Why should Sunday have all the fun? In the time it takes to heat your griddle, you can mix a batch of these Red Fife Heritage Grain pancakes any day, adding nothing more than water and melted butter. And since the main ingredient is flour made from a 19th-century heirloom grain, you really taste the wheat – nutty and complex – in a way that will make you wonder what those other flat, round things you’ve consumed for years even were.
A wholesome and tastier flapjack was exactly what Jeff Zimmerman was after when he founded Hayden Flour Mills in Tempe, Arizona. He started by ordering a 1,000-pound millstone from Austria, but had trouble convincing farmers to plant the unfamiliar types of wheat he was passionate about using. Finally, a farmer right there in Queen Creek volunteered 30 of his 800 acres for an experiment with White Sonoran wheat, a variety brought to the Southwest by European missionaries in the 1700s.
Today, Hayden Flour Mills’ production remains small, and the team tight-knit, with Jeff’s daughter at the helm, a bearded banjo player named Ben running the millstone and two of the farmers’ daughters helping with the books and other behind-the-scene tasks.
The results totally outweigh the effort, so be sure to dust some flour on the counters and maybe even across your forehead before calling the kiddos down for a stack on a school morning. They’ll be totally thrilled and none the wiser.
THE PERFECT PANCAKE
1 cup pancake mix
1 cup water
1 tablespoon melted butter
DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk pancake mix, water and melted butter together.
2. Pour ¼ cup batter at a time onto a hot frying pan. When the pancakes are full of bubbles on the top, it's time to flip them.
3. Place the finished pancakes on a warm plate in a 200° F oven until you have enough to serve. Top with butter and maple syrup, or any fresh fruit and enjoy!
Total time: 10 minutes
Yield: Makes 12 amazing 4-inch pancakes