Aunt Jemima Doesn't Live Here Anymore

We like pancakes. Some of us like them with chocolate chips in them. Others, blueberries. Me? I like them plain. Pancakes are pretty much a hit around here. But you don't get many meals out of a box of Aunt Jemima.

So, I decided to find a recipe for homemade pancakes. I figured they can't be that difficult to make and since I'm baking more now, I'll probably have the ingredients on hand. I searched the internet and came up with this one. They're pretty good.

Over time, I altered it a bit. See, I have a thing about using whole wheat in place of all-purpose flour. I've used whole wheat in muffin, and banana and zucchini bread recipes that called for white flour and had no problems. But this summer I invested in a grain mill and that all changed.

A month or so ago, Paul & Nolan picked up a 25kg bag of hard spring wheat for me at Merrylynd, an organic farm near Lakefield and I tried it out. Hmm, not the same. Now, when I say not the same, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I do have to figure out the tricks to baking with homeground flour 'cause it's not the same as store-bought.

The first couple of whole wheat loaves I made didn't rise. I did some surfing and found that w. wheat flour is lower in gluten than white bread flour. Turns out that vital wheat gluten does one thing - it helps improve the rise and texture of bread; it adds elasticity. So, I picked some up at the Bulk Barn. It's not cheap, but you don't need a whole lot either; about 1-1/2 to 3 tsps for every cup of w. wheat or rye flour. Now my bread rises.

I've also had to start over with my muffin, banana bread and pancake recipes. I tried the pancake recipe a month ago or so with only homeground flour. Not so good - it didn't stick together the way it should have. So, I've gone back to the start. Each time I make it, I replace another 1/2 cup of white with another 1/2 cup of w. wheat. This time I used 1 cup of w. wheat and 2 cups of all purpose (I double the recipe). It was good. I don't want to use the gluten because of the cost and besides this is working.

Tonight we all sat down to a plateful of pancakes, maple syrup from the Staples farm in Cavan (and three time world champion to boot), and some apples from Allin's in Newcastle. By the time we were finished, our tummies were full.

~Liz