Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Who can argue with a light, fluffy pancake that is 100% whole wheat? These whole wheat blender pancakes are just that and more!
Whole wheat blender pancakes have been around a long time. You basically start with whole wheat berries/kernels, blend them up with some milk and add various simple ingredients to make pancake batter. Yeah. Sounds easy.
Unless you are me. I tried them five or six times in a row years ago. And they were a disaster. Batter was thin, pancakes burned easily, and the wheat taste was kind of overbearing.
I knew they were popular with others but they just weren’t for me. So I found my favorite pancake mix and have stuck with it for years now.
That is, until my Aunt Marilyn sent me an email titled “Wheat Blender Pancakes Reinvented” and I decided that 8 years under my belt meant I needed to give these babies another go.
And seriously, this new go-round has changed my breakfast-loving-life. Aunt Marilyn has tweaked and perfected the recipe so that they are fail-proof and they are worlds better than the ones I tried years ago.
So much better, in fact, that I have made them at least three times a week for the last three weeks running. I hate to say it, but they might even replace my beloved Oatmeal Pancake Mix for our favorite go-to breakfast.
All you need is a blender, whole wheat berries and you can get started. Besides having to blend for about 8 minutes total, the batter comes together in a snap and the pancakes, with that slight hint of buttermilk goodness, are divine.
And who can argue with a light, fluffy pancake that is 100% whole wheat?
These definitely need to be part of your breakfast regimen. See the note below the recipe title for more information on those cute little wheat berries. Widely available, there’s no reason you shouldn’t make these!
One Year Ago: Sesame Chicken Stir-Fry
Two Years Ago: Cheesy Au Gratin Potatoes
Three Years Ago: Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup wheat berries/kernels
- 1 cup buttermilk (see note)
- ½ cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoons butter, melted
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Combine the wheat berries/kernels and the buttermilk in a blender and blend on high for 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and thick.
- Add the 1/2 cup milk and continue to blend for 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until the batter is smooth.
- Cook the batter on a hot griddle for pancakes or in a waffle iron for, well, waffles!
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: from my Aunt Marilyn
These are delicious. People who are having difficulties are just running it too long with a high speed blender, like a Vitamix or Blendtec. Like other reviewers have said, it really only takes about 40 seconds or so to blend with one if those blenders. Really just until blended. I just eyeball it. These are honestly the best pancakes I’ve ever had. Very fluffy and Light and flavorful. I use honey and white wheat. Red wheat will be a little denser. Mel’s recipes are awesome!
I just got a new blender and remembered learning about these pancakes at a church activity. I read the post, recipe, and reviews. Here are my tips:
Keep an eye on your blender. I only needed to run my blender for 40 seconds with the wheat berries and buttermilk. So obviously each blender will vary.
I added half a cup more wheat berries and I doubled it, so 1/4 cup more for a single batch. The texture wasn’t nearly as thin as the amount the recipe originally called for.
I know this batter thickens a little as it stands. So give it 10 minutes to sit.
That being said, they’re great. I subbed out honey for sugar, but that’s a personal preference.
After reading the comments about blender almost cooking the batter, I ground my wheatberries in a coffee (spice) grinder first. Then took very little blender time and turned out great. Very tasty.
Hi there
What kind of wheat berries should I use in this recipe – hard white or soft white?
I always use hard white wheat berries but soft can be used as well.
Been a long time since this was posted, but I’ll comment anyway. I was pretty excited when I found this, till I read the recipe. Where do you get off calling something that has butter, buttermilk, eggs, salt, sugar and baking powder, 100% whole wheat? 🙂
Obviously the grain used is 100% whole wheat and that is what she is referring to. When you buy 100% whole wheat bread it also has additional ingredients in it.
Send my thanks to your Aunt Marilyn! These were a hit in our house. Recipe will be used and abused lol.
Perfect recipe all in the blender!
A great choice for nutritious pancakes. Have to follow the instructions carefully though. Easy and tasty.
Just a comment that we have a cuisinart blender.
Okay, I tried it again. Half batch this time as I had JUST enough milk left. Blended it in my Vitamix for 30 sec – 1 min (tops). Added the rest of the ingredients and blended for another 30 sec so everything was smooth. I kept the batter on the thinner side so it would be easier to pour out. Turned out fine. The final result is definitely thinner than other pancake recipes but that’s inherent to the wheat flour (store bought or freshly ground). I have noticed that using agave made for a flatter pancake than regular sugar. Will probably try again with further modifications as I am accustomed to Japanese style pancakes (hottokeki – AKA hot cakes) where the pancake is taller, fluffier and sweeter.
Forgot to include my link!
https://multifariousmommy.blogspot.com/2017/12/recipe-whole-wheat-blender-pancake-in.html
Should have read the comments about using a Vitamix first. Followed the directions but 3 minutes in my Vitamix and the batter started to “cook” – It was steaming when I opened the lid. Added the rest of the ingredients and it became too thick for even the Vitamix to handle (as it was more of a dough at that point). May try again later as I’m out of milk now (2 cups!)
I’ve been wondering if I can make bread by putting the wheat berries and liquid into a blender first, then adding the yeast and remaining ingredients into my mixer. Have you tried making bread this way? Every recipe I find says to grind the berries into flour separately.
I haven’t tried bread using the same method, Eva. Sorry!
You technically can. There are a few Vitamix recipes where you do this – however, the dough in the blender will get VERY thick and possibly overhead the blender. I’ve tried their recipe once or twice. The difficulty is getting the subsequent ingredients to incorporate evenly then TRYING to get all of the dough out. To me, it was more trouble than its worth. I would grind in the blender then mix in my stand mixer.
I’ve been meaning to try these for years, and finally did today. I have a Blendtec. It was a bit of an ordeal. Thick batter… my blender overheated… added milk… then they took forever to cook, and stayed gooey in the center.. Checked the comments tonight, to see if anyone else had a similar problem, and saw that some did!
Talked to my sister about it (she’s made them before, and I tasted them and thought they were yummy), and she said that with a higher-end blender (Vitamix, Blendtec, etc), you really shouldn’t blend them for nearly as long as the recipe says, or at the highest speed. After more discussion, it started to make sense, and
I THINK I’VE SOLVED THE MYSTERY!!!
If you have a higher-end blender, it grinds up the wheat berries relatively quickly, and the rest of the time is just excess blending, which starts to overwork the wheat, turning it into more of a dough instead of a batter. The heat that comes off the motor after running the blender so long doesn’t help, either. The mixture ends up warm, and thick, almost stiff, like dough. That’s why they don’t cook well. You can’t make bread on a griddle. You bake it!
So, I’m going to try them again, blending only until they look well combined, and I’m sure they’ll turn out much better! I hope Craig and Doedee will give them another go, too. Hope this helps someone!
Made this morning as waffles and they were great! So easy.
Make this weekly. Love this recipe.
These turned out amazing!! Thank you!! So fluffy and light I would never guess they were all whole wheat. I used soft white wheat and my blendtec.
If you see this by tomorrow morning, can I use the buckwheat groats I bought for your waffle recipe (but go figure, am out of steel cut oats…) in place of wheat berries? Thank you!!
I can’t say for sure but it’s certainly worth a try; the recipes are fairly similar.
So glad I found this recipe! We love it! I used less milk so my batter wasn’t so thin and only blended a couple minutes in my vitamix. It was as fluffy as other pancakes, but it wasn’t flat either. Make sure your griddle is hot before pouring to keep it from spreading so thin.
Just made this again with soaked berries over night. I used the amount of milk called for this time and the batter was thicker and pancakes were fluffier!
same amount of butter milk and milk? just soak the kernals with 1:1
ratio?
Made these in my Vitamix this morning. Halved the recipe for just two people, used soymilk soured with vinegar and powdered vegan egg replacer. They were fantastic!! Only had to blend for a minute and I had neglected to read thoroughly so I’d dumped everything in from the beginning but it was fine that way. I will definitely be making these again.
Mel,
Would you be able to use an egg substitute or does it have to be regular eggs? I recently tried the flax meal/water combo as a sub for eggs in baking, but I wasn’t sure if this would work for pancakes.
I haven’t tried an egg substitute in this recipe but if the flax sub works elsewhere it’s definitely worth a try.
Thank you Mel and thank you Auntie Marilyn! I was nervous that blending to mix would make these tough but they were the easiest most tender and moist whole wheat pancakes I have ever had. The batter was easy pour, not thick like I’m used to. No fuss, no mess! And FRESH WHOLE grain! Hooray! I used my vita-mix and went by eye, not the time. It’s a good thing I did, because the batter would have cooked! I only used half of it. I’m sure tomorrow’s pancakes will be even better after the batter rests for a day. I will be looking for many more of your recipes. :)) Thank you.
These were so yummy and easy by mixing in the blend tec. They were light and fluffy not like sometimes to get with whole wheat pancake. Definitely will be using again and again so thanks for sharing!!
Anyone try to make these with an egg substitute (e.g. bananas? flax egg?)
Reading through the comments, I think that the soak will solve everybody’s problems. Mine were fluffy, and cooked really quickly – no raw insides at all. I usually get a bit of rawness with NORMAL pancakes, so the fact that I didn’t with these was a real treat. Be kind to your blenders – soak your grains!
I don’t have a blender, only a food processor, so I didn’t want to risk whizzing everything together straight off; instead I soaked the wheat in the buttermilk OVERNIGHT, and then did everything else as written (also added a banana). These were a great, great, great success. Apparently our buttermilk in Israel is different somehow to yours – less rising abilities, maybe?? But it’s sour and milky and it seemed to do the trick. Really impressed and thrilled to have found this recipe. My 3.5 and 6.5 year olds enjoyed them very much. The long soak was essential, I think, with only a food processor to work with. THANK YOU!
These were super easy to whip up – I used a Blendtec, so I didn’t have to blend as long as you stated…because that thing will chew up a pool cue. The smell and flavor are amazing, but they are the flattest pancakes I’ve ever made. Not sure why that happened….even after letting the batter rest, they were still flat. However, we sure aren’t hurting to eat them. 🙂 I made a big batch for the freezer too. Thanks!
Just wanted to let you know I tried these. Having tried blender wheat pancakes years ago (which were terrible!!) I was a bit leery but thought I’d give it a shot given your recommendation. I’m pleasantly surprised to say we loved them!! They turned out amazingly fluffy (which was not the case with the hockey puck pancakes of yesteryear) which I was very happy about. A light, fluffy texture is big for me when it comes to pancakes, and these did not disappoint. They definitely had a nutty, hearty flavor, which we enjoyed. Thanks for another winning recipe!
We have eaten this kind of recipe off and on for years. When my children were home I would get them to guess how many pancakes one cup of whole wheat would make. I’d say we were like the little red hen using our own ingredients grown in our own town. They loved that. I use hard white wheat too. An adult can get full on two pancakes because they are whole and they stay with you a lot longer. Today I made your recipe with honey for the sugar and olive oil instead of butter. (We are in an olive oil club and get the freshest in the world so I don’t know if store bought would work as well) I did this for me because I’d been sick and now wanted something really healthy. I really like the buttermilk because it helps them to be fluffy and still moist. I like to let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes as mentioned. I don’t have all my tastebuds back yet and it was still yummy and satisfying. I will keep this recipe.
I made these last night and they are amazing. I was looking for an alternative to regular pancakes due to diabetes. I subsituted the sugar for Coconut Palm Sugar and they were still perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
I made these this morning and they didn’t turn out like how you described them, though this was no fault on your part Mel! We don’t have a blender so I used our food processor. I would say about 95 percent of the wheat berries didn’t turn to flour. So I took my colander and separated the wheat berries from the rest and added a little over 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour to the batter which make them too heavy. It was moments like this I wish I had my own mill. So, needless to say they were a little too heavy but the taste was really great!! The biggest reason I wanted to make this is because I have a food allergy to white flour, so the fact that this doesn’t have any really appealed to me. I have to prepare to take a nap within 45 minutes after eating anything with white flour because the white flour just drains me physically. Anyway, I couldn’t wait for breakfast for Thursday or Friday so after my middle schooler got home today I made these using my whole wheat flour for his afterschool snack. THEY WERE AMAZING!! my very picky 12 year old son said they taste like the ones I usually fix, but different!! That is a true compliment Mel!! I have had whole wheat pancakes before and these taste so much better. They don’t taste heavy and the texture was light and fluffy.
I looked online and a website said that the equivalent of 1 cup of wheat berries equals 1.5 cups of flour, so that is what I did. I think when I make these again that I will only put 1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour in instead of 1.5 cups. Other than that, they tasted so very good and the fact that I didn’t use all purpose flour is such a bonus!! thank you and your Aunt for this recipe!!
Mel, I tried these this morning with my most agreeable testers (4 of my kids) and it was a success. You can definitely taste a strong whole wheat taste, but it was pleasant. I’m not a huge fan of pancakes personally, so maybe the whole wheat taste is why I liked these better than any pancake I’ve tried with the exception of IHOP’s “Harvest Grain ‘N Nut” pancakes. I think addition of nuts would make all the difference for me.
Anyway, I still have my more picky testers to try it out on I doubt my 17 year old “Do we HAVE to eat whole grain?” son will like them, but I honestly don’t put a lot of weight into his opinions as the only whole grain things he actually likes is oatmeal and whole wheat sandwich bread (but not whole wheat other kinds of bread). I don’t know if my husband will like them or not. He is completely on board with moving our family towards all whole grains, but he is picky about his pancakes. He might simply prefer his personal pancake recipe made with freshly ground wheat.
Anyway, thank you for all you do, but most especially for your amazing whole grain recipes.
Thanks, Robin! At least several of the family members liked them (if your house is like mine, 100% would be a miracle!).
I had the exact same experience that Craig ^^ did. It was with my Blendtec though. A morning of complete disaster! I don’t know what the heck went wrong?!
I made these tonight and they were delish! They beat Bisquick pancakes to pieces and love the fact that they are much much better for us too!
I just tried these. Very good, both with and without chocolate chips. I used a kitchenaid food processor instead of a blender (too lazy to pull out the blender). I didn’t follow the recipe too precisely. I also used powdered buttermilk instead of fresh since that is what we keep around. The batter is almost more like a runny yeast dough (at the Buttermilk-wheat stage) than a pancake batter. I blended it longer than 3 minutes. After about 5 minutes it wasn’t runny at all, but more smooth. It is still thicker and a little stickier than normal batter when ready to cook. I still had a little graininess from the wheat that wasn’t fully ground, but I since I hate food to be too soft with no texture, I preferred that. The first set looked done, but the middle was still a little creamy. I upped the temperature on the next batch – they stayed spongier and kept their rise better. I’m at 7000 feet so nothing cooks quite the same. Thanks! I’ll be trying out more of your recipes.
Have you ever tried them with Rumford Baking Powder. It is amazing!
I had the same problem that I could NOT get them to cook through to the middle. My mix was very warm after I finished blending. Maybe I shouldn’t have used my Vitamix on high? I’ll try it again though because I just starting sprouting my own wheat berries and I really want this to work. You haven’t failed me yet so if I can figure out what I’m doing wrong I know these will be delicious.
Hi Mel,
Just tried these today in my new blendtec and they worked so great! I often make whole wheat pancakes but these seemed so light and fluffy and tasted really yummy. This is my new go to pancake recipe! Thanks so much 🙂
Karen
We loved them! this recipe has been on my list “to try” so glad I did:)
@melanie, thanks for the gluten free tip.
Made these for the first time this morning. Awesome!!! Kids loved them, what a great use for wheat berries.
Love these! We make them often. I replace the sugar with honey and just started baking them in the oven! Linked you in our blog post today 🙂 http://mahaloetsy.blogspot.com/2013/03/pancake-solution.html
Thank you for a great recipe!
Just so you know and any other gluten free readers…I have made these several times with buckwheat kernels and also with gluten free oat groats subbed straight across for the wheat berries and they are wonderful either way! Thanks for the delicious, easy breakfast!
Wow! These were fantastic! I’ve never heard of anything like these before, but I have plenty of wheat berries to make this recipe again and again! My two year old especially loved them. He ate 5 of them, and he didn’t even want syrup on them! Thank you so much for this recipe! Oh, and I used my old, junky blender and they turned out just fine.
So I made these last night dnd they were an epic fail!! I was so dissapointed because I had such high hopes for them. I’ve been thinking about them all morning… So I decided to look at the recipe again. Lo and behold… I used 1 TEASPOON baking powder! Oops! I must have been going too fast and missed that it said tablespoon. Surprisingly, My 5 year old still ate the few that turned out ok. I LOVE your recipes, so I’m going to try this again… The right way!;)
I am trying these right now, but I messed up on step one. I didn’t add The milk when I put the wheat kernals in the blender. Will it still work ok?
I consider my blender dead even though it’s slightly kicking. So I used freshly ground flour and it worked fantastically! 1c wheat = roughly 1.5c flour. Oh and I doubled it.
Every single person loved them!
Thanks!
These blender pancakes are definitely the best I’ve tried, I had given up on them, but they were so yummy, even my husband said they didn’t taste “whole wheaty” going in the permanent recipe binder! I cut the butter to 2 T. and it worked great!
These are the best blender whole wheat pancakes I have tried! I have had no problem with these, but I do have a Vitamix so that may make the difference! I also make the buttermilk with 1 tbsp. of white vinegar and it works well. Even my white stuff only son loves them! Thanks so much for a winning recipe!
Craig – sure, go ahead and add more sugar if you want them sweeter. I don’t have a NINJA so I’m not exactly sure what went wrong but it sounds like the batter may have warmed up or even cooked a bit while you blended it. In my blender, the batter is very pourable after blending and isn’t warm to the touch at all. I’m sorry they didn’t work out for you! Do you have another type of blender to use? I’m assuming not. But if you do, that might be a good comparison.
Well I’m joining the ranks of the “it didn’t work for me”. I have a NINJA blender , made them the night before. The batter, before going into the fridge was EXTREMELY THICK to the point I couldn’t get them out of the blender without scooping it out, so I added more milk. The batter even started to warm up from all the blending. But adding the milk, seemed to work a little but not much. Put them in the fridge for the night. NEXT MORNING…the batter was thicker than ever so i re-blended it with a little more milk. Spooned the batter onto a hot griddle, and they took forever to cook. First batch cooked for over 10 min in total and was still raw in the middle (had to cook them further so we wouldn’t eat raw batter). Finally got the cooked through and through but they also were flat as, well “a pancake”. No rise or lift to them at all. Also, the wife said they were also pretty bland tasting, missing that sweetness of regular pancakes. Can I add more sugar?
I still have enough for 1-2 more batches and am willing to try once more if the tips can help.
Any thoughts?
I’m only commenting because I saw a couple negative reviews and I just Do. Not. Get. It. BEST PANCAKES EVER!!! Not best whole wheat, not best blender, JUST FLAT OUT BEST PANCAKES EVER!!! So fluffy, light, and delicious. We absolutely love these. I have no idea how they could turn out flat for people with a full tablespoon of baking powder in them…
To be fair, I also have a blendtec… BUT. I also made blender pancakes before I had it, and while I didn’t care for the recipes I had, I never had any trouble getting the batter smooth. I think any blender can do it if you just let it blend for enough time. Anyway, just wanted to thank you for this great recipe. I already posted it to Facebook, they really are fabulous! I’ve made them about 7 or 8 times now, and I’ve doubled it almost every time to feed my family of 5 and have some left over for school lunches. Sooooo good!
Wow these do taste pretty good for whole wheat pancakes!! Pretty quick to put together too. Thanks!