Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes



Sweet vegetarian dinner dishes have a very strong tradition in Polish cuisine. At least once a week in almost every Polish house a sweet dinner was served. Such dinners were especially popular during the summer when all kinds of fresh fruits are available. As a child, I liked them a lot. My most favorite has always been the blueberry cold soup and plum dumplings.

Somehow today sweet dinner dishes are not particularly appreciated at my home. But it does not mean that I do not prepare them anymore. I still serve those sweet dishes bur as an evening snack or the next day leftovers for breakfast, rather than dinner.

Yesterday, I decided to make pancakes, similar to those we make with apples in Poland, just to use the leftover buttermilk and a huge box of blueberries. I also wanted to use a big bag of the whole wheat flour I had to buy for another recipe. This accidental combination of all leftovers turned into a wonderful summer snack. My younger son who is a pancakes and waffles amateur could not stop raving about their perfect taste. They indeed came out very good. Although the batter was rather heavy because of the buttermilk and the whole wheat flour, at the end, they were more delicate and fluffy than the plain flour pancakes, not to mention that they were also healthier.

Dusted with icing sugar and served with a glass of milk they were hard to resist.


Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
(Makes 16-20 pancakes)

Ingredients:
1 cup bluberries
2 cups buttermilk,
1 cup whole wheat flour,
1/2 all purpose flour,
1 large egg,
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt,
1 tsp soda,
vegetable oil for frying.

Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl mix together egg and buttermilk.
2. Add both flours, backing soda, salt and sugar. Mix well using a hand whisker. Put aside for about 10 minutes.
3. Gently fold blueberries into the batter.


4. In a large frying pan heat 2-3 tbsp of oil. Put on about a soup spoon of batter. Turn down the heat to medium and fry pancakes until dark gold. Flip over and fry on the other side. It will take about 2 minutes per side. Repeat until all the batter is used.


5. Place ready pancakes on a plate with a piece of paper towel to absorb excess oil.
6. Dust pancakes with icing sugar (or pour some maple syrup on them if you prefer) and serve still warm.