Fluffy Multigrain Buttermilk Pancakes

 I wanted pancakes this morning, and I have a bunch of different types of flour taking up space in my fridge, so I thought I'd try using a couple of them.  This time, I used a standard buttermilk pancake recipe but I doubled the leavener and I split the flour into half cake flour and half whole grain flour, by weight.  That worked pretty well.  They had a nice height and were very tender.  I might even try 2-1 whole grain flour next time.

I also had some leftover creme fraiche that I used, but sour cream or yogurt would be fine.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (2.5 oz) cake flour
• 1/2 cup (2.5 oz) whole grain flours -- whole wheat, oat, quinoa, buckwheat, whatever
• 1 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup buttermilk (I use powdered)
• 2 tbsps sour cream or creme fraiche or plain yogurt
• 1 large egg, separated
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter, cooled to room temp

Instructions

1. Whisk flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in medium bowl. (Add the powdered buttermilk here if you're using it.)
2.  In second medium bowl, whisk together buttermilk (or 1 cup of water if using powdered buttermilk), sour cream, egg yolk, and oil.
3. Beat the egg white to stiff peaks in a separate bowl. (This is optional, but easy to do if you have a hand mixer.)
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir gently until combined. Fold in egg white. Allow batter to sit 10 minutes before cooking.

Mini Bran Muffins with Currants

A baker's dilemma: "What shall I do with all this wheat bran I have in the fridge?"  Today, I had a little sour cream left over too, so I thought I'd make bran muffins.  I used the Cook's Illustrated recipe (the one that calls for wheat bran, not the one that uses bran cereal) but I used currants instead of raisins and baked them in a mini muffin tin for about 15 minutes.  I also used powdered buttermilk, which worked out fine.  They are very tasty.  If I eat six of these, that's like one regular muffin, right?

Peach and Blueberry Pie with Rye Flour Crust

I was going to make tarts, but then it looked like I had a lot of fruit, and the dough I made was more like a pie dough, so I made a pie instead.  I made the Cook's Illustrated vodka pie crust (for a single crust pie) but with 50% rye flour.  I also used butter-flavored shortening (Spectrum Organics makes a good one) for the 1/4 of shortening called for in the recipe.

This dough is hard to roll out!  It's very wet.  I wonder if the density of rye flour is too different to measure it by volume in a substitution.  Maybe I should weigh it next time.  I resorted to rolling it on a silicone baking sheet with a piece of plastic wrap on top and sticking it in the freezer when it got too gluey.

The filling was totally lazy.  I just cut up some peaches, added a point of blueberries, about 5 tbsps of sugar, 4 tbsps of arrowroot, and some lemon zest and juice, and poured it all into the unbaked crust.  Then I baked it at 425 for 40 minutes, which was probably 5 minutes too long.  One problem with using the dark rye flour is that it's hard to see the crust browning until it's starting to burn.

Next time, I would probably pre-bake the crust, because it didn't hold together well on the bottom.  I just had to try it without once, to see if I could skip that step.   The filling could probably stand more arrowroot, but wouldn't need it if this was done as a tart (the fruit isn't piled as deep so there's less juice).

So how does the crust taste?  Not that different from an all-white crust, IMO.  Shirley liked it though.  It's a bit more crumbly than an all-white crust, but still very tender.  I might just use whole wheat instead of rye flour next time, because I think it provides more flavor.  Or spelt, which has a great flavor in scones.

Tomato Tarts with a Corn Flour Crust

It's tomato season again.  I decided to try making a different crust, based on one from Cook's Illustrated with a different mix of flours.  I used olive oil and half corn flour (not cornmeal or cornstarch).  I thought it tasted good, but the dough was pretty greasy to work with.  I pushed it into the pans instead of rolling it out.  Maybe the corn flour absorbs less oil than AP flour.  I measured by volume, not by weight, so it's also possible I need more flour.  I think next time I'll try using whole wheat flour for more texture.

Note: These did not require pre-baking.  The crust came out fine on the bottom without it.

Corn Tart Crust

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsps all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsps corn flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 6 tbsps olive oil
• 1/4 cup cold water

Directions

1. Mix the flours, salt, and sugar in a food processor.
2. Add olive oil and pulse until mixture becomes small pebbles.
3. Add water, one tbsp at a time, and pulse until dough starts to come together.