Saturday Morning Buttermilk Pancakes

What better way to start off 2012 than with breakfast – it is the most important meal of the day after all.  While the majority of my mornings consist of cereal and fruit, buttermilk pancakes have become a Saturday morning ritual in our house.  The recipe I use has been adapted from one of my go to cook books, The Joy of Cooking.  I use a 50/50 mix of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flours to include whole grains at breakfast without creating dense pancakes (as whole wheat flour would).  You can play around with the ratio too; slowly increasing the amount of whole wheat pastry flour.  They come out with the same great taste and texture as the recipe using all-purpose flour exclusively and offer the added benefits of whole grains with more vitamins, minerals, and fiber.  Even better, they will fill you up faster and keep you satisfied longer.  I also like to add lemon zest and blueberries for an extra burst of flavor!

Recipe:

Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl:

·         ¾ C All-Purpose Flour

·         ¾ C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

·         1 T Sugar

·         1 tsp Baking Soda

·         ½ tsp Baking Powder

·         Zest of 1 Lemon

In a separate bowl combine liquid ingredients:

·         1 ½ C Buttermilk 

·         3 T Melted Unsalted Butter

·         2 Eggs

·         ½ tsp Vanilla Extract

Reserve ¾ C Fresh or Unsweetened Frozen Blueberries

Allow your pan (or pans to speed up the process) or griddle to heat up on medium heat while you mix the liquid ingredients into the dry.  Be careful not to over mix – lumps are OK.   Grease your pan with a bit (you really don’t need much to do the trick) of butter, canola oil, or non-stick spray and scoop ¼ C of the batter onto the hot pan.  Top the batter with a few blueberries and wait for tiny bubbles to form around the edges then flip to cook the opposite side.

Don't have buttermilk?  No problem, you can easily make your own by adding vinegar to milk: 1 tablespoon of vinegar for every cup of milk.  It is easiest to measuring out 1 T of vinegar in a 1 C measuring cup and then fill the rest with milk.

This is a simple recipe for a great weekend breakfast that doesn’t take much more effort than a store bought box mix but tastes amazing!

Nutritional Information With Comparison to Bisquick Original (with 1% milk and 2 eggs):

(3 pancakes/serving)

Calories: 248	vs	313
Fat: 9 g total fat, 5 g sat fat, 0 g trans fat	vs	9 g total fat, 2.3 g sat fat, 2.6 g trans fat
Carbohydrates: 33 g	vs	48 g
Protein: 8.4 g	vs	8.3 g
Fiber:  2.7 g	vs	1.7 g
Sodium: 270 mg	vs	748 mg
Cholesterol:  81 mg	vs	23 mg

          Based on the comparison above, the Saturday Morning Buttermilk Pancakes are a smart choice with less calories, no trans fats, more fiber, and  a lot less sodium than the store bought mix.