Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

 
    I love mornings, don't you?
    You wake up just as the sun is rising and everything is quiet and fresh.  Then, you have the whole day ahead of you.
    I like waking up early, before anyone else is up.  I feel like I can do anything that I want.  And oftentimes that means making breakfast.
    I never have time to make pancakes on school days, so on the weekends, I like to take full advantage of my time.  Nothing beats starting the day with a stack of soft, fluffy pancakes.  It puts you in a good mood for the rest of the day, guaranteed.

    And I love flipping pancakes. I used to really want to be a professional pancake-flipper, seriously.  And waffles? No.
    Strawberry pancakes are my favorite. Whenever a restaurant I go to serves them, I have to order it: pancakes topped with whipped cream and strawberries, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar.  I think it's been my favorite dish since I was five.
   Usually, though the strawberries aren't actually in the batter.   And these pancakes I made are a bit healthier, since they use whole wheat flour and flax.  Flax seed meal actually gives the pancakes a great, nutty taste while replacing some of the oil.

    Make sure that you cut the strawberries nice and thin so that they don't stick to the pan and stay in the pancake. And my dad always told me that the pan is ready for some batter when a drop of water sizzles on the pan.  Don't ever press down on the pancake with the spatula, as that would cause it to lose some of the fluffiness.
    Enjoy!

Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancakes

serves about 4 people

adapted from Adventures in Cooking

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup flax meal

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 large egg

1-1/4 cup buttermilk (or stir 1 tbs white vinegar with enough milk to make 1-1/4 cups, let sit 5 minutes)

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

about 1-1/3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced thinly

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, flax, sugar, baking powder and soda, salt, and cinnamon.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until the flour is moistened. Then stir in the strawberries just until combined. 
4. Heat a pan/griddle over medium low heat until a drop of water sizzles on it.  Grease with a bit of butter or cooking oil, and then ladle on some batter.  
5. When little holes appear around the edges and the edges are fluffy, flip the pancake and cook until both sides are golden brown.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.