Pancakes and Waffles

I love pancakes and waffles. My husband, not so much. He'd rather have a couple of eggs, over easy, thank you very much. But the rest of the family just loves pancakes and waffles. When my girls were younger I would buy the packaged, just-add-water kind of mix, but I remember one morning one of my daughters asked if I could make pancakes and I was out of mix. So, I got out my Pillsbury cookbook and found a from-scratch recipe for pancakes. The girls loved them. Fast forward a couple of years later, when I was learning about the benefits of whole grains and found a recipe for Whole Wheat Pancakes. We were hooked. They tasted so much better than the white flour variety and they kept the girls fuller for a much longer time, yet they didn't eat as much. Interesting, hmm?

Today my husband was in the mood for breakfast for dinner, so I made grapefruit halves, bacon, eggs (of course!), and waffles using my whole wheat pancake recipe. Yes, I know there are separate recipes in many cookbooks for pancakes and waffles but I've found that they are pretty interchangeable and I have used this recipe for either.

Whole Wheat Pancakes (and Waffles!)

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
2 cups milk
1/4 cup oil or melted butter
2 eggs

For pancakes: Heat griddle to 400 degrees or skillet on medium-high heat. In large bowl, combine first 5 ingredients. Add remaining ingredients; beat (or stir) just until large lumps disappear. Lightly grease heated griddle or skillet. A few drops of water sprinkled on pan will sizzle and bounce when heat is just right. Pour batter, about 1/4 cup at a time, onto the hot pan. Bake until bubbles form and edges start to dry; turn and bake the other side. Makes sixteen 4-inch pancakes.

For waffles: Heat waffle iron. Follow instructions above for mixing ingredients together. Bake in hot waffle iron until steaming stops (my waffle iron has a light that tells me when it is done) and waffle is done to a golden brown.

We love to add all kinds of things to our waffles and pancakes: nuts, bananas, blueberries, chocolate chips, or apples and cinnamon.

This is another recipe I tried last week for pancakes or waffles. This batter can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. After a couple of days they will develop a slight sour dough flavor. This is what the batter looked like after one day in the refrigerator. There were a few bubbles forming from the yeast.


Make Ahead Pancake and Waffle Batter

2 1/4 cups unbleached flour (I used half whole wheat flour)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 cups milk
1/4 cup butter or oil
3 eggs

In large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. In small saucepan, heat milk and butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees). Add to flour mixture along with the eggs. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 days, adding 2 additional tablespoons of sugar after the second day. Prepare as you would regular pancakes or waffles.

Nowadays we don't usually eat a whole batch of pancakes or waffles in one sitting, so I have been freezing them for when we want them again.