Shhh … it’s math. Don’t tell though because that will take all the fun right out of it!

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we are doing something a little different than traditional paper valentines this year. The first step was making wet-felted hearts.

But today’s lesson was all about math. I mean … making pancake mix.

It is true that this mix, with its oats and flax seeds is really heart-healthy, making it a nice fit for Valentine’s Day. But when you have to make 5 times the normal amount to have enough for family and friends, it’s a pretty good multiplication and fractions work-out too!

We began with the basic recipe, which we got from Mixing Bowl Kids (I love, love this blog and was excited to learn when I went to link to it that Jan has a new project she has started!).

We have made this mix a lot in the past — it is a lifesaver on those blurry who-am-I-again? mornings – and somehow over time we have adapted it a bit to meet out needs. So our basic recipe for the mix goes like this:

Whole Wheat Pancake Mix

1 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (whole spelt is great here too!) 

1 tbsp flax seeds

2 tsp brewer’s yeast

3 tbsp brown sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine ingredients in a mason jar and refrigerate. Use within two weeks.

To make the pancakes we mix 3/4 cup of the mix with 1 egg, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 cup almond milk and 1 tsp vanilla.

We then heat a skillet over medium. I like the Alton Brown approach of adding a small amount of oil to the pan and wiping up the excess with a towel. We then make small pancakes and cook until bubbles form, then flip. This usually yields us about 8 pancakes. Sometimes we like to add chopped nuts, chocolate chips, blueberries or a mashed banana before cooking too.

In order to make this in bulk for 10 friends and family members, we multiplied everything by 5 (I should probably mention here that you need a seriously big bowl if you are going to make this much mix. Really big — like something you would bathe a baby in) .

We were able to fill 12 8-ounce jars with the mix (I don’t think it will be so terrible having leftovers for us …)

The original plan was to put it in these cute little valentine’s themed plastic bags I got at Target, but when we opened them they smelled super plastic-y and I got worried that the mix would taste weird. I think the jars actually worked out a lot better, especially when we filled them and saw they each hold exactly 3/4 of a cup!

We also included a note with each jar explaining how to make pancakes from the mix and listing ingredients in case of any allergies or intolerances.

It was a very fun project with all that measuring and dumping and math … Whoops said it again. I meant pancake mix-making. Yeah … that’s what I meant.

Happy Valentine’s Day!!