Soaked flour pancakes

As I began searching for ways to make meals healthier, I have taken our typical menu items and updated them with a more nutrient dense replacement.


All my children enjoy pancakes or waffles for breakfast, so I modified the regular recipe to provide them the goodness of whole grain and the benefits of a soaked flour recipe.


The night before . . .

Combine the following:
2 cups flour (I use whole grain white wheat)
1 cup water
2 tbsp. yogurt (or whey or buttermilk)

This will make a thick batter, almost like bread dough. You leave this, covered, on the counter overnight. I like to prepare this after dinner so it has the benefit of a warm kitchen to get it soaking. You can soak up to 24 hours before using. I have found the more yogurt you substitute for water in the recipe and the longer you soak, the more sour your end result. My children don't like the "delightful sour flavor" (as Sally Fallon calls it), so I generally shoot for the minimum amount. (For more on soaking in general, Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking has a great why and how of the process).


The next morning . . .

Mix in the following:

1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp honey (or sugar if you prefer)
1 Tbsp baking powder
8 Tbsp ground flax seeds (this is 1/2 cup, I use the yablespoon measure since I already have it out for the baking powder. Also, I like to use ground flax in place of the oil. If you would prefer, you can use 4 Tbsp. oil instead)



Note: when you are mixing, the flour mixture that soaked overnight is very, um, cohesive (can you tell that in the picture?) So, you almost have to beat the batter to get it mixed in evenly. It will all combine together, but it takes some working.


Then, proceed as with normal pancakes . . .Pour roughly 1/4 cup onto a warm, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet until underside is lightly browned and surface is bubbly. These don't bubble as much as regular pancakes even when cooked through. Look more for the slightly dry appearance and bubbles around the edge. Turn and cook on other side.


Add your butter and syrup or favorite toppings and devour!


One extra tip, no extra charge . . . We now portion out each child's syrup in these dainty ramekins. They each get about one tablespoon to go with their breakfast (you'd be amazed how far one tablespoon can go, I'm almost thinking about portioning out a bit less).

This helps them not overdo, while saving me the time of dressing each pancake individually, and those that like to dip are free to do so. Also, saves the fights over the syrup bottle, but of course that could have offered quality character training, too. :-)


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