There’s nothing like mom’s buttermilk pancakes. These pancakes can be whipped up in an instant and they are delicious!

It’s a rainy Saturday morning and my kids had friends sleep over.  There’s nothing I like more on a morning like that than a fresh batch of pancakes.  I changed this recipe very little over the years. But I knew I needed to get it down on paper so my children could replicate it!

My hubby’s grandma makes the best pancakes. She shared this recipe with me years ago and I made a couple slight changes to it in order to make it mine.

 It’s a recipe you can remember in your head because there’s one of everything, so it’s super simple. Once you’ve made it a few times and you know what’s in it, you’ll be able to make it quickly without having to pull out a recipe. It is as easy as pancakes from a box and WAY healthier.  

How to make mom’s buttermilk pancakes with whole wheat:

Mixing:

These are so simple to make! Begin by mixing the dry ingredients in one bowl – flour, baking powder, baking soda salt. Mix the wet ingredients separately – egg, buttermilk, oil.

Once the dry ingredients are whisked and the wet ingredients are all good and combined, mix them together and whisk until they are just combined. You don’t want to overdo this because it will work the gluten and make the pancakes tough. But you also don’t want to mix it so little that there are still lumps in the batter!

Baking:

I usually make these on my electric griddle or my cast iron griddle that goes on the stovetop. Either way, I start by rubbing a cold stick of butter onto the hot griddle.

Ladle the batter on the griddle and wait until you see bubbles popping on the top. When you peek underneath, you will see that they are beginning to get golden brown. Once you see that, flip them and allow them to cook another couple minutes until the underside is also golden brown.

Serving:

You can serve these with delicious maple syrup – see how to make your own here! Or you can make your own pancake syrup with just a few ingredients here! OR make warm caramel buttermilk syrup or cream cheese whipping cream for them here! There are so many yummy ways to serve these!

How to food prep mom’s buttermilk pancakes

I never make a single batch of these. I usually double or triple them and make all the pancakes at once. After breakfast is over, I will line a cookie sheet with a Silpat and lay the pancakes out in a flat, single layer. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a couple hours. Once the pancakes are frozen, pop them into a gallon sized zip top freezer bag and put them in the freezer.

I find that by freezing them individually, I’m able to remove just a couple at a time and throw them into the toaster oven. If I try to freeze them right away in a bag, they tend to stick together and then I need to defrost the whole thing in order to get just a couple.

This makes such an easy way for you to have pancakes for breakfast without doing any work!

Why use whole wheat flour?

Wheat flour contains more vitamins and fiber because the exterior bran has not been sifted off. You can use white wheat flour, or regular whole wheat flour in this recipe. White wheat flour can also be referred to as whole wheat pastry flour.

You could also grind wheat berries into flour. I do this often in my dry container for my Vitamix. Grinding the wheat exposes it to oxygen. That oxidizes the vitamins in the flour and begins to break them down. If you can grind it fresh, that is absolutely the healthiest option.

With all that said, though, these are good no matter what kind of flour you use!

What if I don’t have buttermilk?

You can absolutely make these even if you don’t have buttermilk on hand! The reason you can’t use regular milk in this is because the acidity in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda and causes a chemical reaction that begins the rising process.

But you’re in luck! If you have regular milk, you can just add about a tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to the milk and that adds the acid that is needed to react with the baking soda.

 Cultured buttermilk from the store, makes these SO much better, though! It does something to the wheat flour and makes them super light and fluffy. When using cultured buttermilk, the whole wheat pancakes don’t taste like wheat at all!

So that’s it! Mom’s buttermilk pancakes with whole wheat. I hope you try them and love them!

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