Thursday, July 21, 2011

Multigrain Pancake Mix

I’m not much of a breakfast eater. My favorite way to ease into the day is with a good cup of coffee and the morning newspaper. Then, if I do get hungry, I usually just eat cereal or yogurt. However, once in a while, I crave a big breakfast—usually on the weekends. And that means pancakes!

Last Sunday, Michael and I went to the Cracker Barrel restaurant, where I ordered the multigrain pancake breakfast. I’ve always liked my pancakes to have a little umph to them in the way of whole wheat, multigrain, or buckwheat. I also like blueberries added. These pancakes were oh so yummy! So much so I was still thinking about how scrumptious they were the next day!

Lately I’ve seen a lot of cooking shows feature ways to make and store homemade pancake mix. I’m not a big fan of the boxed mixes—I always make mine from scratch. (That may explain why pancakes are relegated to my weekend cooking repertoire.) So I decided to create a homemade multigrain pancake mix that would make it easy to prepare my favorite breakfast any day of the week.

I started my research with the internet. Some of the recipes I found called for shortening to be added to the mix, making it much like Bisquick. And some didn’t require shortening at all. A few recipes called for powdered milk so the pancakes could be made with just water. Many of them recommended using buttermilk when mixing up a batch.

I used a whole-grain pancake mix recipe from the King Arthur Flour Company’s website as my jumping-off point. This recipe wanted me to add oil to the mixture instead of shortening, but I decided to skip that step.

In a large glass jar, I added both  all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour.

Next came the old-fashioned oatmeal. The original recipe wanted me to grind up the oatmeal in a food processor before adding to the mix, but I like the texture of the whole oatmeal better. Then I added the baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt.

The original recipe also wanted me to use buttermilk when I mixed up a batch of pancakes. I don’t like to buy buttermilk because I'm always throwing a larger part of it out since I never use up the entire container. Remembering the recipes calling for powdered milk in the mix, my solution was to add powdered buttermilk! That way I could make my pancakes with water every time.

Once everything was in the jar…

I shook it up to mix the ingredients.

Then I pulled out a package of blueberries…

and mixed up a batch. Don’t preheat your skillet until after everything is mixed up, since the batter is better when it’s allowed to sit and thicken up a bit.

I like to make medium- to large-sized pancakes. You know it’s time to turn them when bubbles form on top.

Then all you need is butter and some real maple syrup. (This can was given to me by a Canadian friend.)  

Oh so yummy!

Store the jar of mix in the freezer or refrigerator to keep it fresh.

Now a weekend breakfast can happen whenever the mood strikes!

Multigrain Pancake Mix
Makes approximately 10 cups of dry mix

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoons baking soda
1 12-ounce container buttermilk powder

In an airtight container, add all of the ingredients and mix/shake well. Store in the freezer or refrigerator.
 
To make pancakes: In a bowl, whisk together 1 cup of water, 1 egg, and 2 tablespoons oil. Add in 1 1/2 cups of the mix and stir together. Allow batter to sit while you heat a lightly greased skillet or griddle. Add a little more water to the batter if it seems too thick, and fold in the fruit of your choice if you wish. Spoon the batter onto the heated surface. When the edges look dry and bubbles form on the surface, flip the pancakes to the other side to finish cooking.

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great idea yum!

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  2. This sounds fabulous, but I have a very small refrigerator and just don't have room for long term storage in it. Would I be able to use my food saver and seal the mix and store in the cupboard?

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  3. Mary, I stored it in the freezer because the powdered buttermilk container said it needed to be refrigerated after opening. Check the brand you choose to see what it recommends. You could substitute regular powdered milk for the buttermilk and see how it works. Then it could be stored in the cupboard.

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