I thought I was going to accidentally poison my entire family.
I mean, seriously, how could it be any other way? Never mind the research and recipes I’d been reading for the last 7 years that said it wouldn’t harm my family – that dared insinuate that it might even be healthier. If nothing else, doing this would make the meal easier to digest by eliminating certain aspects of wheat that cause allergies.
And it was cheap. How could I deny something that was both healthy and frugal?
So I did it. Several phone calls to my mom reassured that me that Chris, Ray, and I wouldn’t be doubled over in the throws of food poisoning by the next morning. Wonder of wonders, it actually worked. Despite my worse fears, my family had it’s first successful soaked yogurt pancake experience.
If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, you already know that I’m a fan of this soaked oatmeal pancake recipe. However, I’ve only ever use water with a splash of vinegar to soak the mixture overnight. In my mind it’s one thing to leave water out overnight. It’s an entirely different thing to leave a dairy product overnight.
Isn’t it??!??!?!
However, a lot of the research (you can find one source here) I’ve been doing the past few years pointed to plain, live/active culture yogurt being a perfectly safe thing to soak your wheat in overnight in order to break down some of the things that make wheat so hard to digest. So I finally decided to give it a try, using my favorite pancake recipe.
{My yogurt and wheat mixture, after sitting out all night. If nothing is turning colors or moving yet, it’s probably a good sign}
Not only were the pancakes faster to whip up that morning, since the batter had already been started, but they didn’t leave me with that post-carb feeling that most heavy wheat products do. Normally after eating bready things for breakfast, I feel less energetic and struggle with staying awake that afternoon. Not so with this recipe. I ate… um, plenty of the cute little pancakes that morning, and felt great the rest of the day.
Soaked Whole Wheat Pancakes
Inspired by a recipe found in Whole Foods for the Whole Family.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour, freshly ground
- 2 cups whole yogurt (natural, plain, and live/active culture – I used homemade)
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup honey (can use other sweetener, like brown sugar or maple syrup) (also, this sweetener is optional. I made half the batter without the sweetener, then added it about half way to taste the difference. Without the sweetener, it had a distinct plain yogurt taste – which some people don’t like. With the sweetener, the plain yogurt taste was gone)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS:
- The evening before making the pancakes, combine yogurt and wheat in a medium-sized bowl. Allow bowl to sit in a warm place, covered, overnight
- In the morning, the yogurt and wheat mixture should look about the same as it did the night before, and still smell like plain yogurt
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, mix with a whisk or spoon until combined, then cook like regular pancakes
- After pancakes have cooled, you can stack them in a freezer bag or plastic container and store them in the freezer for later use. Simply pop them in the toaster for a quick, warm breakfast. Some sources recommend using wax paper between each layer of pancakes to prevent sticking, but I’m too green. Or perhaps too lazy.
I added chocolate chips to some of the batter – just in case it needed an extra sweetener for the mister to miss the yogurt flavor (I know, making extra-healthy pancakes and adding chocolate chips must be sacrilege). However, they apparently didn’t need any. He said between the honey, chips, and syrup, they were almost too sweet. He also didn’t comment on any suspicious yogurty taste.
That’s what I call a successful experiment. And now that I’m no longer terrified of this method of baking, I’m itching to try out other soaked recipes I’ve seen around.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What frugal methods have you used to increase yours or your family’s health?
Cheers,
P.S. Now’s probably a good time to remember my disclaimer:
All information found on The Cheapskate Cook site is editorial in nature and meant to inspire and motivate you rather than be construed as medical advice. It should not be relied upon to determine dietary changes, a medical diagnosis or courses of treatment.
Any statements or claims about the possible health benefits of foods or supplements made here have not been evaluated by the FDA and as such are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
2 comments
4 pings
Susie Bee On Maui
02/08/2011 at 12:00 PM (UTC -6)
I am in awe that you grind your own wheat! Never heard of this technique-very interesting.
Steph
02/08/2011 at 3:05 PM (UTC -6)
Susie Bee On Maui – Haha, thanks! It’s actually not as impressive as it sounds. You can simply buy grain mills for your own kitchen (about the size of a large mixer or bread machine), and grind fresh flour right there, so that you can retain the highest possible amount of nutrients, since whole grain loses most of its nutrients within 48 hours of grinding.
My grain mill was a generous gift from family, and the quality of my whole grain baked goods is SO much better than using store bought whole wheat!
We also found a source for buying grain (the berries, not flour) for less than 50 cents a pound, so it doesn’t hurt our budget as much as it would otherwise.
It’s taken us about 3 years of taking baby steps in our baking, but I’m enjoying it!
The Cheapskate Cook » A Fun & Frugal Valentine’s
02/11/2011 at 8:35 AM (UTC -6)
[...] Make pancake batter and heat griddle to normal temperature. (Try this oatmeal pancake recipe, or my newly-discovered soaked pancakes.) [...]
The Cheapskate Cook » Homemade Yogurt: In My Humble Opinion
09/02/2011 at 8:13 AM (UTC -6)
[...] {Overnight pancakes – made with yogurt} [...]
Honey Butter » The Cheapskate Cook
03/08/2012 at 10:22 PM (UTC -6)
[...] Overnight Whole Grain Pancakes [...]
More food I can’t eat!
05/01/2012 at 4:58 AM (UTC -6)
[...] Here’s another new food blog I found that has great recipes that are easy and healthy. I made these easy pancakes. I’ve made a similar recipe like this before. However, this recipe has yogurt in it that I like. Did I ever tell you about my year of making yogurt? Well that is fodder for another post and it will either make you cry or laugh!? Anyway, this pancake recipe is finding a nice prominent spot in my recipe box. Share this:EmailPrintFacebookShare This entry was posted in Healthy Foods, Simple Living, Teaching Children and tagged healthy pancakes. Bookmark the permalink. ← National UnPlug week! [...]