Home-Cooked: Whole Wheat Pancakes

This is starting to become a little more of a food blog than anything else. :P But what can I say - nowadays the main highlights of my week happen to be the weekends when I get to bake/cook and leisurely/lovingly take some photos. This next two weeks is meant to be revision weeks for me but that also means (I hope!) a slightly more flexible schedule. First thing I did was plan out a bunch of meals that I want to make for myself from breakfasts/lunches/dinners to desserts. And since Friday was a public holiday, it was the perfect day to get started. :)) What better way to start off the day than with home-made pancakes? And since I've got a little health-conscious streak in me (I do! I really do!!), I decided to try making whole wheat ones at that.


This was my first time making pancakes and boy, it was NOT AS EASY as I'd envisioned! The main problem I had was flipping the pancakes. I'd totally forgotten about this step. But when faced with the bubbling pancake batter on the pan all those American diner scenes in movies that I'd watched before came rushing back into my mind and that's when I realized - oh yeah, this is the part when I give a fanciful flick of the wrist and send the pancake soaring into the air to land perfectly back on the pan on the opposite side. And next thing of course was the thought - DANG. I had to flip them with the spatula which was not easy either! They kept folding over in half instead of flipping right over entirely. After this experience, I've come to realize this fact of life:

The key to making pretty pancakes is to make SMALL ones using the biggest spatula you've got. >:)

Agreed? It's pretty common sense right? But took me my first batch of large wobbly pancakes to realize that.

Here was the first batch:


And then the second time round:

 
To tell you the truth, though the smaller pancakes look prettier to me, I still prefer the large ones. More traditional. And there's nothing like needing to use a knife to cut out sections of a huge pancake to slowly chew on and savor.

Whole Wheat Pancakes 
(Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker and Skinny Taste) (yeahhh I tried to make it a little more healthy ;p)
Ingredients:

-2 eggs
-1 cup of whole wheat flour
-1 cup of plain/all-purpose flour
-2 tablespoons sugar
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon salt
-2 cups buttermilk
-4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
-½ teaspoon vanilla extract
-Oil or cooking spray (for cooking)
(I think I need to get myself some cooking spray. It's not ideal trying to wipe bits of butter onto the frying pan each time. But I didn't feel like using cooking oil since I thought it might mess a bit with the taste.)

#1: In a large bowl beat eggs. Add buttermilk, butter and vanilla and mix well. Then add your two types of flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well until mostly smooth.

#2: Heat griddle or pan over medium heat. Add a teaspoon of oil to the pan or spray with cooking spray.

#3: Use a ladle to pour out batter onto the griddle. You can use 2 tablespoons or if you'd like really small ones like the ones I made the second time round, I sort of used only 1 tablespoon of batter each time.

#4: Cook on the first side until bubbles form across the surface and start to pop. Check occasionally to make sure the bottom is not overcooking by gently lifting up the sides. It also helps to loosen the pancake for the flipping part. Flip the pancake over with a spatula and cook until golden brown.

This batter makes quite a lot of pancakes! I'd say if you've only got 2-3 people with Asian appetites ;p it's better to halve the batter. If you have unfinished batter just keep it refrigerated for the next day.

For the blueberry syrup, I decided to make use of the maple syrup that I'd brought back all the way from Montreal those months ago. Finally! I've been meaning to check out maple syrup recipes but never quite got around to doing so. This was the perfect opportunity.

Blueberry-Maple Syrup

Ingredients:
-1 cup of blueberries
-1/2 cup of Maple Syrup
-1 tsp of cornstarch
-1 tsp of lemon juice

 #1: In small saucepan, bring blueberries and maple syrup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until berries break up, about 5 minutes.

#2 : Stir in the lemon juice and corn starch to let it thicken slightly.
And you're done! :)


Kinda happy with the way these turned out. :) Seriously, whenever something I cook/bake turns out edible I'm still pleasantly surprised deep down inside. Cheap thrill, I know, but I like feeling happy about the stuff I cook! I'm thinking of trying out waffles next...Or what else is a typical breakfast/brunch dish? 
xoxo