Walnut Whole Wheat Pancakes w/ Blueberry Syrup

Just like everyone else that ate one too many desserts in the previous year, I'm starting the new year out right with some healthy new recipes and meals for my family.  My daughter wants nothing but pancakes, french toast and waffles for breakfast every single day.  Most mornings we have 1 hour for me to get everyone up, dressed, fed, showered and out the door before her bus picks her up.  That doesn't leave an abundance of time for me to cook breakfast.  So I decided to try to make my normal pancakes a bit healthier.  That was a success, she said they were the best pancakes she had ever had.  My next step was trying to get her to use blueberry syrup in place of our normal 100% Pure Maple Syrup.  That was not a success.  Everyone else loved the syrup but as you can see from the picture below she wasn't going to budge.  New pancakes, fine.  New syrup, no thank you.  My son on the other hand loved the pancakes and the blueberry syrup.  I also made these pancakes dairy free as I'm trying to get away from using dairy in my house.  I actually liked these pancakes so much I ate a few more than I should have!  My daughter hates nuts so the trick to get that extra added protein and the benefits of nuts was to grind them and use them as part of the dry ingredients.  Gave the pancakes awesome texture.   These also freeze really well so on school days you can just pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds each side and you are all set.   

Walnut Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour 

1/4 c. ground walnuts (or other nut of your choice)

3 tbsp. sugar (honey or agave nectar can be substituted) 
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs, separated & room temp.
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 1/3 cups almond milk (original or vanilla)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 
1 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
Pinch cream of tartar 

*Blueberry Syrup, recipe below

Add about a cup of walnuts to your food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Then add flour, ground nuts, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt to a large mixing bowl. Add egg yolks, oil, almond milk, lemon juice and vanilla into a separate bowl and whisk to combine.  Allow to sit for about 5 minutes giving the chance for the lemon juice to work its magic (lemon juice and almond milk together take the place of buttermilk). Place the room temperature egg yolks into your mixer fitted with a whisk and add the pinch of cream of tartar.  Beat on a medium to medium high until nice relatively stiff peaks form.  Add wet almond milk mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until just barely combined.  You don't want to whisk until all the lumps are out.  Once the egg whites are at relatively stiff peaks fold them into the pancake batter until just combined making sure to be easy enough to not deflate the egg whites.  Allow the batter to sit for a minimum of 20 minutes before pouring onto a hot skillet or griddle.  I like to use a 1/4 c. measuring cup to scoop out my pancakes and pour onto a griddle to make sure they are all relatively the same size.  Spray with a bit of non-stick cooking spray first.  Once you see bubbles on the top of the batter they are ready to flip.  

Blueberry Syrup

1/2 bag of frozen blueberries

zest and juice from 1 lemon

2 tbsp. maple syrup

Bring frozen blueberries, maple syrup and lemon juice and zest to a simmer on medium heat in a saucepan.  Allow to cook until thick and slightly reduced, about 8-10 minutes.  If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water.  If it is too thin you can cook longer to reduce or always cheat just a bit by adding a teaspoon or two of cornstarch with a bit of extra lemon juice.  

* A trick to get quick room temperature eggs.  Take your eggs out of the fridge and place in a large cup or bowl and fill with hot water from the tap.  Allow to sit in the water for 5-10 minutes.  Then dry off the eggs and use.