I used to like pancakes, but pancakes and I have always had kind of tenuous kind of relationship. They were ok. Just ok. I’d never order them for diner breakfasts, for example. (That honour was always reserved for bacontwoeggsovereasyandwholewheattoast.) The kids like pancakes more than I do, even more so if they’re dressed up with banana; blueberries; or the nirvana of pancake toppings, chocolate chips.
Within the last five years or so my relationship with pancakes has slid even further, from “like” to “don’t really care for.” When did that happen? I used to make pancakes from a mix. And for awhile I made them from scratch. And then, after having taken pancake mix camping with us and realizing that the difference between pancakes made from scratch and made from a mix was barely noticeable I went back to the mix again, one which uses egg and milk. (The eggless version is a staple for our camping trips.)
Awhile ago I decided I didn’t need to eat pancakes ever again. I bid them farewell. I wouldn’t miss them, much like I don’t miss donuts. (I KNOW. Admitting I don’t like donuts is practically SACRILEDGE in this country, where deep fried baked goods and coffee are sometimes the only thing keeping us alive during the Annual Half Year of Cold.)
First of all, pancakes are too sweet for my liking. I know I can fix ’em up so they’re less so, but I prefer savoury. So when I do eat a pancake (which is out of sheer hunger, like this morning) I butter it, sprinkle it with salt, and eat it like a piece of toast. But I don’t eat it with much enjoyment. It’s fuel. And all the while I’m thinking: I am eating a fried disc of processed white flour, which, of course, makes it seem even less palatable to me than it already is.
That’s why I was pleased to find this recipe for whole wheat pancakes. I made them a couple of weeks ago. I had a feeling my kids wouldn’t eat a whole wheat pancake. You won’t believe what I did to those pancakes to get my kids to eat some of them. I chopped up some Christmas cookies and THEN poured maple syrup over the whole thing.
Guess what? They ate the cookies. I, on the other hand, liked these pancakes (without cookies of course).
I wonder, if we had always eaten whole wheat pancakes and never had introduced the regular white-flour ones, if my kids would be eating them today. Who knows.
But here’s the recipe, in case you want to try it out:
3 eggs
2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tb oil
2 cups whole wheat flour
4 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
Combine all ingredients until smooth. Fry in oil about 2 minutes per side. Keep stack in warm oven until ready to serve.
And there you go.
Let me know if you try this out, and whether your kids will eat them without cookies sprinkled on top. :)
