Wholemeal pancake mix in a bottle
A wholemeal pancake mix made quickly in bulk in a milk bottle using yeast rising.
For years I have been making pancakes with home-milled wholemeal flour. I needed to add 1/3 self-raising flour to the mix to develop a fluffy texture during cooking. The recipe in this post uses a small amount of yeast as the rising agent. This means that the pancakes are 100% wholemeal, taste great, hit the satiety factor and if stored for some days after cooking they don’t have that not-so-nice flavour of self-raising flour, as in the flavour of yesterday’s left-over scones. The mixing in-the-bottle method eliminates mess and the pancake batter can be refrigerated and stored for several days and be on hand to cook pancakes at a moment’s notice.
While there are thought to be many health benefits of eating fermented foods, this review about the Nutritional benefits of sourdough was inconclusive. Nevertheless, for breakfast, my family enjoy these fermented wholemeal pancakes almost as much as non-fermented ones. The strong satiety factor due to the wholemeal and possibly the fermentation action makes them great for managing food intake and body weight.
“Two or more pancakes made traditionally from refined self-raising flour could easily be eaten, whereas, one wholemeal pancake hits the spot and contributes to healthy and regular completion of the body’s food processing. There, I did not say satisfying stools.”
Why mix wholemeal pancakes in a milk bottle?
Mixing bulk pancake batter in a milk bottle is simple, quick, and mess-free. If done carefully, according to my specific instructions, the batter can be lump-free and ready for easy storage and use over several days. Lastly, a 2-litre milk bottle will allow the perfect pouring of pancakes, and the batter can be stored in a refrigerator in common milk bottle storage spaces. Of course, a wide-neck jar would also work without using a filling funnel but the pouring is less accurate and more messy.
Easy DIY milk bottle funnel
If you choose to use a milk bottle then my DIY funnel which is made from milk bottles may interest you. It is very stable, has a much larger neck area than a conventional funnel and as a bonus it is free.
Wholemeal pancake mix recipe
3 cups of stone-ground wholemeal flour
0.5 cup of full cream milk powder
0.5 teaspoon of dry yeast
3 teaspoons of sugar
2 eggs
A pinch of salt if that is your chosen poison.
3.5-4* cups of warm water (Blood temperature to encourage yeast growth, but not hot enough to kill it. Warm liquid milk can be used as a substitute for some of the water and the milk powder)
Add the flour and milk powder to a dry 2L milk bottle and mix by shaking the bottle.
Dissolve the sugar in another container, such as a square ice cream tub (the square corners make an excellent spill-free pouring spout), and disperse the yeast and egg contents in the warm water.
Gently, pour the liquid mixture into the bottle of dry mixture. Then immediately invert the bottle and shake it vigorously to form a lump-free pancake batter. Allow the mix to naturally thicken and adjust the thickness with a little more water*, if needed, to get a good pouring texture for cooking your preferred style of pancakes. A brief remixing of the contents is required each time the batter is used as it tends to settle out while standing.
Note: I find that the amount of water required will vary with the homemade flour from various batches of wheat, Consequently, it is best to hold back a little of the water/sugar/yeast/egg mix and then more of it can be added as needed after the initial mixing.
Fermentation time for wholemeal yeast pancakes
I have looked online at other yeast-based pancake recipes and they invariably suggest that the mix should be left overnight. to ferment. Well, the most fluffy pancakes may need this delay. However, I find that, using the bulk of warm water/sugar/yeast/egg mix, makes the fermentation so quick that the mix has enough carbon dioxide bubbles in it to make adequately fluffy pancakes about 30 minutes after mixing. Standing the mix in a bowl of warm water speeds up the gas production.
The large ‘crumpet-style bubbles’ shown in the photo below are very nice, and they result from a much longer fermentation.
To cook wholemeal pancakes in bulk or cook on demand?
Freshly cooked breakfast pancakes make a great start to the day and can be used as an incentive to get sleepyheads out of bed. On the other hand, cooking a big stack of pancakes from a big bottle of wholemeal pancake mix is very efficient and unlike pancakes made with self-raising flour, the flavour does not deteriorate with storage for some days.
The health benefits of reheated wholemeal yeast pancakes
Furthermore, the health benefits of cooked starchy foods can be greatly improved by refrigeration before consumption. It improves the glycemic index of the starch. The process is known as starch retrogradation and when eaten and digested it substantially lowers the peak of blood glucose by changing the crystal structure of the starch.
This cooling process can increase the ‘resistant starch’ up to 2.5 times. This can slow the digestion of the starch in the intestines so that more of it is digested in the large intestine where beneficial fatty acids are produced. ” My ‘farty acids typo’ lead me to find another possible effect of eating more bypass starch. Anyway, there is growing evidence for a long list of possible health benefits of starch cooking followed by cooling:
- Lower blood glucose spikes,
- Improved insulin sensitivity
- Increased satiety or feeling of hunger when reducing food intake,
- Less weight gain,
- Better gut bacteria to make healthy fatty acids,
- Less colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease,
- Less inflammatory disorders,
- More farting?
The evidence for the resistant starch causing farting is rather thin., Consequently, that excuse has lost some traction. But I can still blame the fibre content of the DIY wholemeal flour!
So, if the dietary benefits of wholemeal, yeast fermentation and high-satiety foods are not enough for you, add starch retrogradation to the health list. This health benefit goes hand in hand with my lazy or efficient DIY home cooking for busy people and is a feature of my website recipes based on fermented whole grain starch and the bulk cooking and chilling of brown rice.
It gets even better. The cold-stored pancakes (or rice) can quickly be reheated in a microwave. Alternatively, toasting the pancakes when cut in half, (or stir-frying the rice) is another way of serving them hot. It gives the pancakes a nice extra caramel flavour. In either case, this reheating process does not negate the healthy starch retrogradation effect of the chilled storage method.
Happy and healthy cooking.
Tim
