With gluten free options, this pancake mix, full of oats and healthy whole grains is ready for a hectic morning.
How Do You Make Pancakes?
“How about pancakes for breakfast?”
“We can’t make pancakes, we don’t have any pancake mix.”
Have you had these same thoughts? When I was a freshman at college, this was a conversation I had with a roommate. I happily informed my roommate that we could indeed make pancakes without pancake mix. The follow up question was, “Well, with what?” Oh dear. We were in trouble.
If you, like my dear roommate think that you can’t make pancakes without a pancake mix; let’s make this amazing recipe quickly, so your breakfast fears can be soothed.
Healthier Choices
Why? Why should you leave behind your easy, beloved, store bought pancake mix? When you understand the why, the how becomes a little easier.
Whenever you are dealing with processed foods, you typically find the cheapest option in ingredients. Those cheaper options are also typically the most processed and worst option for our bodies – soybean oil, bleached white flour, high fructose corn syrup, artificial dyes and flavors.
When you make food at home you get to control your ingredients and it is empowering. There are some healthier mix options available but they come at a price. Homemade is cheaper and really quite easy.
This mix can easily be made gluten free, you can use whole grains, or you can make it with all white flour, if that is your jam.
All the Steps
First, you make your own oat flour. Steel cut oats, rolled oats or quick oats can be used. I like to use the sprouted rolled oats from the company One Degree. I buy five pound bags from Costco. To make one batch of this recipe, you will need to put about 4 cups of oats into a good blender. Blend on high until you reach your desired consistency. This oat flour can be left a little more ragged, if desired.
Second, choose your other grains. When I make this, I add 3 cups einkorn flour, 2 cups gluten free flour and 1 cup almond flour. You can do all whole grain or all gluten free flour as well; the pancakes may be slightly denser that way but still delicious.
Third, choose your sweetener. I typically use coconut sugar. You can use turbinado, rapadura, white sugar or brown sugar. Liquid sweeteners won’t work well in the mix but if you prefer a liquid sweetener, you can skip it in your mix and add it in when you make up the batter for your pancakes.
Fourth, decide if you will add oil to your mix. If you skip the oil in the mix, you will need to add oil or applesauce to your pancakes when you mix up the batter, which is an extra step later on. The benefit of skipping the oil is an increased shelf life. I like to keep mine on the shelf and the oil will start to go rancid after a few weeks unless it is kept in the fridge or freezer. Either way the mix is good, it just adds a step later on or decreases your shelf life.
Whole Grain Oatmeal Pancake Mix
4 cups steel cut, rolled, or quick oats – blended
3 cups whole grain flour (I use Einkorn) or gluten free flour
2 cups all-purpose flour, gluten free flour or more whole grain flour
1 cup almond flour (optional – if using all gluten free flour, this helps with the moisture in the final product)(If you omit the almond flour, add another cup of all – purpose flour)
1/2 cup coconut sugar, brown sugar or other dry sweetener of choice
4 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 cup melted and cooled coconut oil (optional)
Blend oats in high powdered blender to desired consistency. Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl. Stir well. If adding the oil, drizzle ½ cup over the dry ingredients and stir well. Add the other ½ oil and stir well. Keep the mix in an airtight container.
When you are ready to make pancakes:
1 cup mix
1 egg
¾ -1 cup milk (we use coconut or almond milk)
2 tablespoons oil (if you did not add it to your mix) or 2 tablespoons of applesauce
Stir until just combined. Scoop out batter blobs onto a hot, greased skillet. Let cook until bubbles form on the top of the batter. Flip over and cook on the other side.
Tweak It Notes
- EINKORN – What’s the deal with einkorn? In the picture above, the einkorn is the second from the right. It is a smaller, flatter berrie. I have been using einkorn for about 14 years but it has gained popularity a lot in the last few years throughout the world. It is an ancient grain that has not been hybridized like modern wheat. When a plant is hybridized it is bred to contain only certain variants. For example: higher yield. Modern wheat yields 4-5 times the amount einkorn stalks do. Another example: modern wheat is bred to have a thinner husk. Einkorn is not. Both of these differences partially explain why einkorn costs so much more than modern wheat. Einkorn has stayed the same for thousands of years. It has a lower gluten content than regular wheat which is why some people have an easier time digesting it. If you have a gluten issue, einkorn may be right for you but test it carefully. It still affects some people the exact same way as modern wheat.
- GLUTEN FREE – If you need to be 100 % gluten free, be sure to purchase gluten free oats.
- SPROUTED OATS – Why bother with buying or making sprouted grains? Sprouting a grain can aid in digestion. The process helps break down the starches in the grain as well as neutralize enzyme inhibitors so our bodies can absorb the nutrients in the grain. I like to think that sprouting turns the grain into a vegetable. That’s a very simple way of explaining it and not very scientific at all but it helps my brain understand. Personally, sprouted grains don’t bother my kids as much, so that’s my reason for using them. Find your reason. Is it worth it or necessary for your family?
- COCONUT SUGAR – I buy my coconut sugar at Walmart. It is the cheapest Organic option I have found. I like the Madhava brand. It is about $10 for a 3 pound bag where I live.
