whole wheat pancakes

4-5 pancakes — 20 minutes

We like to prepare pancakes aboard Pino, especially when we run out of bread for our morning peanut butter toast ritual. Like bread and cookies, there are several key rules to making good pancakes. In the following notes we have tried to outline these rules as clearly and as thoroughly possible.

Baking powder. If you want to double the recipe, keep in mind that the baking powder to flour ratio is 5-6.25 g (1 tsp to 1 1/4 tsp) baking powder for every 125 g (1 cup) of flour. The leavening power of baking powder can weaken overtime. To test that the baking powder is still good, drop a teaspoonful into a cup of hot water, if bubbles are visible right away it's still good, if not, replace the baking powder.

Wheat Berries. We have a grain mill onboard and grind our own red wheat berries to make flour. Freshly-ground flour tastes better, fresher. If you buy whole wheat flour from the store keep in mind that it will oxidize quicker than white flour because whole wheat flours still have the bran and germ.

All-purpose flour. If you're not comfortable using whole wheat flours, it's possible to use all-purpose flour but when mixing in the liquids be careful not to overmix. Mixing helps develop elastic gluten to help pancakes rise, but when baking soda or baking powder is used for leavening, overmixing makes the gluten so thick that air bubbles can't expand, resulting in a tough chewy pancake. If you are new to using whole wheat flour work your way up slowly, gradually replacing more and more of the all-purpose ﬂour with whole grain ﬂour.

The above photo shows pancakes made with 50% all-purpose flour and 50% whole wheat.

Orange juice. For those not used to the taste of whole wheat, replace 30-45ml (2-3 tbsp) of the liquid in the recipe with orange juice. The citrus helps to temper the ﬂavor of whole wheat (a recommendation by P.J. Hamel of King Arthur Flour).

Vanilla extract. While optional, vanilla extract can lend a good flavor to pancakes, see how to make your own.

Baking powder & baking soda. When a recipe contains baking powder and baking soda, the baking powder does most of the leavening. The baking soda is added to neutralize the acids in the recipe plus to add tenderness and some leavening[Source].

Sourdough pancakes? Mix the following ingredients and let rest overnight: 240 g (1 cup) unfed sourdough starter, 224 g (1 cup) buttermilk(1 cup soy milk plus a curdling agent, like vinegar or lemon juice), 120 g (1 cup) whole wheat flour and 13 g (1 tbsp) sweetener. The next day before cooking the batter, add 2.5 ml (1 tsp) of vanilla extract, 3 g (1/2 tsp) salt and 6 g (1 tsp) baking soda. It's possible to use sourdough discard to make pancakes (no need to let it rest overnight), but be sure to add baking powder and baking soda to help it rise, the discard won't provide much leavening but helps to use it up while providing flavor.

whole wheat flour125 g
baking powder3 g
baking soda1.25 g
salt1.25 g
soy milk250 ml
vanilla extract5 ml
apple cider vinegar5 ml
canola oil5-15 ml
maple syrupto taste

Mix 5 ml (1 tsp) of apple cider vinegar(or lemon juice) with 250 ml (1 cup) of soy milk, let it sit for 5-10 minutes until it curdles. This is the buttermilk that will interact with the baking powder and baking soda to help leaven the pancakes. Once the 5-10 minutes are up, spoon in 5 ml (1 tsp) of vanilla extract.
In a bowl, mix 125 g (1 cup) of whole wheat flour with 1.25 g (1/4 tsp) of salt and 3 g (1/2 tsp) of baking powder and 1.25 g (1/4 tsp) of baking soda.
Stir the buttermilk into the dry ingredients until blended. Don't worry about overmixing, the bran in whole wheat flour cuts the gluten strands which allows baked goods to expand even if overmixed (the same is not true for all-purpose flour, see above notes). Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes to allow the whole wheat flour to absorb some of the moisture in the batter, making for softer pancakes.
Bring a pan to medium-high heat. Only add batter to a hot pan. To know that the pan is hot enough, sprinkle it with a few drops of water. If the droplets skitter around, it's ready (it can take longer for a cast-iron pan to heat up, if you don't wait long enough the first pancake may stick). Add a drizzle of neutral vegetable oil (or vegan butter), and pour about 45 ml (3 tbsp) of batter into the pan. Use 60 ml (1/4 cup) to make 4 pancakes, 45 ml makes 5.
Cook until bubbles form at the surface and that edges are dry (2-4 minutes).
Flip the pancakes and cook it until golden for approximately 2 minutes. Repeat the process for the rest of the batter, adding extra oil as needed between pancakes. Divide onto two plates, serve with maple syrup.