Name: Whole-Wheat Pancakes
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour; 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour; 2 teaspoons granulated sugar; 1/2 teaspoon table salt; 1/2 teaspoon baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon baking soda; 3/4 cup buttermilk; 1/4 cup milk (plus an extra tablespoon or so if batter is too thick); 1 large egg , separated; 2 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted; vegetable oil (for brushing griddle)

Why This Recipe Works

When it comes to pancake recipes, we are definite fans of buttermilk, which adds flavor depth and its characteristic tang. After exhaustive testing with chemical leaveners, we opted for a combination of baking powder and baking soda to leaven our pancake recipe. The small amount of baking soda gave the pancakes a coarser crumb and made them light and tender. The baking powder helped with the rise.

Before You Begin

This batter serves four perfectly for a light weekday breakfast. You may want to double the recipe for weekend pancake making, when appetites are larger. If you happen to be using salted butter or buttermilk, you may want to cut back a bit on the salt. If you don’t have any buttermilk, mix three-quarters cup of room temperature milk with one tablespoon of lemon juice and let it stand for five minutes. Substitute this “clabbered milk” for the three-quarters cup of buttermilk and one-quarter cup of milk in this recipe. Since this milk mixture is not as thick as buttermilk, the batter and resulting pancakes will not be as thick.

Instructions

Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Pour buttermilk and milk into 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup. Whisk in egg white; mix yolk with melted butter, then stir into milk mixture. Dump wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once; whisk until just mixed.

Meanwhile, heat griddle or large skillet over strong medium-high heat. Brush griddle generously with oil. When water splashed on surface confidently sizzles, pour batter, about 1/4 cup at a time, onto griddle, making sure not to overcrowd. When pancake bottoms are brown and top surface starts to bubble, 2 to 3 minutes, flip cakes and cook until remaining side has browned, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Re-oil the skillet and repeat for the next batch of pancakes.