I had every intention of going for a run on Sunday morning, but alas the weather conditions were less than ideal. The lyrics to a certain Jack Johnson song came to mind:
Well can’t you see that it’s just rainin’
Ain’t no need to go outside
So instead I dragged my derriere out of bed for a quick and sweaty workout in front of the TV with my BFF Jillian . As I stretched down afterwards I found myself debating possible breakfast options. Pancakes seemed like the obvious choice, with it being a weekend and all – but I was starving and in need of immediate sustenance.
Cue some green juice:
Celery, cucumber, basil, spinach apple and a smidgen of lemon.This tided me over nicely while I whipped up the perfect breakfast inspired by the aforementioned lyrics.Thank you, Jack Johnson.
Serves 1/yields 3 large pancakes
- 1/2 cup buckwheat flour*
- 1/4 cup wholewheat pastry flour **
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of sea salt
- 2/3 cup almond milk
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp agave nectar
- 1 small overripe banana or 1/2 a large one
- 1 small flax egg
- coconut oil or vegan margarine for frying
* Made from ground raw buckwheat groats, not kasha
** This is sometimes labeled as finely milled wholemeal flour, especially here in the UK.
- Mix 1 teaspoon of ground flaxseed with 2-3 teaspoons of warm water and set aside to gel.
- Add the dry ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the banana, almond milk, and vanilla essence. Alternatively, mash the banana and whisk in with the remainder of the ingredients in a smaller bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to dry and mix till just combined. The batter will be pretty thick and look slightly gummy – don’t worry, that’s what buckwheat flour does. This is why I used a smaller flax egg for this particular recipe.
- Lightly grease a skillet or breakfast griddle using coconut oil or vegan margarine on low to medium heat. Scoop in the batter in 1/4 cup increments and cook for 2-3 minutes, flipping in between.
Trust me, it’ll be worth it when you bite into a perfectly fluffy and moist (sorry) pancake.
Served with sliced bananas (naturally), strawberries, a healthy drizzle of real maple syrup and some natural peanut butter.
It’s safe to say these pancakes were well worth the wait.Buckwheat pancakes have always kind of always eluded me. Sure, I’ve made them before with varying rates of success, but never this well (excuse my ego). All jokes aside, here are some tried and tested tips for the perfect buckwheat pancakes:
- At the very least, use a 1:1 ratio of buckwheat flour to other. I used to be wary of adding too much buckwheat flour for fear of an overly dense pancake but I’ve found using too little results in thinner more crepe-like pancakes.
- Conversely, don’t try and make an all-buckwheat flour pancake. It needs the wheat flour to hold together.
- Don’t let the batter sit around, it’ll already be quite thick since buckwheat flour is more absorbant than wheat and it will thicken with time so cook immediately.
- This is pretty much true of all pancakes, but slow and steady really does win the race. The key to perfect pancakes is patience – resist the urge to up the heat or flip before each side is properly cooked. Just leave them be and let them cook at leisure until nicely golden brown.
Mmm! this recipe looks and sounds so ding dang good! Happy Pancake Day!