Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

OR When Cooking for One Means Eating for Four (No, I'm Not Expecting Triplets)
OR Had a bad day? Make pancakes and don't look back.
OR Pancakes for Dinner? Cookies for Breakfast!
OR My Apartment Smells Like Maple Syrup.

When I was growing up, one of my best friends used to have sundaes for dinner on occasion. Even though my parents both have sweet tooths, we weren't the "Eat dessert first" type of family. The closest thing we'd get to having dessert for dinner was having breakfast for dinner. This wasn't too often and usually consisted of an egg dish, but how great are pancakes for dinner? It's like how you wait for French Toast Stick day in the school cafeteria to beg your parents for lunch money instead of having to take your baloney sandwich. (Does your baloney have a middle name? Mine didn't.)

This Thursday, I decided to whip up some pancakes. Quite frankly, it was because I wasn't in the mood for anything I had in the fridge. Also, I was craving maple syrup and what better vehicle to hold the maple syrup than tasty blueberry pancakes.

My first snag was I didn't actually have any pancake mix. Then I remembered that pancakes are actually really easy to make, and if you are even only slightly grown up like myself then you probably have all of the ingredients on hand (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, egg, butter, milk). I quickly referenced Allrecipes, which is a good website if you are looking for ALL RECIPES. What I like about this site, actually, is you can convert the ingredients into smaller amounts and you can do it by serving size. I was hungry, so I converted an 8 serving recipe in half and I was lazy so I let the computer do it.

Here is what you need for 4 servings of pancakes (or click here for original recipe):
3/4 cup all purpose flour (I used whole-wheat pastry, it's what I had)
1 3/4 tablespoons baking powder (I estimated this)**
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons white sugar
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons milk (I used more milk than this because I like my batter thinner)
1/2 egg (use 1/8 cup of egg beaters or other egg white mixture)
almost 2 tablespoons of butter
**A few people think this is too much baking powder. I honestly just took a regular old spoon and spooned some in so I have no idea how much I used. If you want to cut it down, go for it. 1 heaping teaspoon would probably be enough. Who cares about b-powder. I'm sure I don't.You are supposed to sift all of the dry ingredients in order to make them light and airy. I don't have a sifter or a sieve, so I put them in a bowl and whisked them dry. Seriously, this works. It takes out the lumps and adds the air into them. Then, add your wet ingredients. If you can, warm up the milk slightly and get the egg to room temperature. I can't remember why this is, but there is something about using very cold milk and very cold egg that isn't fabulous for pancakes. It won't kill it though.

Whisk all ingredients together. It's fine if there are lumps, you don't want to over whisk. If you do, they will become more dense because by whisking too much you get rid of the air bubbles. Nobody likes dense pancakes. Then, add your blueberries.

The blueberries I choose are frozen by this company:Why do I use only these blueberries? (1) They are tasty (2) They are frozen fresh (3) They don't add any unnecessary sugar. If you can't have fresh it is definitely okay to go frozen. BUT, do not get the kind that is frozen in a block of syrup. That's not even real fruit. Those frozen fruits should only be used to make strawberry cake when extra sugar will only make you stronger.

Next, I usually use a measuring cup to pour them out onto the pan, that has been sprayed with Pam or coated with a knob of butter. Why a measuring cup? No, I am not anal about the size of my pancakes nor do I need them to all be the same. I've just found that a soup ladle picks up too much batter whereas a 1/4 measuring cup is the perfect amount for a medium sized pancake. A gravy ladle (if you have one) works great, too.If I had a dog, I would purposely ruin the first pancake so I could give it to her, but I don't. So, pay attention. Wait til the edges are dry and there are bubbles in the top before flipping it. If it burns before it is cooked thoroughly enough to flip the pancake easily, your pan is too hot so turn the flame down.It will only take about half the time to cook the second side, so make sure you keep an eye on it. Some people press down on their pancakes with a spatula so they can watch the ooze come out and make sure it's cooked all the way through. I'm not against this technique, but some people think that's a sure way to kill the fluffiness. Whatever.

Stack them all up on a plate, top with butter and maple syrup, and cut them into triangles like you are serving up the most amazing layer cake for dinner ever, and EAT THEM ALL. You won't regret it. Okay, you might, but just a little.