Whole Wheat Pancakes

This is a wonderful recipe I made for my family over Thanksgiving. We all really liked it! I had some organic pancake syrup that we also had. None of us are huge berry people, so we preferred the syrup instead of the berry compote. I made the berry compote because we are trying to get more used to eating fruit and berries more. The compote tasted good though. My family ranked these pancakes an "A", and I thought they tasted great!

Whole- Wheat Pancakes with Berry Compote

(Pinch of Love)

1 ¼ cup organic whole wheat flour
¼ cup wheat germ (can substitute whole wheat flour if no wheat germ)
2 tablespoons organic cane sugar crystals (or sugar)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt (or coarse salt)
1 ½ cups low-fat buttermilk (or 1 ½ cup skim milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar set for a few minutes)
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
Vegetable oil cooking spray

For Compote:
1 pint blueberries (about 2 cups)
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 tsp sea salt (or coarse salt)
½ cup organic cane sugar crystals (or sugar)
½ pint blackberries (about 1 cup)

Make the pancakes; Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Whisk together flour, wheat germ, cane sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in buttermilk, oil, and eggs. Let stand 10 minutes (if batter thickens, stir in 1 tablespoon water.)

Make the compote: Heat blueberries, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat until berries begin to burst, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in cane sugar. Simmer, stirring often, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and stir in blackberries.

Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray, and heat over medium heat. Spoon in one tablespoon batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear. Flip, and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Keep warm in oven while you cook remaining batter. Serve with compote.

***At first, I thought 1 tablespoon of batter wasn’t enough, but it ended up making a really nice size pancake.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups stone-ground organic whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
1/3 cup honey
¼ cup shortening
1 tablespoon salt (I use sea salt)
2 packages regular or quick-acting active dry yeast
2 ¼ cups very warm water (120-130 degrees)
3 to 4 cups organic unbleached white flour or all purpose flour
Melted Butter

Mix whole wheat flour, honey, shortening, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add warm water. Beat on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 min, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place 40-60 minutes or until double. (Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.) Grease 2 loaf pans. Punch down dough and divide in half. Flatten dough for each loaf with hands or rolling pin into a rectangle. (18 x 9 inches) Fold crosswise into thirds, overlapping the two sides. Flatten or roll into square (9 x 9 inches) Roll dough tightly, beginning at one of the open (unfolded) ends, to form loaf. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge firmly to seal. Press each end with side of hand to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with butter. Cover and let rise 35-50 minutes or until double.

Place oven rack in low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 40-45 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped; remove from pans. Cool on wire rack.

Yields 2 loaves (16 slices each); 115 calories per slice

Low Salt Honey Whole Wheat Bread:
Decrease honey to ¼ cup and salt to 1 teaspoon. Substitute vegetable oil for shortening. Each rising time will to 10-15 minutes shorter.

Yields 2 loaves (16 slices each) 115 calories per slice.

***I make the low salt honey whole wheat bread and use the organic ingredients. This is such a yummy recipe--a friend shared it with me. Thanks Alice!
****This is the complete directions. After making this bread a time or two it goes really fast. I actually just wrote out a short-hand version of the directions and that is what I use now.

RECIPES COMING SOON!!