I love talking to Matt Swaim today on the Sonrise Morning Show/Sacred Heart Radio. Each week we talk about Bible foods and herbs, and with Lent coming up, the subject was Pancakes!!

The Shrove Tuesday tradition in England was that Christians went to confession and were “shriven”  – which means absolved from their sins. 

in the villages A bell would be rung to call people to confession. This came to be called the “Pancake Bell” and is still rung today in some places that celebrate Shrove Tuesday very traditionally.. 

Shrove Tuesday was the last opportunity to use up eggs and fats before embarking on the Lenten fast and pancakes are the perfect way of using up these ingredients. 

Yes, as I understand it, some  the ingredients in the pancakes were prohibited to eat during the 40 days of Lent. 

The ingredients for pancakes are symbolic:

Eggs ~ Creation

Flour ~ The staff of life 

Salt ~ Wholesomeness

Milk ~ Purity

JESSIE’S WHOLE WHEAT BLUEBERRY PANCAKES 

From daughter-in-law Jessie Heikenfeld. A family fave!

Ingredients

2 cups milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons oil

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 generous cup blueberries.

Instructions

Mix wet ingredients well together. Mix dry ingredients well together. 

Then combine the 2! Don’t overmix.

Pour about 1/4 cup or so of batter onto greased hot 

griddle for each pancake. 

Cook until bubbles form and just start to pop on the top surface and 

the edges appear 

dry. Turn the pancake with a wide spatula to lightly brown the other 

side. Turn pancakes only once.

WHOLE WHEAT APPLE PANCAKES WITH NUTMEG SYRUP

From Kathy Morley, a member of our recipes group. Kathy says “these are wonderful because they don’t have the heavy “whole wheat taste”. Originally from her cousin, Mary Dean Miller.

Ingredients

1 cup whole Wheat Flour

½ cup wheat germ

2 eggs

1-1/2 C. buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 apple, peeled and roughly chopped

Instructions

Combine ingredients and cook on a hot griddle as you would regular pancakes.

Serves 3-4. These are wonderful because they do not have that heavy “whole wheat” taste.

Nutmeg Syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

Pinch of salt

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon butter

½ t. nutmeg

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a saucepan.  Pour in boiling water.  Stirring constantly, add butter and let boil 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and add nutmeg.  YUM!!!  

LOIS’ BUTTERMILK PANCAKES

These come from the kitchen of Lois Boekley, a creative and careful cook. This is a traditional, lovely pancake.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose

1 1/2 teaspoons double acting baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 egg

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Instructions

Mix dry, then wet ingredients, then combine the 2!

Do not overmix. 

Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto greased or buttered hot griddle for each pancake, spreading the batter out a bit. 

Cook until bubbles form and just start to pop on the top surface and the edges appear dry. Turn the pancake with a wide spatula to lightly brown the other side. Turn pancakes only once.

Makes about 10 to 12 pancakes.

Variation: Regular pancakes can be made by substituting 1 to 1 1/4 cups of sweet milk for the buttermilk, increasing the baking powder to 3 teaspoons and omitting the baking soda.

WHOLE WHEAT APPLE PANCAKES WITH NUTMEG SYRUP

Ingredients

1 cup whole Wheat Flour

½ cup wheat germ

2 eggs

1-1/2 C. buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 apple, peeled and roughly chopped

Instructions

Combine ingredients and cook on a hot griddle as you would regular pancakes.

Serves 3-4. These are wonderful because they do not have that heavy “whole wheat” taste.

Nutmeg Syrup

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

Pinch of salt

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon butter

½ t. nutmeg

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a saucepan.  Pour in boiling water.  Stirring constantly, add butter and let boil 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and add nutmeg.