Homemade Pancake Mix

I really don't know how I got so lucky.  My husband spoils me so.  He knows when I've had a rough day and/or week, and before I even have a chance to argue and say that I have too much to do to take a break, he has already ran me a bath, either set the book I'm reading out or set up a movie, is pouring me a glass of wine, and is making me a plate of cheese and crackers.  Thirty minutes later he is bringing me chocolate and checking to see if I need anything else. 

I'm probably most recently spoiled by my husband on Saturday mornings.  He'd set his alarm to get up extra early (usually around 4:30am) and I'm woken up an hour later with a kiss on the cheek.  Coffee is made, he pulls out a heaping plate of blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes that are being warmed in the oven, and serves it all with an egg cooked just the way I like it.  Such a great start to the day!  Makes getting up that early for an 100 mile bike ride worth it.  Oh, and did I mention that he went on the rides with me so that he can make sure my training goes well?  He wasn't even training. 

This past weekend we traveled to Panama City with another couple for the Ironman.  I ended up doing much better than I ever imagined I'd do, and I'm pretty sure it had a lot to do with this:

My husband woke up at 3 am to make us pancakes before our race.

I like to think I do my part to help out on Saturday mornings by always making sure we have enough pancake mix to make pancakes. When you get up that early it makes sense that you don't want to spend too much time measuring out different ingredients to make homemade pancakes. When Raymond and I first got married we found a pancake mix that I could live with (I don't like box mixes...they give me the heebie-jeebies) and actually enjoyed. It was a multi-grain pancake mix that tasted nutty and nutritious enough to make me forget all the additional additives that were probably in it. Unfortunately, as it always seems to happen, they discontinued that mix. Therefore to keep from going back to a box mix, I set my sights on coming up with a multi-grain pancake mix that tasted just as good without any additives.

For this mix I started out just buying a bunch of different grained flours and such that I had wanted to try.  In the process of this, I discovered my love for coconut flour.  Besides the fact that it smells AMAZING, coconut flour is actually really good for you.  It is gluten free, high in fiber, and high in protein.  It is also a good source of lauric acid (supports the immune system and thyroid) and manganese (bone health, nervous system function, thyroid health, and moderates blood sugar and insulin levels).

I know this is a long ingredient list, and may look a little intimidating, but if you want to substitute whole wheat flour for one of the other flours listed, go for it.  If you substitute the coconut flour you will need to reduce the number of eggs and the amount of water you add to the final mix.

Ingredients:

 

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 cups ground oats

1 1/2 cups pumpernickel flour (whole rye flour)

1 1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1 1/2 cups coconut flour

1 1/2 cup powdered buttermilk

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup brown flax seeds

3/4 cup seasame seeds

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup wheat germ

1/2 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup ground flax

1/4 cup chia seeds

5 Tbs baking powder

2 Tbs cinnamon

1 Tbs baking soda

1 Tbs salt

Directions:

This part is really easy....just mix all ingredients and store in an air tight container or ziplock bag.  It helps to start with the brown sugar because that's the most clumpy of the ingredients, and starting with that ensure that it all breaks up by the time you add everything.

To make the pancakes:

Combine 1 1/2 cups mix with 2 eggs, 2 TBS vanilla, 1-2 TBS of butter or oil, 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of optional mix-ins (blueberries, chocolate chips, nuts, etc.).  Let sit for 10-15 min while you heat up your griddle, and then cook and enjoy!

"Every woman should get herself two things: a good husband and a good set of knives.  Bad husbands aren't worth the trouble, and cheap knives aren't worth the purchase." ~ Kathleen Flinn from The Sharper Your Knive, the Less you Cry

I am lucky enough to get a fantastic husband who then made sure we got a great set of knives.  Oh how I love him!

Raymond was sitting beside me as I put this post together and happened to notice the picture of him making pancakes.  He asked me to remove it because he thought it would look like he was up drinking until 4 and then got the munchies.  Because I love the photo, I thought I'd just add a clarification that I snapped that with my phone after he woke me up as he was finishing making my breakfast. :)