Heart Healthy Pancakes

In honor of National Pancake Day I made whole wheat blueberry pancakes. They are heart healthy and perfect for your favorite Valentine.

When I was looking for a recipe I realized that I would need to use whole wheat flour.  Since grampy has been on a strict no white flour/starch diet the whole wheat flour would be better.

I found a recipe for Homemade Whole Wheat Pancakes on phillyburbs.com.   It was a basic recipe but I made a couple of changes to fit in with my pantry ingredients.

Below in italics you will see where I made changes (experimented).  I figured the 'sour'  milk took the place of buttermilk.  Buttermilk is acidic and in baking the acidity tenderizes. Since I didn't have buttermilk I decided to use Greek yogurt as the tenderizer.  It worked, the pancakes were tender and light.  I also try not to use white sugar so I added agave nectar in place of the sugar.

Blueberry Whole Wheat Pancakes
(adapted from Homemade Whole Wheat Pancakes on phillyburbs.com)
Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (low fat)
• 2 1/2 TBLS white vinegar (I used 2 TBLS. plain Greek yogurt**)
• 3 TBLS. sugar (I used 3 TBLS. agave nectar**)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda

• pinch of salt
• 1-2 cups of blueberries
• chopped walnuts (optional)
• plain Greek yogurt for topping(optional)

Directions

1. In a medium mixing bowl combine the milk with the white vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour". Then add the egg and vanilla and whisk to combine. **I used Greek yogurt and added it to the milk, vanilla and egg and whisked to combine. I then added the 3 TBLS. of agave nectar and mixed it well.
2. In a separate large bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
3. Whisk the wet ingredients into the flour mixture until smooth. The batter should be the consistency of regular pancake batter, but not soupy as the original recipe states. If the batter is too thick add additional milk. Whole wheat flour needs more moisture.
4. Heat a griddle pan or large skillet and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Pour a 1/4 cup of batter on pan, when bubbles begin to form add blueberries. When batter is fully bubbled and ready to turn, flip over and cook until lightly browned.
6. Serve with fresh berries, chopped nuts, syrup or honey, and/or powdered sugar and a dollop of yogurt.

This heart healthy blueberry pancake recipe will make a very special Valentine breakfast.

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