Apple Walnut Breakfast Pancakes

I picked up some whole wheat pancake mix a few weeks ago and finally got around to making them this week. I used the Whole Foods’ 365 store brand 100% Whole Wheat Organic Buttermilk Pancake Mix, but there are lots of great mixes out there. Another brand I like is Arrowhead Mills. If you’re up to it, you can make your own mix. (Try this one!)

Sometimes whole grain or whole wheat mixtures can make really dry and heavy pancakes, so I like to add my own fixings to increase the moisture. Sometimes I mash up a ripe banana and mix it into the batter. This week, I grated up apple and added finely chopped walnuts and cinnamon. The apple helped the pancakes stay moist. I had fresh blueberries and a sweet clementine on the side.

Apple Walnut Pancakes
(use organic ingredients where possible)

100% whole wheat or whole grain pancake mix
2/3 cup vanilla soy milk
1 tbsp. walnut oil
1 egg
1 small apple (I used macintosh)
100% pure maple syrup
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup walnuts

Stir together the pancake mix, soy milk, walnut oil, egg, and cinnamon in a bowl. Put the walnuts in a food processor, and process until you have a fine meal. Add the walnuts to the pancake mixture. Peel the skin off the apple and grate it using a fine grater over a separate, small bowl. Using a slotted spoon, lift the grated apple out of the small bowl to drain off any extra liquid, and add the apple to the pancake mixture. Fold the ingredients together, but don’t overmix.

Pour desired amount of mix into a non-stick pan over med-low heat. Flip pancakes once when bubbles begin to form. Serve warm with pure maple syrup and fruit.

Tip 1: You can substitute organic milk or water for the soy milk. You can also substitute sesame oil or other unrefined oil for the walnut oil. Tip 2: These pancakes are nice and filling, so I usually keep them fairly small.