With a whirl of the blender, you can grind whole grains directly into a batter for making delicious, basic pancakes. This is a great technique for prep time as well as for those without a grain grinder. Served hot from the griddle with a whipped butter  spiked with vanilla, pure maple syrup and cinnamon, and this is one delicious breakfast. I try to cut back on even the natural sweeteners we use, so we often enjoy our pancakes with just the gently sweetened and oh-so-flavorful butter! But, of course, you can also use extra maple syrup on your pancakes too.
For us whole grain lovers, having freshly ground flour is a huge bonus. When whole grains are freshly ground they still retain phytase, the enzyme that helps break down the nutrient blocking phytic acid (read more about that here). It also helps retain the vitamin content of the grain, and ensures fresh, rancid-free flour.
All in all, there are good reasons to use freshly ground flour! This recipe is adapted from a Sue Gregg recipe.
Funny story: My six year old heard me talking about Dr. Price and his research and the diet he fed to undernourished children whose home diet involved a lot of white flour based pancakes and donuts, but they were served his nourishing lunches every day at school. She knew we were basing some of our meals off of this research, but kept asking when we were going to start “that special doctor diet”. I was puzzled by this as we were eating meals based off of it. Then it finally came out that she was still waiting for her donuts and pancakes! No wonder she was excited about eating the Dr. Price way! We like these pancakes just as well as white flour ones though. 🙂 (And I also made her baked donuts that she was quite pleased with – I just used my spiced apple muffin recipe and sweetened it a bit more).
- 1½ cups of your choice of grains (for my gluten-free version, I've used many variations, including ½ cup each of sprouted brown rice, teff, and millet, with good success)
- 1½ cups buttermilk, thinned down live culture yogurt OR
- 1¼-1½ cups of non-dairy milk or water plus 1½ tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar (or kombucha or water kefir)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon unrefined salt
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, honey, or sweetener of choice
- 2- 4 tablespoons of melted butter or coconut oil
- 1 egg or 1 teaspoon of whole chia seeds left in 3 tablespoons of hot water for 15 minutes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (make sure to use gluten-free, if needed)
- 1 cube of softened butter (1/2 cup)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (use gluten-free, if needed)
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- In a sturdy blender, combine the whole grain and liquid of choice (if using the dairy-free option, also include the raw apple cider vinegar). Blend on high until the grains are well blended into a smooth batter. You may want to save back ¼ cup of liquid if using the dairy-free option, as it will make a thicker pancake. I like thinner pancakes, so I always use the full amount.
- Cover the blender and leave overnight in a warm place for a soaking period (12-24 hours). (Yes, the recipe does work without the soaking period).
- Add the rest of the ingredients and blend just until combined in the blender.
- In a well oiled cast iron pan over medium to medium-low heat, pour about 3-4 tablespoons of batter in circles to make medium or small sized pancakes.
- Cook until the edges are browned and there are bubbles in the batter, flip, and cook the other side until browned. Remove from the pan. Oil the pan more, as needed and continue until all of them are baked. Serve hot with the butter and/or maple syrup. For a dairy-free version, I like to use coconut oil instead of butter on my pancakes.
- Cinnamon Butter: Using a hand mixer, cream the butter with the cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup until smooth and fluffy.
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Yum! That sounds fantastic! PS- Have been enjoying your new cookbook and shared my post about it last Thursday. Thanks 🙂
Oh great Katie! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Could this recipe possibly be adapted to use sourdough starter in stead of baking powder?
I have made some sourdough starter for making bread but I am not using fast enough and I am trying to find sourdough recipes that my family will like. Thanks
Hey Ruth,
I do have a sourdough pancake recipe on my site (just do a search on the right hand side of my blog), but it is possible that you could also adapt this one….anyone have any ideas for Ruth on doing that?
Just wanted to make sure…are you using raw grains or cooked grains?
raw. 🙂
swoon to the tenth power i’m IN! thank you kimi!
I’m new to your website and love it. Pancake recipe sounds great but in America one cube of butter equals 1/2 cup, not 1/4. Where are you from?
Oops! Thanks for catching that typo! I’ve fixed it now. 🙂
Hi, I just did something similar this week, only I soaked the grains whole for about 12-20 hours (also adding a bit of raw apple cider vinegar), then blended and left for a few hours more. I do have a Vitamix, so I could probably also blend them at the start – by soaking the whole grains first you can also make this if you only have a weaker blender, I think 🙂
“buttermilk or thinned down live culture yogurt”:
I would like to use homemade SCD yogurt (baked 28hrs to ensure lactose freee). Do I simply thin this with water to the consistency of buttermilk?
I’ve never left dairy (SCD yogurt) at room temperature overnight for my soak medium fearing it would become unsafe; please assure me this will be safe to eat. Typically I use the dairy free plus apple cider vinegar method but would like to try using my homemade yogurt if indeed safe. Txs so much!
I’ve made my own version of Sue Gregg’s pancakes for a couple of years now, so often, in fact, I got sick of them! But it’s been awhile and you’ve reignited my pancake thirst with this post. I love how this recipes covers so many nutritional bases and is so easy to prepare!
I make pancakes once or twice a week our favorite are buckwheat and oat or soaked spelt. I always, always add cinnamon, flax and maple sugar!
Hmmm… these did not work for me. At all. I used 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/4 cup buckwheat groats, 1/4 cup amaranth and 1/4 cup steel cut oats and the chia seed option. The flavor was okay, but they never cooked through… they just became this chewy, mochi-like substance. They definitely did not satisfy my craving… Did this happen when you tried it with the chia seeds? Thanks.
Hmmm… these did not work for me. At all. I used 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/4 cup buckwheat groats, 1/4 cup amaranth and 1/4 cup steel cut oats and the chia seed option. The flavor was okay, but they never cooked through… they just became this chewy, mochi-like substance. They definitely did not satisfy my craving… Did this happen when you tried it with the chia seeds? Thanks.
April – two thoughts. It looks like you used 1 1/4 cups of whole grains, use 1 1 /2 cups instead. Also, did you use one teaspoon or one tablespoon of chia seeds? The one teaspoon helps it not become too gummy. 🙂
Made this today, it was great! I doubled the recipe and these are the grains I used:
1 cup millet
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup buckwheat
2 3/4 cup water
chia seeds instead of eggs
In the morning it was a little runny so I added some masa harina (maybe 1/2 cup or so?).
It was great as pancakes, but as waffles they were somewhat mushy- not uncooked, just pretty soft and not crispy at all. Any idea how if there’s a way to make it crispier for waffles?
Thanks for the great recipe! 🙂
Amy,
I have a gluten-free waffle recipe that has worked well for me, however it worked best with potato starch, which I am second thoughts about. 😉 It did make an amazing waffle though! Here is the link: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/2012/08/homemade-waffles-gluten-dairy-and-egg-free.html
I don’t have a blender. Do you think my food processor would work?
This is the 1st recipe I’ve seen to use my whole wheat we have in buckets in the garage.
Thanks!
It’s worth a try! I don’t see why not. 🙂
Yeah!!! I’m excited about this. Do you have any other recipes that use the whole wheat “kernels”? I looked over your recipe list but nothing jumped out at me. I don’t have a mill.
This is one of the best recipes EVER! I made it before going gluten free and it remained the one thing I truly craved and missed. I had no idea it would successfully adapt to GF grains. NO it doesn’t just adapt. It is as fabulous, as wonderful and mouthwatering as non GF. And almost impossible to mess up. I’ve added too much flour, and needed to add additional water/butter, still fabulous. I’ve watered down my yogurt too much and just gotten wonderful crepes. If you haven’t tried this, if it sounds like too much work, JuSt DO IT! It takes planning but is really a very easy recipe and will become a well worn classic to your recipe box.
Do you think I could coconut flour?
I was looking for a grain-free, egg-free pancake for my toddler with allergies, and this an amazing find! But I only have coconut and a little almond flour…prefer to use coconut because it’s organic. I also have a large banana…I know lots of people use banana in paleo recipes, but I’m not sure if it’s useful or needed in this case, lol. : )