Breakfast at the diner has got to be one of my favorite ways of eating out. I pretty much love everything about it. So it’s a one of bring it on home with a healthy twist. So on the menu, Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes; everything you want from a Diner Pancake, a hearty, and hot off the griddle.
So I’m starting off here with three quarters of a cup of buckwheat flour, and buckwheat has a wonderful, nutty taste; it’s loaded with anti-oxidants and it’s actually not even a grain, it’s made from a fruit seed, so it doesn’t have any gluten. We can pretty much get it at any store. To that I’m going to add three quarters of a cup of whole wheat pastry flour; you can find this in most markets nowadays, too; going to add that in too because it does have a gluten and gluten helps things rise, also whole wheat pastry flour has a nice tender texture, so I love it, whenever I’m really wanting that tenderness.
Okay, so to that I’m going to add one and a half teaspoons of baking powder and this makes the pancake rise, gives it a nice light fluffiness; half a teaspoon of baking soda and baking soda will combine with the buttermilk that I’m going to be using later, and also help it rise; get that incorporated. And now a very important step when making pancakes, start with a very well pre-heated pan, we’ll just put on a nice hot grill and I’ll get on with the wet ingredients.
Starting with skim milk, we need two quarters of a cup, and then buttermilk, one of my all-time favorite ingredients for baking, one cup low fat buttermilk, and it adds so much texture and tang and we want to combine to that baking soda, makes for a nice, light fluffiness. Now, two eggs lightly beaten, okay I’ll just add that into my wet ingredients, two tablespoons of canola oil, nice healthy oil; this makes the pancake really silky in texture, has a neutral flavor, so it won’t take over. Now, little sweetness, one tablespoon of honey, and I use dark honey whenever I can cause it actually has more anti-oxidants than want honey, so why not get them? So whisk that all together; and that’s looking good. It is time for wet to meet dry. And this is another really important technique when it comes to making really good pancakes; don’t over mix, just stir enough to combine and moisten all the dry ingredients. If you over mix, you end up with a tough, flat pancake; of course you can’t have blueberry pancakes without blueberries. So I’m going to put a cupful of blueberries which is about half of what I have here, saving the rest for garnish; and when they cook in this pancake batter they just burst in your mouth. You have so much sweet flavor, I’m ready to get these on the griddle.
I’ll just ladle it around, they cook really fast, they just need about a minute and a half on each side, okay; three for me, pretty hungry right now. And this is a wonderful batter; we could also store the rest in the refrigerator, soon as I make this the night before. When the bubble is formed, give it a flip. Okay, these are ready to come off, really so fast and easy. Definitely don’t wait for weekend to make this. That looks just great, that smells fantastic I’m just going to have that with some real maple syrup, like the honey, it’s a great source of natural sweetness, just make sure you get the real thing, not the artificial stuff. And now, topping that with some fresh blueberries, think it is time to eat some.