Pancakes - original and "healthier" recipes

So, yesterday was a bit of a breakdown palace kinda day. The day before yesterday I made another batch of delightful scones (successfully edited to 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup regular flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, with some cheese thrown in), but it was late when I made them so I nibbled on a piece of one, thinking I'd have a wonderful breakfast to come down to the next day. Lo and behold, yesterday morning I came down to... an empty kitchen. Ok, so it wasn't "empty" empty, but it was empty of scones. My parents had left me the sum total of... half a scone. Now, I was not a happy kitty, because I was really looking forward to a scone, lightly warmed in the toaster, buttered with salt butter and slathered in Marmite. And from there, my day just went downhill with the whole "no job" thing. 

But then, I decided to take my future into my own hands, and what better way to do that than with some more baking and face-stuffing with deliciousness? So I brought down my handy dandy little recipe book (I don't know why, this is another one of those recipes I could whip up with my eyes closed), and set to the oh-so-arduous task of making myself pancakes. The advantage of pancakes is that you have to cook each one on the spot for maximum freshness and "yum" factor, so my parents don't bother stealing those. Below I'm going to list the original recipe, the one I used yesterday, and a potentially vegan-ified version which I have not tested and therefore am not guaranteeing results for. You're forewarned!

Original fluffy American pancakes

135gr flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

130ml milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Now comes the easy part: mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, salt, baking powder) together. Beat wet ingredients then add to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly with a fork until all nicely combined and homogeneous. You should have a batter that is liquidy, but not too much so. It should be thicker than crêpe batter, and much thinner than cake batter, m'kay? 

For best results, I've found it works to heat a pan on a small burner on the highest flame (you following?). Once pan is hot, put a lick of butter and turn the flame down to medium/low. Put 1/2 soup ladle's worth of batter in your pan, and let it be. When bubbles start to appear on the surface (about 2 mins), flip your pancake and let it cook for another 30 seconds to a minute until golden brown on both sides. 

Enjoy with Marmite, maple syrup or anything else of your liking! Remember though, pancakes themselves aren't the devil, it's the toppings that tend to be unhealthy, so use your brain and moderation!

"Healthier" whole wheat pancakes

70gr whole wheat flour

75gr all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

140ml milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon melted butter, cooled

Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

For instructions, see above. You can vary the amount of whole wheat flour according to your liking, but it has a strong nutty flavor that can be bitter for some, so try it out and see what works best for you. I've found that half and half works for me.


Vegan-ified (non tested) pancakes

70gr whole wheat flour

75gr all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

130ml alternative milk (nut milk, coconut milk, soy milk... whatever works for you and is liquid enough)

1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal + 3 tablespoons water, see here for detailed instructions)

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter substitute, cooled

Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Mixing instructions as above. Again, keep in mind I haven't tried this one, but as soon as I do I'll post an update with modifications if there are any. I'll also add a picture as soon as I've taken one of this afternoon's batch of pancakes!

What's your favorite pancake topping? Share some ideas!!