Let’s be clear: I am not really a breakfast person. On a work day I grab a protein bar on my way out the door, because I know I should eat something, but on the weekend I usually forgo breakfast entirely or grab something simple, like a bagel and cream cheese. However, when I cook a “real” breakfast, such as at large family gatherings (where, appropriately enough, the photo below was taken), I almost always make Mennonite pancakes.

I first ate these when I took a break from my work for the Peace Corps in Guatemala (Over 10 years ago now! Cue nostalgic music.) to visit a good friend who was doing volunteer work in Nicaragua. Up until then I was pretty “meh” about pancakes in general, but this recipe made me realize that the problem wasn’t pancakes per se, it was that I hadn’t actually had any good pancakes before (Note to anyone who made me pancakes in my childhood: it’s not you, it’s me. I’m sure they were delicious.) So I asked my friend for the recipe, and she showed me where she had found it: in a battered cookbook written for Mennonite missionaries that had somehow migrated to her Nicaraguan kitchen.

Before writing this post, I googled “Mennonite pancakes” and found the probable cookbook these came from— the Mennonite Treasury of Recipes— but the internet only seems to have the German pancake recipe from said book. As far as I know, this is the first time this recipe has been shared with the entire world. The mind boggles.

[My friend Anne has shown up in the comments and guess what… she remembers the cookbook name! It’s actually the More-With-Less Cookbook. Googling with this new info does bring this recipe up elsewhere, so I guess I don’t get to claim an internet first after all— but they are still delicious pancakes!]

As for making these, the only ingredients I occasionally have to wander the grocery store looking for are wheat germ (pro tip: Safeway keeps it by the oatmeal, not by the baking stuff) and powdered milk (usually in the baking aisle), but you shouldn’t have to go to a specialty store for anything. The dry mix keeps a long time—at least a few months. Though the internet tells me that wheat germ is more perishable than other pantry staples, I’ve never had a problem with my mix having off smells or flavors even after a couple months of storage.

Mennonite Pancakes

From the “More-With-Less Cookbook”

To make dry mix:

Total time: 10 minutes; Servings: 6 batches of pancakes

Ingredients:
4 C all purpose flour
2 C instant oatmeal
1 C wheat germ
2 C powdered milk
1 TB salt
6 TB baking powder
6 TB sugar

Directions:
Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl. Dry mix can be stored in an airtight container for a very long time.

To make pancakes:

Total time: 10 minutes; Servings: about 10 pancakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 C of dry mix
1 egg
1 C water (can be adjusted for thicker or thinner pancakes)
2 TB oil

Directions:
Mix all ingredients and cook your pancakes over medium-high heat on an ungreased non-stick pan or griddle. Flip them when popped bubbles begin to leave tiny “holes” in the batter.