Whole Wheat Nut Pancakes

Last weekend we had a freak snow storm that made the locals call the month "Snowtober". Snow is pretty unusual for October in New England but a full-on snow storm in October is even more rare. I was sick all weekend with bad migraines so on Sunday, instead of making my usual Sunday Brunch we headed to Bickfords Grille, a local restaurant chain that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was a nice treat and an excuse to get out of the house since I was trapped inside for most of the snow storm. Carlos and I got two plates with 3 whole wheat nut pancakes, 3 eggs, 3 sausages and 3 strips of bacon each. With hot tea on the side, it was divine. I kept dreaming about delicious that meal for days afterwards. So when a new Sunday rolled around, I decided to make my own version of Bickfords Whole Wheat Nut pancakes at home along with a side of homemade strawberry sauce and some sausage links. Not as good as Bickfords but it comes pretty close.

This recipe originally appeared in my Thoughtful Eats column at the Woburn Patch.

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups of whole wheat flour

1 tbsp of baking powder

2 tbsps of sugar

2 eggs

2 cups of low fat milk (or Almond or Soy milk)

1 tsp of vanilla

1/2 cup of finely diced walnuts

a few pats of butter

Makes about 8 pancakes

In a small pan, add your finely diced walnuts. Turn the heat up to low-medium and toast the walnuts until they start to become fragrant; about 3-4 minutes. Watch them closely so they don't burn. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder and sugar and mix. Then add the eggs, milk and vanilla and mix thoroughly until all the lumps have smoothed out. Heat up your griddle and grease with a pat of butter. Add a cup full of batter to your griddle for each pancake and sprinkle some of the toasted walnuts on top. Cook for a few minutes until the top of the pancake bubbles and pops then flip over and cook for a couple of minutes more.