multigrain pancakes, smitten-paltrow mash-up style

I used to not be a pancakes person. Sweet, bready stuff for breakfast? Ugh, no thanks. Make mine salty bacon and starchy hash browns, plus hot sauce. Full stop.

But then, what happened? Who knows. Maybe Toby suggested pancakes. Maybe we stopped going out for brunch (see: Offspring). But, somehow, Saturdays became Pancake Day. And this designation became cemented when a little guy grew up a little and dropped his morning nap. He joined us at the table for Saturday breaky and Pancakes became an Event. Like, I tuck him in on Friday night and we say "see you for Pancake Day in the morning!"

We used to make whole grain pancakes from a store-bought mix, with blueberries dropped in. Good enough. Then I tried using my bread starter for some overnight-rested sourdough pancakes (based on a Joy of Cooking recipe). Pretty OK. But my eye kept roving.

Over the last couple of Saturdays I've tried Smitten Kitchen's hearty lemon/vanilla-infused pancakes, which were thick and more like griddle cakes. Deb's pancakes were delicious and oh-so fragrant, if... ooof, so filling. Then I made, like many of you(!), GOOP's Dad's "world-famous" pancakes, which are buttermilk tangy and benefit from an overnight rest (makes the batter tender). Delicious, but all AP flour? And, I think the baking powder does more if it's added the day you cook them. Oh, and half the recipe was more than enough.

Enter my mash-up of the two, which we gobbled up last Saturday. (And will this coming Saturday.) Not bad at all: tangy, lemon/vanilla-y, multi-grainy, blueberry-y, thin and delicate.

I thought they were pretty solid. Maybe you'll like them too?



+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Multigrain Blueberry Pancakes, Smitten-Paltrow Mash-up Style

yield: ~18 5-inch pancakes
based on Smitten Kitchen's Blueberry Yogurt Multigrain Pancakes & "Bruce Paltrow's World-Famous Pancakes" from My Father's Daughter by Gwyneth Paltrow

.5 c all-purpose flour
.5 c whole grain pastry flour
.5 c dark rye flour
1/8 c + 1 T raw sugar
1 t fine salt
1.75 t baking powder
1.5 c yogurt (I used regular, not Greek. If you have Greek yogurt, use more milk to thin the morning you cook the pancakes.)
3 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled*, plus more for cooking
3 large organic eggs
1 t vanilla extract
zest of 1 organic lemon
~1/2 c milk, for thinning batter
~1 c organic blueberries (or other berries?) (quantity is flexible, obviously, depending on how berry-chocked you want your pancakes)

The night before you want to cook pancakes: Whisk dry ingredients (except for baking powder) together in a large bowl. Whisk yogurt, butter, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest in another bowl. Add wet ingredients to the dry, whisking until just small lumps remain. Cover and refrigerate until morning.

Cooking day: Sprinkle baking powder over the top of the batter and gradually whisk in milk until the batter is as thin/thick as you like.

Heat up a griddle and grease it with butter. Cook the pancakes, dropping blueberries on the batter circles before flipping them--I like to use a 1/4 c scoop to dish out regular doses of batter. Eat with pats of organic butter and warm maple syrup.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

*I loved Deb's tip of melting half the butter, then stirring in the other half. Cools the melted better right down, so you can add it in right away.