Pancakes! It’s time for pancakes! I love lazy weekend breakfasts, and spending time cooking something more like brunch than breakfast before getting started on a full afternoon of … whatever it happens to be.

On an Olympics weekend, I was in the mood for American-style pancakes. But with a valiant attempt at being pre-vacation healthy, these were whole wheat walnut pancakes. You could just as easily make them with white flour, though the proportions are slightly different.

Because I was sharing breakfast with someone who is lactose intolerant, I tried my hand at lactose-free pancakes. Luckily, the milk proportions are exactly the same.

This was a hearty, yummy breakfast. Whole wheat doesn’t usually offer as much fluff as white flour pancakes, which is worth bearing in mind. However, we both ate them ravenously, and I’d wished I’d made more!

Serves: 4 people; or 16 pancakes. (I halved this recipe, and we ate 4 pancakes each.)

On the Counter:

2 cups (130 g) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (50 g) chopped walnut pieces
4 tsp (18 g) baking powder
1/2 tsp (1.5 g) salt
2 tsp (9 g) cinnamon
2 (9 g) tsp sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups (130 ml) lowfat milk
2 tsp (9 ml) vanilla
1 tbsp (25 g) butter (or butter substitute)

What to Do:

Drop the butter onto your griddle or flat frying pan, put aside.

Sift dry ingredients (flour, walnuts, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, sugar) into a bowl.

Gently add wet ingredients (everything else) and mix. Try to remove all the dry pockets, but don’t overmix! It’s ok if a few lumps escape, rather than having gummy pancakes.

Heat the griddle/frying pan. If you’re using a frying pan on the stove, put it to medium heat.

Once the butter is melted, swirl it around, and pour one ladle of batter into the center of the pan. Try to thin out the pancake by pouring gently. If you end up with a slightly uneven pour, don’t worry. If you move fast, you can flatten it out with the bottom of your ladle.

After the top of the pancake stops looking completely liquidy, (about 2 minutes), gently slide your spatula underneath and flip it. If it sticks, it’s probably not ready yet. Cook the other side for about 1 minute, but check on it by pulling up the edge slightly with your spatula.

Place your pancakes on a plate that’s been covered with a paper towel, so it doesn’t get soggy.

As is generally true with pancakes and crepes, the first one is usually a bit imperfect. Once you get the hang of pancakes, it’s usually not inedible, just not as perfect. But if your first pancake looks like a disaster, don’t worry! It’s just a part of the process.

We ate our pancakes with a bit of butter/spread and real maple syrup while watching Andy Murray work his way to a gold in tennis.