Add whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Whisk to combine thoroughly.

In another bowl add a whole egg and beat. 

Add buttermilk and molasses to the bowl with the egg and stir your wet ingredients to combine.

Add your wet ingredients into the bowl with your dry ingredients and stir just long enough that you no longer see dry flour. This batter does not need to be smooth a few lumps are ok.

Leave the bowl on the counter while you prep your griddle or large pan. Once the surface is hot—after at least 4 or 5 minutes—add a teaspoon or so of butter and then when the butter is melted spoon wheatcake batter on top of that. I typically use a 1/4 or 1/3 cup measure to measure out my pancakes.

Griddle over medium heat. Once you start to see bubbles appearing on the uncooked side of the pancake, you can flip. Using a spatula I sometimes will peek under the pancake just to see the level of browning achieved before flipping. Whole wheat pancakes brown a bit darker than regular pancakes so be aware of that. 

Cook for another couple of minutes on the second side.

Once your pancake is cooked on both sides, remove from the heat to a sheet pan or cookie pan and place in a 200-degree F oven to keep pancakes warm until the rest are finished cooking.