Four Grain Chocolate chip Pancakes

Growing up my mom made homemade, from scratch pancakes...But never for breakfast.  I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm guessing she didn't want to get up extra early to mix everything together.  And I don't exactly remember eating breakfast together as a family.  But now dinner, that was different.  I remember we ate together for what seemed like every dinner.  And we'd have pancakes, for dinner, at least a couple times a month.

Now that I have a family of my own, and I do more than half of the meal prep, I have continued the tradition.  Homemade pancakes for DINNER!  But I have changed a few things from my mom's meal plan and recipe.  First of all, my pancakes are 4 grain.  My husband affectionately calls them "gravel" pancakes, because they have more texture than your 100% all-purpose flour pancakes.  The four grains are 100% whole wheat flour, unbleached all-purpose flour, cornmeal and rolled oats.  Now, don't roll your eyes, the proportions are such that these pancakes are still light, fluffy and moist.  I'm not a big fan of whole wheat bread, so even though you have some whole grains in here they are still quite tasty.  In fact I like them more than my mom's all-purpose pancakes and use this recipe exclusively.  The recipe, by the way, can be found in the Pillsbury cookbook.  Although, I modified it since the original seemed really too wet.  And I added mini chocolate chips.

Just look at that nice golden color.  You know it's time to flip your pancakes when the bubbles are starting to pop and the edges look nearly set.

Perfect.  

Forget the maple syrup, I top my pancakes with a hot fruit topping.  Take your favorite frozen fruit, strawberries or peaches are my top two.  Dump them in a medium sized sauce pan.  Turn the heat on medium low and wait for them to thaw a bit.  Add a couple spoonful of sugar and they'll really been to juice.  I like a thick sauce so I always add two tablespoons of cornstarch, dissolved in a little water and stir, stir stir, until everything begins to boil.  Then stir and boil for another minute or two.  That's the secret to cornstarch!  Be patient, stir constantly, and boil it!
When you first dump the cornstarch in it makes everything real white and unappealing.  But as it begins to boil the white fades and the fruit color really begins to come through and it looks nice and glossy.  The sauce won't get real thick until the mixture cools but I like to eat it hot on hot pancakes.

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