As a kid, I never much liked pancakes. Sure, I’d eat ’em. After all, what hungry kid will say no to something soaked in syrup on a saturday morning? But pancakes always absorbed the syrup far too rapidly, inevitably degrading the cakes into some kind of over-sweetened mush. Waffles were clearly superior. Crispy on the outside, impossibly light and fluffy within, their butter-lined wells holding the syrup, and capturing great globs of butter.
Now–in a land hopelessly lacking in waffle irons–I had to learn to make pancakes. After all, one should not exist only as a pancake receiver (or more accurately in my situation, a палачинка, crepe receiver), one needs to occasionally give back. So it was in Bulgaria that I finally managed to tackle my fear of pancakes, and ended with a recipe that would give waffles a run for their money any day of the week.
Three things have helped evolve my feelings for pancakes: 1) Did you know that baking powder expires? It totally expires. Use fresh baking powder or forever be doomed to a life of flat, uncooked-through pancakes. 2) In my humble opinion, don’t put liquidy syrup on your pancakes, please. Fresh fruit, yogurt, molasses, a good super thick syrup, anything but that sweetened water mush-making stuff. 3) Whole grain flours, baby. Filling, fluffly tasty cakes.
I can’t remember where I got the original recipe, but I’ve altered it so many times by now, I think it’s safe to call it my own. Below you’ll find three variations: 1) Multigrain for people like us who keep their cupboards stocked with a variety of flours, 2) A simpler whole grain version, 3) Buttermilk/yogurtless version.
Multigrain Pancakes
This combination of flours makes a really bomb pancake. It’s good, damn good. If you don’t have exactly these flours, swap them out with whatever you have on hand, no biggie (likewise, you can replace the flax seeds with an equal amount of flour). If you don’t have buttermilk, thin some yogurt with milk, whey, or water. You could also thin sour cream or use kefir. If you don’t have buttermilk or yogurt, go to the last recipe for a milk only version.
½ c. oatmeal
1 ½ c. buttermilk (or yogurt, see above)
¾ c. whole wheat flour
⅓ c. buckwheat flour
¼ c. rye flour
2 T. flax seed
½ t. flaky salt (use less if all you have is regular table salt)
½ t. baking powder
2 t. baking soda
¼ c. sugar
1 egg
¼ c. vegetable oil
1. Soak the oats in the buttermilk. They should soak for around 10-15 minutes. Move on to the next steps, the time will pass as you get the other stuff ready.
2. Mix together the flours, flax seeds, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in the sugar.
3. Make a little well in the center of the flours. Crack the egg into the well and lightly beat it. Add the oil and lightly mix it with the egg in the center.
4. Finally, add the oats and buttermilk and mix everything together.* Don’t overmix. The baking soda will begin reacting with the buttermilk making a delightfully bubbly batter.
By the way, this batter is thick and gloppy, and will thicken and gloppify more upon sitting. Don’t fear, all is right in the world.
5. Fry on a hot, lightly buttered griddle. It should take about 3-5 minutes before the edges of the pancakes start to change (you’ll know it when you see it), and the cake firms enough to slide a pancake flipper underneath it. Flip and fry for another minute or two.
6. Devour with fresh or frozen fruit, syrup, jam, honey, molasses or anything else you can come up with. Be warned, they are very filling and also very addictive. I recommend having enough people present in order for everyone to eat a reasonable amount. Otherwise you may risk experiencing a food coma.
*If you want to do it all proper, I suppose you should whisk the sugar, egg, and oil together in a separate bowl. Add the buttermilk to it, and then add the liquid mixture to the flour. But why dirty another bowl? The method I describe works just fine for me.
Version 2: 1-2 flours
½ c. oatmeal
1 ½ c. buttermilk (or a sour alternative, see above)
1 ½ c. whole wheat flour
OR
¾ c. all purpose flour
¾ c. whole grain flour (I recommend wheat or buckwheat)
OR
¾ c. whole wheat flour
¾ c. buckwheat flour
½ t. морскa сол
2 t. baking soda
½ t. baking powder
¼ c. sugar
1 egg
¼ c. vegetable oil
1. Soak the oats in the buttermilk. They should soak for around 10-15 minutes. Move on to the next steps, the time will pass as you get the other stuff ready.
2. Mix together the flours, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in the sugar.
3. Make a little well in the center of the flours. Crack the egg into the well and lightly beat it. Add the oil and lightly mix it with the egg in the center.
4. Finally, add the oats and buttermilk and mix everything together.* Don’t overmix. The baking soda will begin reacting with the buttermilk making a delightfully bubbly batter.
By the way, this batter is thick and gloppy, and will thicken and gloppify more upon sitting. Don’t fear, all is right in the world.
5. Fry on a hot, lightly buttered griddle. It should take about 3-5 minutes before the edges of the pancakes start to change (you’ll know it when you see it), and the cake firms enough to slide a pancake flipper underneath it. Flip and fry for another minute or two.
6. Devour with fresh or frozen fruit, syrup, jam, honey, molasses or anything else you can come up with. Be warned, they are very filling and also very addictive. I recommend having enough people present in order for everyone to eat a reasonable amount. Otherwise you may be at risk of experiencing a food coma.
Version 3: Milk version
½ c. oatmeal
1 ½ c. milk or whey
¾ c. all purpose flour
¾ c. whole wheat flour
½ t. морскa сол
1 t. baking powder
1 ½ t. baking soda
¼ c. sugar
1 egg
¼ c. vegetable oil
½ t. mild vinegar**
1. Soak the oats in the milk. They should soak for around 10-15 minutes. Move on to the next steps, the time will pass as you get the other stuff ready.
2. Mix together the flours, salt, backing powder, and baking soda. Mix in the sugar.
3. Make a little well in the center of the flours. Crack the egg into the well and lightly beat it. Add the oil and lightly mix it with the egg in the center.
4. Stir the vinegar into the oats and milk, and add it to the rest of the ingredients, mixing everything together.* Don’t overmix. The baking soda will begin reacting with the vinegar making a delightfully bubbly batter.
By the way, this batter is thick and gloppy, and will thicken and gloppify more upon sitting. Don’t fear, all is right in the world.
5. Fry on a hot, lightly buttered griddle. It should take about 3-5 minutes before the edges of the pancakes start to change (you’ll know it when you see it), and the cake firms enough to slide a pancake flipper underneath it. Flip and fry for another minute or two.
6. Devour with fresh or frozen fruit, syrup, jam, honey, molasses or anything else you can come up with. Be warned, they are very filling and also very addictive. I recommend having enough people present in order for everyone to eat a reasonable amount. Otherwise you may be at risk of experiencing a food coma.
**A mild vinegar like apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar. Something you’d put on a salad. Probably not distilled white vinegar. If you’re unsure, just try it, I doubt any harm will come. Otherwise, I suppose you could skip the vinegar and change the baking powder to 2 ½ teaspoons and eliminate the baking soda.
