Pancakes have a surprising amount of sugar in them, especially if you are accustomed to using a mix and not thinking much about the sugar content. Traditional from-scratch pancake recipes often have a couple of cups of sugar, usually one of white and one of brown. Of course, they aren’t hard to adapt, really, and Sean had a version he made for himself years before I came into his life. This is fundamentally his recipe, though I’ve tweaked it a little. They’re pretty good, overall, but you should expect a flatter, thinner, and more flexible pancake than the really puffy kind you might get from Bisquick or at IHOP. I actually prefer these, as they are lighter. As such, however, they go best with fruit, fruit syrups or (my personal favorite) applesauce on top. You can eat them with maple syrup and it’s fine, I just think they’re better with a lighter accompaniment. I also use half whole-wheat flour in here to reduce the number of straight-up simple carbs (which are functionally slow release sugar, and for Sean, at least, can pose a problem if he gets too many of them in one meal). You could use entirely whole wheat, but it’d weigh down your result quite a bit. I suppose you could also just use all white flour, if the simple carbs are less of a problem for you, but I’ve never tried it myself.

With no further ado, pancakes!

Natural Sugar Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup honey or agave nectar (they work pretty much equally well here, and I suspect brown rice syrup would also work, though I’ve never tried it)
• 1/4 cup oil or melted butter

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl or blender container mix the milk, eggs, baking powder, salt, oil and honey thoroughly.

2. Add the flour and mix until the batter is close to lump-free.

3. Pour the batter onto a preheated griddle or frying pan and cook until golden brown on the bottom. Flip over and cook until golden brown on the other side. Repeat until all batter is cooked and serve with your favorite toppings. Enjoy!