The health benefits of freshly milled whole grains are numerous and evident. And thankfully, you can unlock these health benefits as long as you have a grain mill of some kind. Sometimes it can be tricky to convert a recipe from all purpose to milled flour. Pancakes are a great way to ease into using fresh milled flour, and this buttermilk pancake recipe using freshly milled flour will not disappoint!
the pancake recipe
The reason these pancakes have such amazing texture is due to soaking the grains overnight. If you forget, never fear! In the morning simply grind your flour, get it soaking in the buttermilk while you make your coffee and gather your other ingredients, and then proceed with the recipe. I was able to use fresh, raw buttermilk that I was gifted by a friend. Yum!
using the freshly milled flour
To mill my flour, I use the Harvest Grain Mill from Nutrimill, which I snagged on sale at the Modern Homesteading Conference a couple years ago. It does a great job processing the grains quickly. (And bonus, it looks cute on my counter!). I use soft white wheat berries for pancakes. This type of wheat berry is ideal for pastries, pancakes, cookies, etc.
Using the freshly milled flour is definitely a learning curve. If you are using a recipe that calls for only all purpose flour, I would recommend starting by substituting one fourth of the flour for freshly milled. Then work your way up to using more as you start to understand how to work with the freshly milled flour. I have found the key is to make sure that the milled flour is hydrated properly. Milled flour soaks up liquid at a slower rate than pre-milled, so you may have to let it sit after adding it to liquids. This is the reason I soak the grains in buttermilk overnight in this recipe.
what if I don’t have buttermilk?
No buttermilk? No problem. Substitute milk and apple cider vinegar to mimic buttermilk. Use one cup of milk to one tablespoon of vinegar. For this recipe, you would use 2 1/2 cups of milk and 2 1/2 tbsp (about 2 tbsp + 1 tsp) of apple cider vinegar. Simply combine the milk and vinegar, then add it to the grains.
I am looking forward to experimenting more with the freshly milled grains and coming up with my own recipes to use the milled flour. Be sure to subscribe so that you can follow along with recipes and how-to’s from my Boring home!
milled grain buttermilk pancakes
These fresh milled flour pancakes have amazing flavor and texture due to soaking the grains in buttermilk. Along side a cup of hot coffee, this breakfast will keep you satisfied for hours!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups buttermilk*
- 1 cup oats
- 2 1/2 cups freshly milled flour
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp oil (such as avocado or melted coconut oil)
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup brown sugar (can substitute maple syrup)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- butter (for cooking and serving)
Instructions
- Combine buttermilk, oats, flour, and vanilla in a bowl. Stir well, then cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- In the morning, remove the buttermilk mixture from the refrigerator.
- Whisk together oil, eggs, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Combine oil mixture into flour mixture.
- Drop by 1/4 cup onto pre-heated cast iron skillet that has been greased with butter.
- Cook pancakes until light brown on each side and cooked through.
- Serve with butter and maple syrup.
Notes
* Don't have buttermilk? No problem. Substitute 2 1/2 milk + 2 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar for the buttermilk
[…] possible. One way I have been working on this is by converting all my flour-using recipes over to freshly milled flour recipes. First on the list: breakfast foods. And so the morning of New Year’s Eve I […]