Pancakes

When I was a kid, my mom would make pancakes from scratch at least once a week. Occasionally she would make waffles, but usually it was pancakes. My mom and little sister even used to have contests to see who could eat more :-) I am not really much of a breakfast person (I always eat breakfast, but it is usually a pretty quick and small meal), but on my weekends off I like to make something that tastes good, is warm, and isn't just toast! This recipe is the same one my mom used - the only thing I do differently is I use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour in place of all-purpose white flour. For my wheat/gluten sensitive friends, let me know if you have a favorite substitute for the wheat flour for a recipe like this. I think Amanda likes the Whole Foods 365 brand all purpose baking mix. I think you can substitute that 1:1 for the flour. Oh, and I double the recipe that you see below when I make these. After we eat our fill I let the leftover pancakes cool, then set them on lined baking sheets in a single layer, and freeze. When they are frozen, I put them in a container in the freezer for a quick breakfast during the week. Just microwave or toast them in the toaster to reheat - they are so much better than the hockey pucks you can buy at the store! And don't even get me started on Bisquick.

Fast Pancakes
adapted from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

1 C Whole wheat pastry flour (Bob's Red Mill, Hodgson Mill, and King Arthur brands are ones I have seen)
1 Tbsp cane sugar or honey
2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free) (Rumford's is good, or you can make your own)
1/4 tsp salt
1 beaten egg
1 Cup milk
2 Tbsp oil (melted butter or olive oil works well)

Before I continue with the recipe, a note about whole wheat flour. Once the wheat berries are ground into flour, they lose their defense from going rancid. For this reason, you should always keep whole wheat flours in a tightly sealed container in your fridge or freezer. That being said, you can't bake with cold flour. It doesn't work. So anytime I bake with flour I measure it out, put it in a glass bowl and push it up the sides, kind of like I am making a bowl of flour. Then I pop the bowl in the oven and set it to preheat to 350. By the time the oven is preheated, the flour is warm, and I have finished getting out all my other ingredients and have them measured and set to go. You could also just set your measured flour out at room temp for a few hours, but I never think that far in advance.

OK, here is the rest:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture. Set aside.

2. In another medium mixing bowl combine the egg, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened. (the batter will be lumpy)

3. For standard size pancakes, pour about 1/4 Cup batter onto a hot, greased griddle or heavy skillet. For dollar size pancakes, use about 1 Tbsp batter. Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes on each side or till golden brown. Turn the pancakes when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges that look slightly dry.

This recipe makes 8-10 standard size pancakes. If you have a scoop like this, it is really helpful to make evenly sized pancakes.

BTW, I *love* blueberry pancakes. To make them, I just pop fresh or frozen blueberries into the pancake batter right after I pour it into the pan - that way I can space them evenly & choose just how many I want to add.

Top your pancakes with pure maple syrup, yogurt & fruit, or honey. YUMMY!!!

Zucchini Bread

Yeah yeah, I know. Everybody has a recipe for zucchini bread, but this one is different! I promise! How is it different? It is made from whole wheat flour (my apologies to Stephanie who is gluten intolerant). I was searching & searching for a recipe with all whole wheat flour (no refined flour) and I couldn't find one that looked good to me, so I made my own recipe up. I had to do a couple of test runs before I got it where I wanted it, but here is the recipe. Following the recipe are a couple tips on keeping whole wheat flour fresh, and how to cook with it, and where to find it.

Jennifer's Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

1 3/4 Cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/4 Cup whole wheat bread flour
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t ground ginger
3 t ground cinnamon
1 t ground nutmeg

3/4 C unrefined sugar of your choice
1/4 C honey (note: you could eliminate the sugar & use a full cup of honey, but it is expensive)
1 C (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
3 eggs
3 t vanilla
3/4 C raisins, soaked in very hot water for 10-15 minutes, then drained
3 C shredded/grated zucchini, packed tightly to measure

Directions:
1. Grease two loaf pans & preheat oven to 350 F
2. Mix all dry ingredients together in one large bowl, set aside
3. Cream butter, sugar & honey in a mixer or with a hand mixer, add eggs, vanilla. Stir in raisins & zucchini, then add dry ingredients and stir till moistened.
4. Transfer to loaf pans & bake for 45 minutes to one hour, top will be golden and toothpick inserted in center should come out clean. Depending on your oven it may take a little over an hour, my oven was one hour exactly.

So, what is whole wheat pastry flour? It is whole wheat flour made from a type of wheat that is called White Wheat. It is low in gluten so it is not good for making yeast breads, but is good for breads that use baking powder or baking soda as a leavener.

All whole wheat, once ground into flour, will spoil. It should be kept at a cool temperature, like inside the fridge or freezer to prevent it from becoming rancid. I smell the flour at the store before I purchase it, and I check the expiration date. If it doesn't smell like flour, don't buy it. Unfortunately, you can't bake with cold flour. It will not rise correctly. I easily get around this by measuring my flour out first put it into a glass bowl and making a well in the center (to increase surface area) and pop the bowl in the oven as it preheats, and then remove it after 5 minutes. It takes the chill off the flour & then it is ready to go. I use this 5 minutes while waiting for the flour to measure out all of my other ingredients (mise en place).

If you try to convert a white flour recipe to whole wheat, keep in mind that whole wheat flour requires more moisture - so you may need to adjust the quantity of flour you use down a bit. Also, whole wheat will not rise up like refined wheat flour. If you want it to rise more in yeast breads you can use wheat gluten. I sometimes add about a tablespoon for pizza dough or 2 tablespoons for a loaf of bread.

Happy baking!