Everyday Whole Grain Pancakes with Strawberry Lemon Syrup
Hearty and healthy whole grain pancakes served with an easy to make strawberry lemon sauce - perfect for brunches or family breakfast.
My love affair with pancakes started back when I first started cooking independently in the kitchen.
I must have been 10 years old or so when I first made pancakes from the Betty Crocker Cookbook (pub. 1970.) I ended up making that recipe so often, it became the most stained, worn-out page in the book.
Fast forward to my single apartment living days where I'd used Low-Fat Bisquick mix to make pancakes for dinner at least once a week.
And to this day, pancakes are pretty much what I'm ordering when I'm out to brunch or at a really good diner.
These days, I'm still making pancakes every week only now for my family -my tricky eater husband does eat these and the 8 year old loves hers with maple syrup.
[bctt tweet="My go-to Whole Grain Pancakes recipe (w. Strawberry Lemon Sauce) via @tspbasil" via="no"]
This recipe is the main reason I always have buttermilk in the house. (Side note: recently I've been making McKenzie @NourishRDs 15 Minute Ricotta Cheese - so good- and I've used the leftover whey in place of buttermilk which makes the pancakes taste bit like ricotta - yum!)
And in all honesty, these should be called Half Whole Grain Pancakes. I love many whole grains and try to eat a variety of them but like with my pasta, I can't quite go 100% whole wheat with pancakes so I do a mix.
Here are the tweaks over the years to result in my everyday go-to-pancake batter:
- Added in whole wheat pastry flour (which makes a lighter pancake compared to regular whole wheat flour)
- Added in ground flaxseed for extra fiber
- Cut back on some of the butter and salt
- Used almond extract instead of vanilla (much MUCH less - it's potent!)
I freeze any extra pancakes and pop them in the toaster for quick weekday breakfasts. But for lazy weekends, brunches or overnight guests, take the extra 20 minutes to make this strawberry lemon syrup - especially now since strawberries season is here.
The original syrup recipe (I got from a family cookbook) called for 1 cup of sugar (gah!!) I only used 2 tablespoons in this version and it was still plenty sweet.
Print
Everyday Whole Grain Pancakes with Strawberry Lemon Syrup
- Yield: 8-10 pancakes. 1x
Description
Hearty and healthy whole grain pancakes served with an easy to make strawberry lemon sauce - perfect for brunches or family breakfast.
Ingredients
For pancake batter:
- 1 ¼ cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup ground flaxseed
- 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the strawberry lemon syrup:
- 3 cups sliced strawberries
- ¼ - ⅓ cup water
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Juice and zest from one large lemon
Instructions
- For the batter, in a large bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk, eggs, butter and vanilla.
- Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just incorporated.
- Coat griddle or frying pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.
- Pour about ½ cup of batter for each pancake. Let cook for a few minutes until bubbles form. Once a few bubbles pop, flip pancakes and cook for another few minutes before removing from griddle. Repeat with remaining batter.
- For strawberry lemon syrup, add 2 cups strawberries, ½ cup water and sugar to medium pot and just bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until syrup thickens, stirring frequently. (Note: if you want a thinner syrup, add another few tablespoons of water.)
- Remove from stove and mix in remaining strawberries, lemon juice and zest.
Recipe note: This is a thick pancake batter - if you want thinner pancakes, whisk in a little more buttermilk, milk or water.
And here are some more pancake recipes previously featured on Teaspoon of Spice:
Triple Chocolate Whole Wheat Pancakes
Roasted Bananas Foster Pancakes
So, are you a pancake lover like me or you can take them or leave them? What do you top them with? Yes or no to pancakes for dinner?
Im not a huge fan of maple syrup on pancakes but i bet I would love this strawberry lemon syrup! looks fantastic!
If I'm doing maple syrup - it has to bee the real thing and not too much. I usually spread peanut butter and sliced banana on mine 🙂 This new strawberry lemon syrup is my new favorite thing. I'm mixing it into yogurt too 🙂
Yum! I am loving the way you made your strawberry sauce! I must try.
Yes, this is definitely more of a syrup than a sauce but so easy to make and I'm mixing it into yogurt and oatmeal too 🙂
I seriously can't remember the last time I ate pancakes. Growing up, my breakafst consisted of rice, kimchi, and whatever leftovers we had from the night before. Yup..bfast is serious business in Korea ;). I do love me some good ole buttermilk pancakes from IHOP (although I haven't been there in ages either..have so many wonderful memories w/my family there). Can you tell you just sent me down memory lane with these? In any case, I love all your tweaks! I, too, wouldn't be able to go 100% whole wheat with pancakes either since I prefer mine light and fluffy.
Love hearing everyone's breakfast "habits" from childhood. Leftovers for breakfast make WAY more sense and I do it do sometimes (like leftover pizza 🙂 Kimchi in the morning would definitely wake me up - ha!
That syrup!! I'd totally drink that up with a straw!
OK - you just give me the idea to blend it with yogurt and some frozen strawberries for the ultimate smoothie!!
The strawberry lemon syrup sounds so fancy and delicious! I definitely don't make pancakes enough- thanks for the inspiration to start making them more!
Pancakes are one of my absolute favorite things to make on the weekend - there's just nothing better! That strawberry lemon syrup sounds delightful and I want to put it on everything!! Now you have me craving pancakes 😉
I'm currently drooling all over my desk! Can't wait till the weekend to try these
That syrup is so perfect!
Confession: I'm eating it throughout the day 🙂
These pancakes with the with Strawberry Lemon Syrup look so perfect. And since breakfast for dinner is pretty much my favorite thing, I'll probably be making these tonight! And I love the idea of using leftover whey in this recipe, too! 🙂
I am so in love with your ricotta recipe and now I'm realizing you don't even use cheesecloth! I'm going to use just the sieve on my next batch 🙂
I'm with you when it comes to pancakes. I love 'em, and I too add whole wheat pastry flour and ground flaxseed. Now, of course, I'm also adding other super seeds like chia and hemp. So fun! Loving the strawberry sauce too 🙂
I keep saying I got to work with chia and hemp more and pancake batter is a great place to start. I pretty much make these and your Brownie Banana Waffles weekly 🙂
Thick pancakes > thin pancakes! I would totally use ricotta over buttermilk, I've tried cottage cheese in pancakes before and while the taste took time to get used to, the texture was amazing!
Next time I make pancakes, this is the recipe I'm using. YUM!
These sounds great! I love the added flax seed - good idea! Trader Joe's sells frozen wild blueberries. They are tiny and a great addition to pancakes.
I seriously don't know the last time I made pancakes. I know, I know, such a failure. I think I always imagine them to be difficult and honestly, if I'm making breakfast I'm doing the savory thing- omlet, egg sandwich, potato anything. However- these look so good and that syrup is drawing me in big time! Now I have TWO recipes that I need to try- these pancakes AND homemade ricotta!
You can never have too many pancake recipes! Also dying to try out using whole wheat pastry flour instead - I hear Sunday is going to be rainy in Boston so could be the perfect time to try it out 😉
Yes - rainy days are the perfect days to make pancakes. You must try whole wheat pastry flour - it is one of my main pantry staples as it's not as "heavy" as regular whole wheat flour - I love it!