This 100% whole grain pancake mix doesn’t have that typical whole grain taste and the pancakes, which only take a few minutes to whip up, don’t taste the least bit cardboardy!
This was the second recipe I ever posted. I love this whole grain pancake mix so much that I had to post it immediately when I first started blogging, back when I had like… 2 readers.
And since I now have a few more lovely followers, I felt like I should repost this so that you all could see it!
I’ve easily tried a dozen 100% whole wheat pancake recipes. Some of them were okay, but almost all of them were dry, hard and cardboard-y. But these?! They’re soft, moist and don’t taste whole grain!
I think it helps that these are 60% whole wheat flour and 40% oats. I love using oats in whole grain recipes because it makes them taste less healthy. But if you don’t like oats, don’t worry – the oats are totally undetectable once the pancakes are cooked.
By the way, if you need a gluten-free version, try this gluten-free pancake recipe that you can make into a handy mix!
I’ve made these with whole wheat flour and also with whole spelt flour. I personally prefer whole spelt due to its mild taste, but whole wheat is a close second! White whole wheat would also work well.
Not only do these taste amazing, but this recipe is also super convenient! You make the mix and can store it in the fridge for a few months. Then you have 80 pancakes to look forward to. :)
You can add chocolate chips, blueberries, or whatever you feel like. I normally go with whatever’s in season. In the fall, I like to add a teaspoon of cinnamon and two chopped up apples.
If I were making my husband breakfast in bed (which never happens – he wakes up 2-3 hours before me :D) I would add some frozen raspberries and chocolate chips.
To cook the pancakes, you need buttermilk. I don’t know about you, but I rarely have buttermilk around. I tried the trick of pouring 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a 1 cup measuring cup, filling it with milk and letting it sit for 10 minutes.
It’s okay in a pinch but you really can tell the difference between that stuff and real buttermilk. So then I started using half milk and half plain yogurt. This tastes just like the real buttermilk version! At least in these pancakes.
If these pancakes are a bit too boring for you, here are my other favorite 100% whole wheat pancake recipes! Two of them also happen to be gluten-free. :) You could also try these cookie dough overnight oats for something a little different. And if you prefer something thinner, try these sweet crepes. These whole wheat crepes also look fantastic!
100% Whole Grain Pancake Mix
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
Ingredients
- 5 cups (650 grams) whole spelt, whole wheat flour, or white whole wheat flour
- 3 1/2 cups (315 grams) quick oats or old-fashioned rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons unrefined sugar (or normal granulated sugar)
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 cup (240 ml) canola oil
- 1 cup of mix (130 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup of buttermilk (240 ml)
For the pancake mix:
To prepare the pancakes:
Directions
- Put the oats in a food processor and let it go for a few seconds. You want them chopped, but not so much that they turn into oat flour.
- In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients, including the chopped oats and then add the canola oil. You could use a stand mixer or electric mixer, but I’m lazy and just use my hands.
- Store the mix in the refrigerator for up to 3 months or store it at room temperature for up to two weeks. This makes 10 cups of mix, enough for eighty 4-inch pancakes.
- Mix everything together. You’re supposed to wait 20 minutes, but I’m impatient and I don’t do this. The oats soak up some liquid during this time, making them fluffier, but I like mine thin.
- Heat the stove to a medium.
- I don’t use any butter in the pan, but if you normally do, go ahead. Drop some batter into the pan.
- Cook the pancakes for about two minutes per side, unless you add berries or apples. Then I do mine about 3 minutes per side.
- Yield: If you use 1/4 cupfuls, one batch, with one cup of mix, will yield eight 4-inch pancakes.
To prepare the pancake mix:
To make the pancakes:
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour. You can read their post about this recipe here.
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58 comments on “100% Whole Grain Pancake Mix” — Add one!
So sorry to do another comment, but I’m super excited about this recipe and tried to use the same base mix to make biscuits and it worked great! I did the same sugar free monkfruit replacement 1:1 for the sugar. Then I used 2 cups of the mix and 2/3 cup buttermilk to make biscuits! I cooked them in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. They were some of the best biscuits I’ve ever had and my family loved them. So excited to have a recipe I can make pancakes and biscuits with and that the sugar free sub worked so well. Thanks again!
You should absolutely not be sorry! I was really happy to get all your comments. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to answer you very quickly. Things are chaotic here with lockdown and Christmas. Like I said in the other comment, I can’t have gluten anymore. Or else I’d be in the kitchen trying out your creation! It sounds amazing and I’m really impressed that you got it perfect on the first try. :) Maybe I’ll try converting the pancake mix to be gluten-free and if that works, try the biscuits. Thanks again for all your helpful feedback and happy holidays! :)
Have you ever used the bar mix for other things, like biscuits? If so, what do you do for day of prep?
I haven’t, sorry! I actually can’t eat wheat anymore so I can’t experiment with this recipe. :/
Just wanted to say I tried this with monkfruit instead of sugar and just a drop of butter toffee stevia (I’m sure regular would work too!) when time to prep and it was amazing and sugar free!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them! Thanks for letting me know how it worked out. I really appreciate it!
Have you ever had readers comment on a good sugar free alternative? Or could I omit sugar and add agave later?
Not on this recipe but there’s relatively so little sugar that I think any 1-to-1 sugar sub would work fine here. :)
I absolutely LOVE this recipe and make up a batch every 3 months to store in the fridge. I use vanilla almond milk and it is perfect. Thank you!
I am curious on how/if you think you could alter this to make a waffle mix?
Hello! I’m so sorry for just now seeing your question. I have to admit that I have no idea how to make this into a waffle mix because I’ve never made waffles. It’s ridiculous, I know. :/ Sorry I can’t be more of a help! If you try it out one day, could you please let us know how it goes? I’m curious! Thanks a bunch.
Can you substitute half cup of applesauce for half cup of the oil called for? Also when you say half milk/half yogurt for the buttermilk substitute..does that mean half cup of each?
I haven’t tried it but I really wouldn’t recommend it. I think it’d make the flour mixture a bit mushy and just not work out well. And yes, I meant 50% of each so for this recipe, that’d be 1/2 cup of each for the buttermilk sub. I hope you’ll enjoy the pancakes if you try them out. :)
I love this mix! My kids will down these pancakes and I like feeling like they got a healthy breakfast :)
So happy that the kids liked them! And I’m totally with you – I feel so much better knowing my breakfast isn’t totally nutritionally void when I eat these. Thanks for your feedback. :)
My kids LOVE this recipe!! Granted, we usually sprinkle some chocolate chips in the batter, but it’s a fantastic start to the day regardless! Also so nice to have a batch in the frig so we can make them easily. Thanks!!
Chocolate does make everything better. ;) I’m so happy that you all are enjoying the pancakes and I’m totally with you. Having this mix on hand is so much easier than whipping something up every time you want pancakes! Thanks a ton for your feedback. :)
I have been craving pancakes, but I’ve also been trying very hard to make better food choices. I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided it looked really good. I read the reviews and thought I would give it a shot. I will admit, I wasn’t 100% confident, but boy was I wrong. These pancakes are perfect! I’m def going to have to check out your other recipes now!
I’m happy that you gave them a try! I was very dubious when I first tried them, too. I’d had so many cardboardy whole grain pancakes by that point! Thanks so much for your feedback and I hope that you’ll enjoy the other recipes just as much. :)
Just found your website (and just made your delicious cheese crackers – yum!). We love pancakes and have tried out quite a few whole wheat recipes, but none of them have been a mix with easy prep for the wet ingredients. Just one question: can I sub any other oil for the canola? We don’t use it much at our house, and I don’t think we even have it on hand. I’m thinking of trying coconut oil or leaving it out and mixing in butter when preparing the pancakes. Let me know what you think.
It’s funny you mention cheese crackers because I just made a new version today with almond flour. So, so addictive! I’m happy you liked the whole wheat version. :) I haven’t tried but but I’m assuming you can use any other oil that’s liquid at room temperature for the pancake mix. I like the idea of coconut oil but I’m not positive it’d work. If you want to add the butter while preparing the pancakes, I think you’ll need 22.5 grams (1.6 tbsp) of butter per 1 cup of mix. (1 cup coconut oil = 225 grams / 10 (because there are 10 cups of pancake mix). I hope you’ll enjoy them!
I was amazed at your quick reply! Thanks for the advice – I’ll give it a go.
No problem. Let me know how it turns out! :)
I work at an adult family home and the ladies love these pancakes. We don’t always have buttermilk so this is my recipe:
1 1/2 cups mix
1 cup milk
8 ounce cup of flavored yogurt, I use blueberry or peach
2 eggs (I like eggier pancakes)
1 tsp vanilla
Your version sounds great! I’m so happy the ladies love the pancakes. :) Thanks a ton for sharing your recipe and for the feedback!
I love love love this!!! I’ve never made spelt flour – that needs to change!
YES! You’ve gotta get some! :)
These pancakes look incredible. Seriously pancakes are my absolute favorite food ever! I could devour a stack of these right now.
Thank you! I hope you can give them a try. :)
I’m so glad you posted these again! Will definitely have to try this out, as pancakes are such a guilty pleasure…but maybe not so guilty if it’s whole grain! :)
Aww, I love the idea of Judah eating these whole wheat pancakes. I hope that you try them and that you’ll all enjoy them! :)
Whole Grains are so good for you! I am excited to try this with a sprinkle of seeds and agave!
I hope that you’ll enjoy the pancakes, Kira! Seeds and agave sounds like a great addition. :)
These pancakes look incredible! I love the idea of a whole grain pancake! :)
Thanks, Christina! :) And yeah… whole grain pancakes are awesome when they’re not cardboardy. :D
Perfect for one of my breakfasts :)
Yup! And we have all the ingredients here in Germany. :)
These pancakes look incredible, and so fluffy! Love the buttermilk!
Thanks, Laura! :)
These pancakes look delicious! Thanks for the buttermilk substitute tip! Using half milk and half yogurt is a great idea. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
And thank you for reading, Ada! ;) So happy that the buttermilk tip helped someone. :)
Love that you came up with a good whole grain pancake mix! Definitely need to make this to have on hand!
Well, we have KAF to thank for the recipe. They are awesome! Love them. :)
Love this pancake mix! Great thing to have on hand to make the morning routine faster! Thanks for sharing!
Agreed! I don’t know how people get up and make breakfast every morning. But this? I could totally do this!
Love the idea of having a whole load of this pancake mix on hand whenever the craving strikes!
Yes! That’s the beauty of it. It makes a HUGE amount! :)
Wow these pancakes look incredible! I may just have to make the mix :)
Yeah, you do! And thank you. :)
LOVE that you added spelt!! Genius!
Why, thank you! ;) I love spelt!
very cool! let me know what you think and help me solve the mystery of why whole grains taste so different when they are milled fresh!! (if you can) It is mind boggling really. Let me know if you agree! thx!
(p.s funny my grain mill is from Germany! http://www.frischmahlen.de/en/mills/)
ita-liana – Thanks for the nice comment and for the tip! I don't have a grain mill but I live next to a Whole Foods type of place where we can grind our own for free. I'll try it out the next time I'm there. As it is, I'll have to buy a grain mill when I move back to the US. Things like whole spelt are just so ridiculously expensive there. Thanks again for the tip and have a great weekend. :)
HI there, I just found your blog and can't wait to try your recipes as I love whole grains too! Just fyi, I see you mention "the taste of whole grain" a few times in this post. I myself also did not like the taste of whole wheat and never knew why. Last year we bought a grain mill and we now mill our own spelt, brown rice, wheat etc. It is the most amazing thing and NOTHING has that taste. I sift out the bran to make cookies and things and leave it whole for breads and pizzas. This is something you might love. I don't sell them I just love mine and it was the missing link in my quest for healthy cooking. Checi it out here if you like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq5IT4c4JrY I will post about it on my blog soon! Happy Cooking! Great blog, thanks!
Grating and draining apples is a great idea! I'll try that the next time I make these. I'm so happy that the kids liked them. :)
Made these today for lunch for a playdate we were hosting and all of the kids LOVED it! I finely grated the apples and let them sit in a sieve for a few minutes before adding them to the batter and they were wonderful. Also, instead of the OJ I added a tablespoon of pumpkin puree, simply because I had no juice and happened to have a c. of pumpkin lying around. Thanks!
Lauren, I'm so happy that you enjoyed the pancakes! You're right, the buttermilk makes these really moist. Thanks for pointing that out and for the feedback. :)
I made these for breakfast today and they were very good. I used whole wheat flour and added chopped apples. The amount of buttermilk used, makes these very moist and not at all dry and mealy which I find can happen when using such a large amount of whole wheat flour. Thanks for a new recipe!
Awesome, I never thought of having oats in the pancake batter.
Also I see that you have put spelt flour in the ingredient list. I am buying spelt flour to have in my pantry since it is better for you than whole wheat flour, though a very good option as well :-)