Healthy Ginger Molasses Pancakes From Scratch

These healthy ginger molasses pancakes satisfy the craving of ginger cookies, but are less sugar, high in fiber, rich in minerals, making them a perfect addition to your December breakfast repertoire!

What makes them healthy?

Much like everything in life, our thoughts, our words, behavior: few things are neutral. Everything we do is either moving us toward health and wholeness or moving us further away from it. It’s the same with the ingredients in our food. Even water, the most neutral thing we can think of, moves us one way or the other. That’s why, even in typical “junk food,” my main priority is nutrition. Pancakes? What a great opportunity for all kinds of vitamins and minerals! Let’s take a look at the ingredients in these healthy ginger molasses pancakes!

Buttermilk

Botched yogurt that didn’t thicken for whatever reason Buttermilk is loaded with probiotics, protein and calcium. It’s also a great source of phosphorus, potassium, vitamin B12, riboflavin and vitamin D.

Whole Grain Flour

I love taking the opportunity that breakfast gives us to utilize different grains. We can take all the probiotics that we want, but if we are only eating a small variety of foods, we are starving entire colonies of our microbiome. Soft white grain feeds different beneficial bacteria than einkorn, which feeds different ones than the next grain. Many of the more ancient varieties are low in gluten and don’t do well as yeast/sourdough breads. But pancakes, cakes, muffins and quick breads are all a perfect place to get in those obscure grains! Freshly ground whole grains are rich in fiber, vitamins, and minerals, including iron, magnesium and potassium.

Eggs

Rich in almost every vitamin, protein, choline (great for brain health)… and we load up on them in these pancakes!

Blackstrap Molasses

One of the best natural sources for iron! Also vitamin B6, (good for skin!) manganese, magnesium, potassium and selenium. I made a goat milk formula for my first baby when I was afraid I wasn’t producing enough… one of the key players in bringing required nutrients was blackstrap molasses! (Azure has the best price— 32oz of organic blackstrap for $7!)

Ginger

High in antimicrobial, antibacterial and antioxidant properties—ginger helps most that ails!

Clove

More manganese and magnesium, potassium, calcium, sodium, vitamin K and antioxidants. It also has something surprising (to me!): beta carotene! Cloves are great for strengthening bones and creating hormones.

Natural Sweetener

Sometimes called Sucanat, natural sugar still has the molasses in it, so we’re getting more of what we found in molasses. Honey has tons of vitamins and minerals, anti inflammatory and anti microbial properties.

How To Make Healthy Ginger Molasses Pancakes

Mix 4 cups (520 grams) any flour of your choice (but might I suggest something fun and nutritious like khorasan, spelt or einkorn?) with 2 TBS natural sugar or alternative, 1 TBS baking powder, 1 TBS ginger, 1 tsp clove and 1/2 tsp salt. In a separate bowl, mix 4 cups of buttermilk, 5 eggs, and 1/2 cup (155 grams) molasses. To the wet ingredients, start mixing in the dry ingredients, stirring until it is just combined. Let rest for about 5 minutes while you heat up your griddle. (I set my electric one to 350, and heat my cast iron pan on a large burner on low.)

Butter griddle immediately before pouring on 1/3 cup of batter. Optional add in: disperse some finely chopped crystallized ginger on each uncooked pancake once bubbles emerge, then flip. Cook for another two minutes. I place mine in the oven set at 170 to keep warm while I cook the rest. The kids set the table and wait patiently until everyone can sit down together and enjoy our breakfast! We love to top ours with grassfed butter and maple syrup with some whipped cream!

Soaked Grain Option with No Wheat Grinder

If you don’t have a wheat grinder, but want to enjoy freshly milled whole-grain pancakes, the night before, weigh out 520 grams of wheat berries. Set in a large bowl, top with water and 1 tsp vinegar or lemon juice. (This helps release the phytic acid.) Soak overnight.

In the morning, rinse and drain well. Weigh the wheat berries. Whatever they weigh above 520 grams, subtract that from the 1000 ml of buttermilk. So if the berries weigh 726 after soaking, then we’ll subtract 520 from that and get 206. We’ll subtract that from 1000 and have 794. That’s how many milliliters we will add of buttermilk!

In a high pressure blender, blend the grains with buttermilk. You might have to do this in a few batches, depending on the size of your blender. Add the rest of the ingredients aside from the baking powder. Mix everything well, then add the baking powder. A Danish whisk is perfect for incorporating all the ingredients without over-mixing.

Cook per instructions above.

Sourdough Discard Variety

The night before, mix sourdough discard with the flour and buttermilk. (If you don’t have buttermilk, using starter accomplishes the sour flavor, so feel free to use water.) It honestly doesn’t matter how much— sourdough is 100% hydration and so is pancake batter. Use at least 1/2 a cup of starter. In the morning, mix in the rest of the ingredients and follow remaining instructions.

Enjoy Healthy Ginger Molasses Pancakes

If you have time off this Christmas and New Year, I hope you take the time for this slow, healthy breakfast. And, though we do tend to eat more extravagantly this time of year, I hope that you will be looking for all the ways to boost nutrition in your delicacies!

Comment below if you try these and let us know what you think!