Killing time, part I

I had to bring my car in to the dealer recently to fix a recall item. The dealer was about two hours behind schedule, so Mom and I found various ways to kill the time, including having lunch at Al Carbon and visiting the Northside Library. At the library, I sat down to catch up on the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated and happily discovered that library users can use RBdigital to "check out" and read on their computers and digital devices audiobooks, ebooks, comics, and all sorts of magazines, including Cook's Country, Cook's Illustrated, and the New Yorker. All you need to do is set up an account with RBdigital using your JMRL library card number and you're good to go.

One item in the July/August 2019 issue of Cook's Illustrated that immediately caught my eye was a short article about "Substituting Spelt Flour for Whole-Wheat Flour," which is something I've been experimenting with for over two years now. The article says that you should "[f]eel free to substitute spelt flour for whole-wheat flour in recipes in which sturdy structure isn't desirable," because "spelt flour has fewer gluten-forming proteins than whole-wheat flour," which, in turn, has less gluten-forming proteins than regular white flour. That means spelt doesn't work as well in things that rely on gluten for a lofty structure, like bread loaves, but will give you more tender muffins and pancakes (and also works well with flatbreads, which are easier to stretch). I was especially intrigued by their report that "tasters actually preferred spelt's nutty, sweet flavor" when swapped into their recipe for 100 Percent Whole-Wheat Pancakes, which Brad and I had tasted before and liked, but not as much as Flax Pancakes. So we tried again, this time with all whole-grain spelt flour instead of whole-wheat flour, and everyone really liked them, including Cassie, who is not a big pancake fan. Of the too many pancakes recipes I now have, this is the one I will make most often going forward, though the Buttermilk Pancakes are still a good bet (and very similar to this recipe) if you want to use regular all-purpose flour instead of spelt flour (which I always have on hand anyway). 

100% Whole-Grain Pancakes

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated #135 (July/Aug 2015) (video)

Time from start to finish: <30 minutes

Dry ingredients
312 grams/11 ounces (~2½ cups) whole-grain spelt four or whole-wheat flour
25 grams (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon fine sea salt

Wet ingredients
545 grams (2¼ cups) buttermilk
66 grams (5 tablespoons) neutral-flavored oil such as sunflower or vegetable, plus more for cooking
2 large eggs (~57 grams each in the shells)

    1. In a medium bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together. In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together. Dump the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, and whisk just until smooth. (The batter is pretty thick; don’t add more buttermilk.)
    2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil on a large electric griddle set to 350 degrees (or 1 teaspoon oil a 12-inch nonstick skillet set over medium heat) until hot. Gently wipe out the oil with a paper towel, leaving just a thin film on the bottom of the pan.
    3. Using a ¼-cup dry measuring cup, a 2-ounce ladle, or (my favorite) a #16 (¼ cup) disher, scoop the batter onto the griddle in 8 places (or into the pan in 3 places). Cook until the edges of the pancakes are set, the bottoms are golden brown, and bubbles on the top just begin to pop, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the pancakes as gently as you can, and cook until the other sides are golden brown, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with the remaining batter, oiling and wiping out the griddle (or pan) again as needed. Serve promptly with real maple syrup. Makes ~20 four-inch pancakes, serving at least 4.

Blueberry Pancakes
Fold 140 grams (~1 cup) fresh blueberries into the batter at the end of step 1, as soon as you are done whisking it.