Pa-Pa-Pancakes

These have become a Sunday afternoon ritual.  Making them, not eating them that is.  I mean, they are eaten eventually- like, every morning before work.  You see, these pancakes are started on Saturday afternoon by soaking the flour with yoghurt in order to allow the bacteria in the yoghurt to begin breaking down the wheat grain in the flour allowing it to be more digestible when you eat it.  That mixture sits at room temperature for 12-24 hours and then the rest of the ingredients are added and the cakes are make.

I'm not sure when I started making these exactly, but ever since I started, John and I have found them to be the easiest, tastiest, healthiest, quickest, and most filling breakfast we can eat.

We pull ourselves out of our warm bed before the sun has a chance to wake us, fumble for a few light switches and throw a few of these bad boys into the toaster oven.  I pair mine with a cup of my homemade yoghurt, a scoop of creamy cashew coconut butter, and a drizzle of honey.  John prefers to layer his with greek yoghurt, soft butter, and maple syrup.  The wonderful thing about these pancakes is that they are filled with so many healthy and natural ingredients, that you can't feel guilty after a few of them.  Plus, they are a tasty and filling breakfast for when I have a long morning at the farm, I'm usually not hungry again until lunch.

This past Sunday was a particularly beautiful March day and I was able to open the kitchen windows and leave the back door open to allow the unusually warm March breezes drift through the house

Ingredients:

2 cups Stone Ground 100% Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups of plain yoghurt

Mix these together in a large bowl and allow to sit for 12-24 hours at room temperature.  I cover my bowl with a cloth.

After the 12-24 hours, the mixture should be almost sponge-like and sticky.  This is good.

Next I added:

1/8 cup fresh ground flax seed

1/8 cup wheat germ

4 eggs

pinch of salt

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup buttermilk (or regular milk, or water)

1/8 cup chia seeds

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 large apple, peeled and diced small

1/2 cup walnuts roughly chopped

(notice I do not add any sweetener because I like to put honey on the top after they are done. If you like, you may add a few tablespoons of sugar to your batter)

Take your time mixing this all together, it may seem like the flour/yoghurt mixture won't want to mix with the rest of the ingredients, but it will eventually, just keep going.  The batter will be THICK. That means it's perfect!

Once it all seems to be incorporated, heat up a large pan or griddle to medium heat.  If your pan is not non-stick, use a small scoop of coconut oil to grease the pan. Then, using the 1/8 cup, scoop the batter onto the hot griddle, possibly flattening out the batter a little to spread it out.  Cook the pancakes for approximately 1 minute on the first side and 2 minutes on the remaining side.  Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool.  I store mine in a large ziplock bag in the fridge for the entire week.  You can also easily freeze them in a freezer bag if you don't eat them all.

Makes about 30 pancakes.