My Recipe for Whole Wheat Pancakes

I am a rule follower. I love rules. My mom might disagree with you, but that's just because I had a hard time obeying a 10:00 curfew as a teenager (Who wouldn't? Seriously). But other than that, I like having steps laid out before me and an exact process to follow. It keeps me focused, and it greatly reduces the chances of me failing if someone else has worked out the kinks before me.

I hate failing.

By the way, I'm a major perfectionist. In case you couldn't tell.

This rule-following love of mine applies to a lot of things--school projects, work, housework, and recipes. I used to have a really, really, really hard time deviating from a recipe. If I didn't have every single ingredient for a recipe, then I wouldn't make it. Even if it was something simple like green onions. I might have yellow onions in the fridge, but the recipe calls for green, so I'm just going to have to wait to make it until after I go shopping again. Kinda crazy, huh?

As I have learned more about cooking and have actually come to really love it, I have become much more relaxed about following each recipe with exactness. If I dont have celery for egg salad sandwiches, that's okay. They'll still taste great without them. If I don't have white pepper for a quiche I want to try, oh well. I'm sure black pepper will work just fine. I have even, on occasion, been know to be a little creative. Once I was making meatloaf, and after I had my meat and half the ingredients mixed together, I realized that I had no eggs. Instead of freaking out and scrapping the whole thing, I thought, What do I have that's the same kind of texture as an egg and will help hold the meatloaf together? Honey! And you know what? Even though honey wasn't included in the recipe, it held my meatloaf together just fine, and the loaf tasted delicious, too!

(Some of you might be wondering, if having each ingredient was such a big deal to me, why wouldn't I just run to the store and get it?  But I gotta tell ya, if there's one thing I hate more than making a recipe without all of the ingredients, it's making a trip to the store for just one little thing. So no, that wasn't an option.)

So knowing this about me, you can imagine what a huge step it was for me to alter a recipe until I got it just right and made it my own. But that's what I did with this pancake recipe. I found a recipe for whole wheat pancakes, and I liked how healthy it was, but there was something just not quite right about it. It took me months of experimenting with it, but I think it is just about perfect now. The key is the vanilla! It makes a huge difference in the sweetness of the cake without adding more sugar. If you happen to try it out for yourself, let me know what you think!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp honey
2 eggs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup milk

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and honey. Add eggs, melted butter, and milk and whisk together until well-combined and lumps are gone.

Pour onto greased griddle and cook until the top becomes dull-looking. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Serve with maple syrup, apple syrup, or applesauce.

Enjoy!