Kate and I have a confession to make: We eat pancakes. Like, a lot of pancakes. Like, we make pancakes at least three times a week even on days when we don't have time to make pancakes, and own virtually no other breakfast food. Okay, we eat oatmeal sometimes. But seriously, Kate and I are pancake-a-holics and we go through syrup almost as quickly as we go through peanut butter, which is definitely saying something. Although, considering we like to put peanut butter on pancakes, I guess that also makes sense. We are such pancake connoisseurs that we like to experiment with different pancake toppings, and this past Sunday, we spent two hours (during which we probably should have been doing homework) playing around with different pancake ideas. This is the result of that.
Our basic whole wheat pancake recipe is one we've been using for quite a while because it's literally the easiest thing to remember. It only has five ingredients, and all of them can be substituted for something else. Don't have almond milk? Use soy. Don't like soy? Use regular milk. Don't have any type of milk? Use water (this works - we've tried - just put in less than the 2 1/2 cups). Basically, this is a hard recipe to mess up. Thanks to the whole wheat flour, it also really sticks to your ribs, so you don't have to eat many of them to feel full. Of course, Kate and I also routinely ignore this and just eat a ton.
Hearty Whole Wheat Pancakes
2 cups whole wheat flour
6 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups almond milk
1. Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add more almond milk if batter is not wet enough - this batter is meant to be thick as it makes hearty pancakes, but it shouldn't resemble dough.
2. Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and warm over medium heat.
3. Drop batter onto skillet 1/4 cup at a time. Cook until brown on one side (about 4 minutes), and then flip and brown on the other side or until center is cooked all the way through.
4. Serve with Earth Balance (or butter) and syrup!
This recipe is so simple that it's really fun to modify. Here are some of our suggestions:
Handful dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup chunky, natural peanut butter
maple syrup
1. Add a sprinkle of chocolate chips to the pancake batter as it cooks. Flip and cook all the way through.
2. Serve with a generous dollop of chunky peanut butter and a drizzle of maple syrup (This is Kate and I's all-time favorite combination).
Honey Apple Cinnamon Pancakes
Half an apple, diced
about 2 tsp cinnamon, plus more for optional garnish
honey
1. Sprinkle finely-diced apple over the pancake batter as it cooks. Top with a dash of cinnamon on each pancake.
2. Flip and cook all the way through.
3. Serve with a drizzle of honey and more cinnamon if desired.
Jam, Butter, and Brown Sugar Pancakes
1/2 cup raspberry jam (or other type of jam)
2 Tbsp Earth Balance (or regular butter)
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1. Put a large dollop of jam in the center of each uncooked pancake.
2. Flip and cook as normal.
3. Serve with a pat of Earth Balance and a sprinkle of brown sugar.
