These scratch pancakes contain oatmeal, whole weat, berries, and nuts. We love 'em!

They're healthier, thicker, and heartier than regular pancakes. The protein in the nuts and oatmeal make them more filling, and the berries give them more vitamins. The whole weat flour gives them more fiber.

I cook mine on an electric ceramic-coated griddle with coconut oil. You can use a skillet if you like.

Step 1: Ingredients

Gather the ingredients, all pictured here.

I cook for a family of five, and I use:

Self-rising flour (about 2 cups)

Whole wheat flour (about 1.5 cups)

Dry oatmeal (about 3/4 cups)

Pecans or Walnuts (about 1/4 cup)

Berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, chopped strawberries, or a mixture!) (about 1 cup)

Eggs (2 large or 3 small)

Buttermilk (about 3-4 cups)

Baking Soda (1.5 teaspoon)

Baking Powder (1.5 teaspoon)

Step 2: Assemble the Dry Ingredients

I start by chopping a few nuts (either walnuts or pecans, usually). I fill up my chopper once, which makes about a quarter cup of chopped nuts

I use a cup to 1.5 cups of berries, usually frozen just because that's cheaper. My favorite is blueberries or blackberries. Sometimes I get a bag of mixed frozen berries that includes strawberries. I chop those up in my chopper.

Then I place the nuts and berries in the bottom of a big bowl.

Then I add some dry oatmeal.

Then I start adding the flour. To make these hearty, I do half whole wheat flour and half self-rising flour. To make them extra fluffy, I add baking soda and baking powder.

Sometimes I throw in something extra to give the pancakes more fiber and texture, such as wheat germ or chia seeds or smashed up bran flakes.

I never measure ingredients unless I have to. I feed a family of 5, so you can look at the amounts I put in the bowl to get an idea of how much I use. My pancakes are different every time!

Step 3: Add Eggs and Buttermilk, Stir

Next is the eggs. I use three little ones or two big ones for my pancakes for five.

Last, I pour in the buttermilk. It's thicker than regular milk and adds a great flavor to cakes.

Now stir it up some, spread those eggs and buttermilk all through the other ingredients. I simply use a large regular spoon for stirring my batter.

Again, I go by how things feel. The amount of buttermilk depends on the amount of flour you use.

I keep adding buttermilk until it gets just to the consistency I want. I aim for a texture that's pretty thick because the pancakes need some body to hold in those berries and nuts.

Step 4: Prep the Griddle, Ladle on the Pancake Batter

While I'm stirring in the buttermilk, I fire up my griddle. As soon as it's hot, I get a spoonful or two of coconut oil to spread around.

Then, using a ladle, I spoon the pancake batter onto the griddle. I use less than a full ladleful of batter for each pancake. If the pancakes are too big, they get difficult to flip.

Step 5: Flip 'em, Cook Some More, Then Serve!

The great thing about pancakes is you can know when to flip them by watching them. When they're ready, you can tell they're solid around the edges and bubbles rise in the middle. See the bubbles rising in my picture?

Because this is a coated griddle, I use a plastic spatula to flip my pancakes. I like them golden brown like the one in the picture. You can tell I also added some additional blackberries by hand as the pancakes cooked. I love lots of berries in my pancakes!

After you've flipped the pancake and it's cooked on both sides, you can put it on a plate. I cover the plate with a towel to keep my pancakes warm while I cook another batch. I always add more coconut oil between batches. The oil keeps the pancakes from sticking and helps them get crisp on the outside. It also adds some flavor.

Once I'm finished (usually with 3.5 batches of six or seven pancakes each),I serve them with butter and either real maple syrup or powdered sugar and cinnamon. Yum!