Last Updated on January 3, 2022 by Aaron von Frank
These fluffy whole wheat pancakes with milk kefir and duck eggs only take a few minutes to make. The light and fluffy texture and delicious taste prove that healthier food should also be better tasting food!
Growing up, one of my mom’s primary “love languages” was food. She was also decades ahead of her peers in understanding that refined carbohydrates (white flour, sugar, etc) shouldn’t be staples in a human diet.
She applied the same research and analytical skills that helped her earn a PhD in sociology to ensuring that her family ate delicious, healthy foods.
One of my earliest memories with mom in the kitchen was watching her make whole wheat buttermilk pancakes for me and my brother. I LOVED pancake day, which usually fell on a weekend morning. After breakfast, we’d all go enjoy outdoor adventures together.
Magical pancake “spots”
To me, standing on a stool watching mom cook fluffy whole wheat pancakes to golden brown perfection was like watching a magician at work. Perhaps the best part of the whole process — at least from my and my brother’s perspective — was getting to eat the “spots.”
See that tiny blob of pancake batter next to the full sized pancakes? That’s a pancake “spot,” which the child version of myself considered to be the best food on the planet.
Spots were the name we gave to the small bits of pancake batter drippings that fell on the skillet. A good spot ranged from about the size of a dime to the size of a quarter. Any larger, and spots fell into the pancake category.
Mom would evenly distribute the spots between me and my brother while the larger pancakes cooked. My brother and I loved pancake spots so much that I’m fairly certain mom intentionally dribbled the batter to give us joy.
If it was summertime, fresh fruit, berries, and nuts would be served atop the pancakes alongside real maple syrup. If it was winter, frozen berries (usually blueberries or blackberries) would be cooked down into a delicious sauce poured over the top of the pancakes.
Eating memories: fluffy whole wheat pancakes
Food connects us together while connecting us to our past. I can’t cook or eat pancakes today without smiling at the memory of pancake days (spots and all) when I was a child.
A tribute to fond childhood memories: a pancake spot on my adult plate of pancakes.
I also love adding new personal touches and ingredients to the recipes I grew up with. The fluffy whole wheat buttermilk pancake recipe my mom gave me has been updated with ingredients that The Tyrant and I have discovered together, such as:
1. Duck eggs
When I was a kid, I didn’t have access to duck eggs, nor did I even think about duck eggs as food. Now, we’re fortunate enough to get fresh duck eggs each morning from our flock of Welsh Harlequin ducks.
Duck egg (left) versus chicken egg (right). No matter whether you raise your own or buy them from a grocery store, please be a responsible omnivore and do your best to ensure that the animals producing your eggs are provided with a good existence.
You can read about the interesting differences between duck and chicken eggs here and why we chose to get ducks vs chickens.
2. Milk kefir
In case you’ve never heard of it, milk kefir is a fermented probiotic diary product. It’s similar to yogurt, but we like the taste way better and it’s easier to make. Milk kefir is also a far better probiotic than yogurt, offering up to 10x more strains of beneficial bacteria and beneficial yeasts as well.
As you can see from this graph, milk kefir is a far better dairy-based probiotic than yogurt.
You can read more about how to make and use milk kefir here. Does cooking kill the probiotic microorganisms in milk kefir? Yes, but research shows that even dead probiotic cultures still confer many probiotic benefits.
3. Truly whole wheat, stone ground organic flour
Eating 100% whole wheat flour means you’re getting a whole food, not a refined food. That translates to more dietary fiber, protein, and assorted vitamins and minerals than you would if you’re using refined flour.
For pancakes and other wheat flour recipes, our preference is USDA certified organic, stone ground, 100% whole wheat flour. This means no synthetic pesticide residues plus the best possible nutrition.
Our 25 lb bag of Great River certified organic stone ground whole wheat flour.
Since we do a lot of baking, we get bulk 25 lb bags from Great River Organic Milling, which is the type of flour we used for this recipe.
Another really good flour for pancakes is King Arthur’s organic white whole wheat flour. Even though it’s whole wheat, the type of wheat used has the light color and texture of refined white flour, which some people prefer.
Recipe: Fluffy whole wheat pancakes with milk kefir & duck eggs
Fluffy whole wheat pancakes made with milk kefir and duck eggs
A healthy and delicious pancake recipe made with organic, stone ground whole wheat flour, milk kefir, and duck eggs.
Ingredients
- 1 cup organic whole wheat flour
- 1 1/8 cup milk kefir (preferably made with organic grass milk)
- 1 duck egg (or 1 jumbo chicken egg)
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar, maple syrup, or honey
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp melted butter or grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp fine ground sea salt (optional)
- 2 tbsp almond flour (optional, but adds a wonderful nutty flavor - if you don't add almond flour, just add slightly less milk kefir to compensate)
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
-
Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
Mix all wet ingredients together in a separate bowl.
Combine ingredients by pouring wet ingredients over dry ingredients, and mixing together. Don't over-mix! A few lumps are good. Over-mixing can result in denser, less fluffy pancakes.
Cook in cast iron skillet over low-medium heat (3 on our stovetop). Butter the pan before cooking and a second time before flipping pancakes.
Serve hot with your choice of homemade berry sauce, fresh fruit, maple syrup, nuts, or other condiments.
*Recipe makes about 12 medium-sized pancakes, or about 3 servings.
Pancake topping tips
Aside from seasonal fresh fruit, these pancakes are great served with either a homemade berry sauce or walnuts and maple syrup.
Want to make a good berry sauce for your fluffy whole wheat pancakes? Cook 1 cup frozen berries for about 15-20 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Add honey or stevia to taste. To further thicken the berry sauce, whisk 1/2 Tbsp flour into 1/8 cup of water until completely dissolved, then pour into berry sauce, stirring constantly until completely mixed in. Cook for a few more minutes then remove from heat.
Walnuts add good fats and protein to a meal, helping you feel full and get more balanced nutrition.
We hope you enjoy these fluffy whole wheat pancakes made with milk kefir and duck eggs!
KIGI,
Other breakfast recipes you’ll love:
- 5 minute summer squash pancakes
- Disappearing whole wheat spiced pumpkin pancakes
- Acorn flour crepes (sweet or savory)
- Chestnut flour crepes with beautyberry whipped cream
- Fall harvest coffee cake with apples and pumpkins
- Spiced persimmon breakfast bread
- Healthy summer breakfast bread w/ whole wheat flour, zucchini, and berries
- Chestnut breakfast porridge with pan-roasted Japanese persimmons
- Persimmon bread w/ oats, walnuts, and honey (no sugar)
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