Fluffy whole-grain buttermilk pancakes are entirely possible thanks to this amazing recipe. Made with 100% whole-grain flour of your choice (spelt, kamut, hard or soft white wheat or even gluten free oat flour made from ground oat groats). These pancakes are light and tender with that delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture that a pancake should always have.
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Hello Hello.
I guess I’ve got breakfast on my mind this week. Monday it was that delicious country sausage gravy recipe (think biscuits and gravy, oh yeah).
And today it’s pancakes.
But not just any pancakes, my friends.
These are the fluffiest, most tender pancakes. And you’ll never believe that they’re made with 100% whole-grain flour.
These are the best whole-grain pancakes
I’ve been on the hunt for this recipe for a long time. There are so many bad whole-wheat pancake recipes out there.
I mean they’re okay. As long as you drench them in syrup and negate all the good properties that the whole-grains are providing in the first place. Yeah. No. Not for me. I’d rather starve, thank you very much. Haha.
But why settle for a mediocre whole-grain pancake recipe when there’s this amazing one out there waiting to be discovered, right?
Good thing my kids like pancakes (and don’t mind drenching them in syrup) ’cause it took many many many trials and fails to come up with this one.
But today I’m presenting to you the winning recipe. Light and tender, this 100% whole-grain pancake recipe is amazing.
And guess what? It works for many different types of whole-grain flour (including gluten free).
I’ve made these pancakes with freshly ground kamut flour, soft white wheat flour, hard white wheat flour, oat flour, and spelt flour. Note that oat flour is gluten free when it is ground with gluten free oat groats. Cool, huh?
All the pancakes (no matter the type of grain I used) came out light and tender and each grain produced pancakes with a slightly different flavor and texture. Imagine the possibilities!
If you made me pick a favorite right now it would probably be the pancakes made with either freshly ground kamut (aff. link) or freshly ground spelt (aff. link). I can’t choose between them. They were both so yummy. As were the rest. It’s like trying to pick a favorite child.
Feel free to experiment with other types of whole-grain flour as you wish, keeping in mind that freshly ground flour is always your best option for nutrition as well as flavor.
I love using freshly ground flour in this recipe
I know that some of you don’t have an electric grain mill in your house. If that’s you, I highly encourage you to get one. I can honestly say it’s been one of the best investments I’ve made. I love the nutrition and variety that freshly ground whole-grain flours have added to our diet. This is the grain mill (aff. link) that I have had for many years and love. It’s pretty basic, but does the job and like I said, it’s lasted me for years so I’ve never had a chance to try any others.
If you don’t have a grain mill and still want to try the recipe, they do sell some good whole-grain flours you can buy: Bob’s Red Mill kamut flour or Bob’s Red Mill spelt flour. And of course there is always wheat flour. If you try wheat, I highly recommend going with white wheat flour. It is much less dense than red wheat flour and I prefer to use it in most of my baking. You can usually find the hard white wheat flour in the baking aisle, just make sure it specifies hard white wheat otherwise it’s probably ground from red wheat.
Here’s a few things you should know about the recipe
This is a one-bowl pancake recipe, meaning you mix everything in a single bowl. Basically I don’t believe in doing extra dishes so I came up with a method that works with just one bowl. Make sure you follow the directions so they turn out fluffy. I’m warning you that you’re going to get tired of me saying this, but it’s very important so pay attention.
DON’T OVERMIX THE BATTER AND DON’T MIX IT AGAIN AFTER IT HAS BEEN MIXED.
Sorry to shout but you know I’ll say it three more times in this post and some of you will still go and mix the batter again. Sigh. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. You will want to do it, believe me. Resist the urge.
Most of you probably know how to cook a pancake properly, but just in case you don’t I’m going to give you a few tips.
Tips to cooking the perfect pancake
- Always heat your griddle before adding the pancake batter. I like to test it with a drop of water. If it sizzles, it’s ready to go.
- For best texture (and easiest flipping) cook the pancake on the first side until bubbles start to form on surface and the edges are set. Here’s a little visual of what you are looking for so you get the idea.
I’ve found that the brand of baking powder does matter in pancakes especially. I always use the Rumford brand of baking powder that is aluminum free. It makes the pancakes nice and light.
These pancakes are delicious with this coconut buttermilk syrup. We also love them with this amazing low-sugar strawberry freezer jam. You really can’t go wrong with either option. Sometimes if we don’t have either of those, we take the simple approach and use butter and drizzle on a little agave. Yum.
These pancakes freeze great. We almost always make a double or triple batch so we have some frozen ones for easy breakfasts during the week. I’ve included the freezing instructions in the recipe notes. We usually reheat them in a microwave or toaster (if you want them a little crisper) until they are warmed through.
Okay my friends I’m scooting off. Let me know how you like the recipe.
Whole-Grain Buttermilk Pancakes
Fluffy whole-grain buttermilk pancakes are entirely possible thanks to this amazing recipe. Made with 100% whole-grain flour of your choice (spelt, kamut, hard or soft white wheat or even gluten free oat flour made from ground oat groats). These pancakes are light and tender with that delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture that a pancake should always have.
Ingredients
- 1 ⅛ cup (5.65 ounces) whole-grain flour see note
- 1 cup buttermilk
- ½ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder see note
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons butter melted & cooled slightly
Instructions
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In a large bowl, add whole-grain flour, buttermilk, milk, eggs, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter all at once. With a large whisk, quickly beat the mixture in 10-15 large strokes all at once or until batter is mixed. Very important: do not overmix and once the batter is mixed, do not mix again!
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Let the batter rest while prepping the griddle. This will allow the baking powder to react and the batter to rise. REMEMBER do not mix it again or you will flatten all that air and end up with flat, tough pancakes.
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Heat a nonstick griddle to medium for a couple of minutes until a drop of water sizzles on it (about 350 degrees F on my griddle, but every griddle will be different).
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Scoop batter into rounds on the preheated griddle. I use my #20 cookie scoop to portion out the batter which holds about 3-4 tablespoons and makes about a 4-inch diameter pancake.
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Cook until small bubbles appear on the surface and the edges are set, 1-3 minutes, depending on the heat of the griddle.
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Flip the pancakes and cook for another minute or so until golden and cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
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Serve immediately or keep warm in a 175 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes. Or see recipe notes for freezing instructions.
Recipe Notes
1. The handy thing about this recipe is that it works for different types of whole-grain flour (including gluten free). I’ve made these pancakes with freshly ground kamut flour, soft white wheat flour, hard white wheat flour, oat flour (gluten free that was ground from oat groats), and spelt flour. All the pancakes (no matter the type of grain I used) came out light and tender with wonderful flavor and each type of flour had a slightly different flavor and texture. Feel free to experiment with other types of whole-grain flour as you wish, keeping in mind that freshly ground flour is always your best option for nutrition as well as flavor.
2. If you don’t have a grain mill and still want to try the recipe, they do sell some good whole-grain flours you can buy: Bob’s Red Mill kamut flour or Bob’s Red Mill spelt flour. And of course there is always wheat flour. If you try wheat I highly recommend going with white wheat flour. It is much less dense than red wheat flour and I prefer to use it in most of my baking. You can usually find the hard white wheat flour in the baking aisle, just make sure it specifies hard white wheat otherwise it’s probably ground from red wheat.
3. I’ve found that the brand of baking powder does matter in pancakes especially. I always use the Rumford brand of baking powder that is aluminum free. It makes the pancakes nice and light.
4. I know I’ve said it twice in this recipe, but it deserves a third time, trust me! Make sure that once you mix it the batter, you let it rest (resist that urge to stir it again–I know you want to). Then when it’s time to scoop the batter onto the griddle, be careful not to smash all the nice air pockets. That will ensure that your pancakes are nice and fluffy.
5. These pancakes freeze great. We almost always make a double or triple batch so we have some frozen ones for easy breakfasts during the week. To freeze wait until the pancakes are completely cool. Then line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place pancakes on the paper in a single layer. Place baking sheet in the freezer for 30 minutes or until pancakes are most of the way frozen through. Then remove pancakes from the parchment paper and place in gallon freeze bags and freeze up to a month (or probably longer). We usually reheat them in a microwave or toaster (if you want them a little crisper) until they are warmed through.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
These were a hit with my kids this morning. They were delicious! I couldn’t believe how subtly sweet they were and they were definitely soft and fluffy when following your tips for not overriding. There’s such a fine line and could easily be done, but they were no where near dense. They were perfect and filling! I might try adding some collagen powder next time. Should I increase the liquid?
Hi Kim I’m not super familiar with collagen powder substitutes! Sorry.
My son LOVES these pancakes!!! You’re right stirring too much, makes them flat, I’ve made these 6 times now and they’re perfect with just a few whisks 😉
Thanks Jules!
Horrible. The batter was soup. Unusable, threw down the drain
Hey Toni, curious what kind of baking powder you used? Initially The batter is pretty runny (probably close to soup) but as long as you don’t keep mixing it and let it sit and the baking powder is active and able to react and do it’s thing it will thicken up nice and be just perfect. Hope that helps!