Whole Grain Pancakes (a 3-in-1 recipe)


I've mentioned before that on Saturday mornings I often make my son French Toast for breakfast (click here for multiple recipes and photos) but today I made a variation...whole grain pancakes. And why I call this a 3-in-1 recipe is because of just that...I made three things out of one recipe. I often make and post recipes for bread on this blog where I use the same dough for a loaf of bread and pizza (click here for many recipes and photos) but today I also took a bit of the pre-ferment and autolyse (soaking flour) and made pancakes. Yum! Firstly, let me just say that pancakes are not my favorite food...not sure why, just don't really care for them. But these were so delicious--if I do say so myself--that I ate half of them as they were coming out of the pan, sans syrup. I also topped them with fresh blueberries, caramelized banana, and pineapple syrup (click here for recipes one how to do this). This is an easy way to make pancakes using any of the whole wheat recipes you find on this blog...the next time I make Ezekiel Bread I'll use some of it for these. Anyhow, the recipe for the bread dough and pancakes are below.


Whole Grain Pancakes
 Serves two
1/2 cup fully fermented whole-grain starter (see recipe below)
1/2 cup autolyse (hydrated flour...see recipe below)
1/4 cup milk (more if needed)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine all of the ingredients together and cook in either butter or oil or a combination of both. Top with your favorite fruit and syrup (click here for syrup recipes).


Whole Grain Bread
Makes 2 loaves
1 cup (6.6oz/187g) 7-grain mix
3 quarts (96floz/2.83L) water
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fully cooked grains
2/3 cup (5.3 oz/157ml) cooking liquid
2 cups (11oz/312g) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons (.2oz/5.6g) instant yeast
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4 cups (21oz/595.3g) whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons (.5oz/14g) vital wheat gluten
1 1/3 cups (10.5fl oz/315ml) cooking liquid
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1/4 cup (2fl oz/59.1ml) honey
1/4 cup (2fl oz/59.1ml) olive oil
3 teaspoons (.3oz/8.5g) instant yeast
3 teaspoons (.5oz/14.1g) kosher salt

Combine the grain and water in a medium pot and bring to a boil; lower the heat to simmer and cook the rice for about 45 minutes or until very soft. As the grain cooks add more water to the pot as necessary because the cooking liquid, which is full of nutrients, will become part of the recipe. After the grains are cooked allow them to cool in the liquid to room temperature, refrigerating if necessary. Then drain it, squeezing it with your hands or the back of a spoon, reserving the cooking liquid.
Place two bowls side-by-side; one will hold the pre-ferment, the other autolyse. In one bowl combine the cooked and drained 7-grains with 2/3 cup (5.3 oz/157ml) of the cooking liquid, 2 cups (11oz/312g) whole wheat flour, and 2 teaspoons (.2oz/5.6g) instant yeast. Stir just until combined then cover it with plastic wrap. In the other bowl combine 4 cups (21oz/595.3g) whole wheat flour, 2 tablespoons (.5oz/14g) vital wheat gluten, and 1 1/3 cups (10.5fl oz/315ml) cooking liquid; stir just until combined then cover it with plastic wrap (take care not to get yeast into this bowl). Allow the bowls to rest at room temperature for about an hour, during which time the preferment will begin it's job multiplying yeast and fermenting flour, and the autolyse will soak liquid, swelling the gluten.
After an hour or so, combine the ingredients from both bowls into the bowl of an upright mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the honey, olive oil, salt, and 3 teaspoons (.3oz/8.5g) of yeast (add the yeast and salt on opposite sides of the bowl). Knead the dough on medium speed for about 8 minutes. Place the dough in a lightly oiled container, cover it loosely, and allow to ferment for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Deflate the dough and allow it to ferment an additional 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it into 2 pieces. Shape into loaves and place into lightly oiled pans. Loosely cover the loaves with plastic wrap and allow to ferment for 30-60 minutes, or until double in size and when gently touched with a fingertip an indentation remains. Preheat an oven to 450f (232.2C). Bake the breads for about 30-40 minutes, adding steam to the oven a few times (either with ice cubes or a spray bottle) and rotating the breads every ten minutes. The breads are done when they are dark brown and sound hollow when tapped upon. Remove the breads from their pans and allow them to cook on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before slicing.


Urban Simplicity.

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