Whole Wheat Pancakes & Waffles

Growing up whenever we went to visit my paternal grandfather, we'd always have his waffles. They became nicknamed "Awful Waffles" by one of my cousins. That statement is actually quite far from the truth, these are actually quite delicious! I think my cousin was young and it rhymed. I remember sitting down to eat these, pouring home-made syrup from a ketchup bottle. Grandpa would always say something about making sure to get syrup in all the little squares of the waffle. The greatest part - these are actually quite healthy - they are made with wheat berries, not flour. The blended wheat berries give a bit of a crunch to the waffles/pancakes. I adapted the recipe to make the pancakes. Turns out great! Seriously, you have got to try these!

Grandpa's Not So Awful Waffles (pancake variation to follow)

 First, you'll need some wheat berries (1 cup to be exact) and 1 cup milk.

 Aren't those wheat berries gorgeous?

 Place these two ingredients in your blender. Blend on medium speed for

 4 minutes.

The mixture should be thick and creamy.

 Meanwhile measure out: 1/2 tsp salt, 4 tsp baking powder (that's 1 tablespoon and 1 tsp),

 You'll also need 2 eggs,

 1/2 cup more milk,

 1/4 cup brown sugar,

 and 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted.

 Once the wheat berries and 1 cup milk has blended for 4 minutes,

 add the remaining ingredients (listed above) to the blender.

 Once they are all added, blend on medium for an additional

 3 minutes.

 It's pretty much impossible to take a good picture of blending food, just saying...

 Make sure you have a hot waffle iron. My grandfather's was the type with the smaller squares... some day I'm going to buy one of those!

 Pour batter into the hot waffle iron.

 Be sure not to overfill... I typically do.

 So much in fact, that I've taken to placing a paper towel under the waffle iron to catch the drippings.

 However, this one was perfect!

 Once it is cooked, remove and serve.

 These are absolutely delicious with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. They are also delicious with syrup.

Now for the pancake variation:

After the 4 minute blending of the wheat and milk, reduce the amount of butter to 1/4 cup, reduce baking powder to 1 Tbsp, add 1/2 tsp baking soda, and only use 1 egg.

 Blend for 3 minutes like with the waffles.

 Have a hot frying pan/griddle.

 Pour about 1/4 cup batter into the pan for each pancake.

 Cook until the top is bubbly,

 Once most of the outside inch of bubbles has popped,

 flip the pancake over.

 cook until reverse side is browned.

 Serve warm. We ate these with blueberry jam (actually preserves...)

 These are delicious as well. I just had them last night and want to go make more right now!

Enjoy!