Blueberry Multigrain Pancakes

You know, nothing says "I love you" like a big fat glob of butter. 

Actually, the butter is on there only for the picture (I was all excited to cut a heart-shaped piece...I'm so goofy); the pancakes are for Alex, and he doesn't like butter.

He does, however, like - no, love - blueberry pancakes.  So I usually keep a bag of blueberries in the freezer, and a jug of maple syrup in the fridge, so that we're ready to go when the craving strikes.

Julia, on the other hand, isn't really a fan of blueberry pancakes OR maple syrup.  So when I make pancakes, I make a huge batch, and do half plain and half with blueberries, and that way everyone is happy.

The recipe I'm sharing with you today is a blend of a few different recipes I've tried over the years.  I've taken my favorite elements of each, and this is what I've come up with.

Now, part of the influence for these pancakes comes from the folks at Cook's Illustrated.  Years ago our friend, John, gave me a copy of the CI book The Best Recipe, and I really like their light and fluffy pancake recipe.  I've used that one a lot. 

Another influence is this super healthy multigrain pancake recipe I found in a magazine (probably "Shape") years ago.  I saved the magazine, permanently folded open to that page, and I'm sure I still have it somewhere, but I couldn't find it yesterday.  Oh well.  That one uses white and whole wheat flours, cornemeal, and oatmeal in the recipe, along with some yogurt. 

My recipe isn't the healthiest pancake recipe ever; but it's not the UNhealthiest, either.  It's somewhere in the middle, and produces pancakes that are soft inside and the teeniest bit crispy on the outside. 

Here we go.

You'll need the following ingredients to make up a whopping big batch of pancakes.  I keep the leftovers in the freezer and use them for quick breakfasts during the week.

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

 
3 eggs, separated

 
16 oz plain, Greek-style yogurt (lowfat or nonfat - the choice is yours)

 
16 oz milk (I used 2%, use whatever you've got), or more if necessary to thin the batter

 
1 1/2 cups AP flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

 
2 tablespoons sugar (you could use honey, or maple syrup, etc.)

 
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1-3 cups blueberries*

*(I probably used about a cup and a half of the blueberries - I didn't measure them, though.  And I only made half of the pancakes with blueberries.  So if you want to make ALL blueberry, then increase the amount.  Also, I add them by hand to the pancakes on the griddle.  And, I like to use the frozen wild blueberries.  That's just me.)

Okay, now in one bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients.

Good work!

Now, combine the melted butter and your egg yolks.

Okay, now add your milk/yogurt combo to the dry ingredients...

And then pour in the butter/yolk blend.

Don't forget to scrape the bowls to get every drop!  Doesn't it drive you nuts when chefs/cooks on tv just pour stuff in but don't scrape the bowl?  Very wasteful. 

Okay, now mix that together until the flour is moistened, but don't go crazy trying to get it smooth.  You're not done yet, anyway.

 
Now, put your egg whites in a large, wide, lightweight bowl and get your favorite whisk.  Ready?  We're going to whip the whites to soft peaks.  No, no, no, don't bother with a mixer - this isn't hard and it doesn't take long, and it helps you develop strong forearms, at least on one arm.

Ready?  Go.

That took two minutes.  Honest.  I checked the time stamps on the image files.  Two minutes. 

Okay, now fold these into the rest of the batter.  Why bother with whipping the whites?  Well, the air bubbles you've just created will help provide lightness and structure in your pancakes.  And you fold them in rather than whisking or stirring because you want to try to keep as many air bubbles from popping as possible.

And also, whisking the whites burned up a few calories, so you get to eat an extra pancake!

Okay, let that sit for a moment while you start heating up your griddle.  You want the griddle nice and hot. 

And speaking of hot, it's also time to pour the coffee, if you haven't already done so this morning.

I love weekend mornings.

Anyway, when your griddle is nice and hot, brush it lightly with some oil and ladle out the batter to make your first round of pancakes.  I make small ones - they're easier to flip over.

As I mentioned earlier, Julia doesn't like blueberry pancakes, so I do a couple of batches of plain pancakes first.

While these are cooking, I turn the warming drawer temp to high and place a couple of platters inside to get warm.  If your oven doesn't have a warming drawer, just set your oven on the lowest possible setting and use that instead.  Just remember to use oven mitts when it's time to take the platters out!

Okay, I've got several batches of plain pancakes made, now it's time to make the blueberry ones.  I ladle out my batter, and then, by hand, I sprinkle a generous amount of blueberries on each pancake.

And, if you're feeling creative, you can get out some large METAL (NOT PLASTIC!!) cookie cutters and make some shapes.  Just brush the insides of the cookie cutter with softened butter or vegetable oil, set it on the griddle, and ladle your batter in.  Don't put too much batter in - remember, because the cutter has sides, the batter will have to rise, rather than spread.

A few weeks ago I made stegosaurus pancakes.  This time I made some blueberry hearts...

And a big butterfly for Julia.

The pancakes I make are generally 3-4" in diameter, give or take an inch.  And I think this recipe produced about....70 -80 small pancakes.  So you can certainly reduce the quantities.  FYI, the recipe is most easily divisible by 3. 

Heart-shaped butter cutouts are optional.

Enjoy!

Comments

[Kat]

I want the butterfly pancake!

[judith]

I love cooking breakfast. I cooked pancakes for 10 a few weekends ago. It was fun to pretend to be a short order cook.

[judith]

Speaking of scraping bowls... do you recall a TV Chef back about 20 years ago (probably not, you were just a mere child) that was from the deep South, Savannah maybe. No not Paula, pre Paula days when she was making sandwiches. This lady would always say "get all the goodness" every time she would begin scraping a bowl or pan. Jolea was just a tiny little thing when we would watch her and Yan Can Cook. And to this day Jolea still says "get all the goodness" when she goes to scrap a bowl.

[Jayne]

Was it Nathalie Dupree? I think that was her name. My mother and I used to watch her sometimes.

[Apartmentkitchen.wordpress.com]

*sniff* those look like my mom's pancakes! :)

[Mansi]

what a beautiful post! healthy and tasty, all bundled up in one lovely pancake!:)

this would be perfect for the valentine giveaway on my blog. It would be great if you could participate in my event!
http://www.funandfoodcafe.com/2010/02/valentine-super-bowl-recipe-carnival.html

[judith]

YES Jayne! That's her!!!! Natalie Dupree! Do you remember her saying that? Especially when she whipped up egg whites in that big copper bowl.

[Jayne]

I hate to admit it, but I dont remember her saying that...the main memory I have is that any time a recipe called for an onion, she would take the time to show her viewers exactly HOW to chop an onion. And for some reason, this got to be a sort of running joke between my mother and me - oh no! shes going to show us how to chop an onion! or gee, I wonder if shell have to chop an onion. All that says more about our immature sense of humor than anything Nathalie ever did. In fact, it was NICE that she demod the propper chopping method every time, because you never know when its someones first time ever watching a cooking show.

[Lyvvie]

When do you flip the shaped ones?? I'm going to HAVE to make those, you know.

[Jayne]

When the pancake (in the shaped ones) is bubbling a lot on the uncooked surface, thats when you flip. I flip the whole thing - cookie cutter and all - and then gently press the pancake down, through the cutter, and carefully (and with tongs or something) remove the cookie cutter and let the pancake finish. It may take a couple of tries to get them to look nice, but the less pretty ones are just as edible!