk and they were great. Then one day, I actually tried them with buttermilk, and they were *fabulous*. I don't use it enough, so I now buy the powdered kind, and it goes a long way (and keeps for a lot longer than the carton).
Thanks for all of your excellent recipes and tips. I look here every other day even though I know the days you post lol!
these look wonderful!
Have you tried King Arthur's white wheat flour? I love using this — it has replaced my standard all-purpose flour, and no one knows.
looking forward to trying these.
they look stunning and since my boys are sick at home I think I will play a little supermom and give them pancakes for dinner.