Whole Wheat Buttermilk Lettercakes

Buttermilk pancakes are the top requested breakfast in our house. These half-whole grain beauties are light and fluffy and the girls can't wait to eat their initials. Its the little things...Usually, I make a big batch and freeze the leftovers in ziptop bags for a fast and easy weekday morning meal. No buttermilk? Never fear! Give your pancakes some zip by adding 2 tablespoons of lemon juice (or even cider vinegar) to 2 cups of milk in order to bring up the acidity.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Lettercakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 egg white
Cooking spray
Maple syrup
Butter?

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and stir with a whisk. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, honey, oil, egg, and egg white. Add to flour mixture and loosely combine until moist with some lumps. An over-mixed smooth batter will make dense, hard pancakes. Keep them light and fluffy by not over-stirring.


Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet coated lightly with cooking spray over medium heat. Quickly ladle in about 1/4 cup of batter onto griddle in the shape of a letter. Turn pancakes over when tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked.


Serve with syrup and maybe even some butter. Take the picture quick before the crew revolts!

blueberry honeycakes

At some point you realize as a parent that the challenge isn't just feeding your children, but feeding them food that not only tastes good but is also good for them. Blueberries are high in antioxidants - a super food if you will!

This uphill battle seems all but impossible at times. Here is a variation of the classic blueberry pancake that ups the flavor and nutritional value in one fell swoop. No maple syrup needed....although a splash never hurt!


ingredients:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp Tupelo honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 omega 3 egg
2 cups whole milk
3 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp spray canola or grape seed oil
1 cup fresh Maine blueberries


Whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together egg, butter, milk, honey and lime juice.

Create well inside dry ingredients and pour wet mixture into center of the bowl. Whisk slowly for 10 to 20 seconds. Don't overmix - make sure you leave a few lumps to ensure a light and fluffy pancake.


Heat large non-stick skillet over medium heat and spray with a 2 second blast of oil. After letting the skillet heat up for a few minutes, add one to three 1/4 cup scoops of honeycake batter depending on the size of your pan - each honeycake will end up about 6 inches in diameter.

Sprinkle each honeycake with blueberries. Don't be shy!


Cook until edges start to stiffen up and bubbles start to form (about 2 minutes.) Flip honeycakes and cook the other side until golden brown (maybe 1 to 2 minutes.)


Use your spatula to check! Once you get the timing down, it will all fall into place.
Place cooked honeycakes in warm 200 degree oven until ready to serve. Repeat with the remaining batter. Cooking times will shorten because the heat of the pan will increase. Rest pan if honeycakes start to sear or burn too quickly.


Once that stack is ready, feed immediately to ravenous children.