It has become a bit of a tradition in our home to have waffles or pancakes on the weekends. It is a departure from our daily granola with yogurt or slow cooked oatmeal. My boys are hearty eaters and they would devour a plain boxed pancake without a second thought. This can be costly on the checkbook, taxing on their health (white flour, additives and preservatives), not to mention, there will not be a single waffle or flapjack left for me. I have instead spent a few years researching ingredients for making my own waffle mix. I sought one that is whole grain, uses less than 5 eggs and put on my lab coat.

Whole Wheat Waffle (or Pancake) Mix (stores nicely in a 1/2 gallon Mason Jar)

4 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
4 Cups Whole Wheat Bread Flour (may use plain ww but this makes it less dense)
1/4 Cup baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs pumpkin spice (optional)
2 tsp ginger (optional)

Add ingredients into a large bowl and whisk them together. Funnel them (I use a canning funnel) into your jar and place it in your pantry until you are ready to use it.

A little background…while an undergraduate at Bennington College, I had the pleasure of frequenting Bennington’s own, Blue Benn. It is a sweet silver bullet along a regular old road in Bennington, VT. Outside it’s not much to look at– it’s silver and has a blue coat. But inside, it’s hopping with all things delicious– breakfast! I learned many things in that little town (on and off campus). The one thing that the Blue Benn afforded me was that there are a plethora of pancake combinations! My favorite was the fresh cranberry, apple, walnut pancakes. I also loved the pumpkin pecan pancakes– always served with real Vermont Maple syrup.

Since waffles and pancakes are part of our weekly tradition, I’ve tried to channel my inner “Blue Benn” and keep our additions and topping interesting. This weekend we made whole wheat, pumpkin, cranberry, walnut pancakes.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cranberry, Walnut Waffle Recipe (makes 8 waffles in a deep iron)

1 1/4 cups of milk
3 eggs
4 tbs of fat (I use safflower oil since butter will be added later)
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups whole wheat waffle mix (see above for recipe)
1/2 cup dried cranberries (can use fresh but I’d coarsely chop them first and be prepared for the tart flavor)

For my two year old, I slice the waffle into sticks and pour a small amount of maple syrup into a ramekin. You can freeze a couple of sticks if you have a teething toddler– just watch them and omit nuts and berries.

Close up of how the nuts and berries get mixed in.

The rest of us eat ours whole with a dollop of creme fraiche and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Ever have granny smiths dipped in leftover maple syrup?