The Mother Load

These may not be low in carbs overall, but they are certainly made up of much better carbs than the pancakes one can make from a mix, and they're free of the preservatives and lard you also find in those mixes. Our dinner tonight consisted of these, low fat vanilla yogurt, and a serving of poached eggs for each of us. I meant to add oranges to the spread, but forgot. No one minded, as these pancakes are pretty satisfying on their own.

I topped my pancake with my yogurt and a drizzling of honey. The kids finished off the last of the store bought syrup, and we won't be buying more. (The cheap person in me overrode the anti-HFCS activist, so we didn't just throw out the rest.) From now on, I'll be making my own syrup for the family.  This is super simple to do.  Just combine a cup of brown sugar and a cup of white sugar and dissolve them in a cup of water in a saucepan on the stove. Add 1/2 teaspoon of maple extract or imitation maple flavoring.  Heat the mixture to a low boil and boil and stir for 3 minutes.  Let it cool a bit before you serve it.  Store it in your cupboards like you would any other syrup.

The recipe for the Multigrain and Flax Seed Pancakes is one I adapted from The Joy of Cooking cookbook's "Four-Grain Flapjacks" recipe.  Mine works better for me, as I've replaced the cornmeal with cracked wheat and the eggs with flax seed.  This reduces the overall fat and cholesterol content of the pancakes and gives them the healthy omegas found in flax seed.  I've also omitted the sugar in the recipe, allowing the honey to do the work of sweetening the pancakes.

As an aside, milled flax seed can be used as an egg substitute in just about any baked dish.  One tablespoon of flax and three tablespoons of water are equivalent to one egg.  With our new commitment to buying better ( and therefore more expensive) eggs, I'll be using the flax substitute in all my baking and reserving eggs for main courses.

On to the recipe!

Combine the following dry ingredients in a large bowl (Spice amounts are approximate. I probably use much more because I'm a big fan of this trio.)
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white flour
1/3 cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup rolled oats
3 tbsp milled flax seed
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger

Combine wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
9 tbsp water

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and cook on a griddle.  Serve on a plate, then snarf responsibly. :)