Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Happy Pancake Day!

Did you know today was Pancake Day in the UK? They have an actual holiday for these delicious treats. I could really get behind a country like that. Pancakes for everyone!!! However, if you're a primal chick, pancakes of the usual type are not on the menu. Full of flour and sugar, these are forbidden fruit for us. Or are they?

We are huge fans of breakfast for dinner around here. Bacon, eggs, and pancakes made the menu more than once a month, due to them being fabooboo (C'mon, admit it. That word is growing on you.), as well as quick and easy for this tired mama to make. The thought of no more pancake nights really made me so very sad, and so I began to do some searching through all of the online paleo/primal recipes. Thankfully, there are a million different pancake versions out there. The following two are the ones we've tried that have been delicious and made everyone happy.

Coconut Flour Pancakes
Found here on the nourishing days website

Ingredients
4 eggs, room temperature
1 c coconut milk
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 c coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
coconut oil or butter for frying

Directions
1. Preheat the griddle to medium low heat. Beat eggs until frothy, about two minutes. Add milk, vanilla, and honey.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Then slowly add wet mixture until all the flour is incorporated.
3. Grease pan with coconut oil or butter. Ladle out batter into small pancakes, flattening them out with the back of the spoon. The key here is to keep the pancakes small, no larger than 3 inches in diameter, and fairly thick. Cook for about 3 minutes until the sides and top start to look a little dry, and flip. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes to finish.
4. Slather in butter, coconut oil, honey, or fruit.

These were so good. The coconut flour really does not carry much of a coconut flavor, so if that's not your favorite you'll still enjoy these. Flipping these takes a little practice, because they are a thicker batter. Keeping them small is very helpful. They tasted pretty much like a regular pancake, and the kids really enjoyed them. I could see adding shredded coconut and walnuts to them, and topping with banana. That would be delish. The last time, I threw some fresh blueberries into a pot with a tablespoon of honey and reduced them until they made their own sauce. This was heaven on a plate.

coconut flour pancakes

Almond Meal Pancakes
These are more like IHOP's harvest grain and nut pancakes. They're a little denser, with a chewier, nutty texture. Still an excellent pancake, but not my girls' favorite. It was a huge hit with That Man, who adores the harvest pancakes at the aforementioned breakfast place. That makes sense, seeing as I found it on a website called Real Men Drive Minivans.

Ingredients
1 1/2 c almond meal/flour
1/2 c coconut milk
4 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla OR almond extract
Blueberries or your favorite fresh fruit (optional)

Directions
Combine all ingredients, portion out onto a medium heat griddle greased with coconut oil or butter, cook until golden brown on each side. Again, this is about 2-3 minutes per side.

I put blueberries in them, and just topped it with butter. You could also mash up a ripe banana and add some chopped nuts to this batter. Banana bread pancakes! Really, there's a lot you can do with these.


almond meal blueberry pancakes

NOTE-Both of these recipes are low carb and delicious. However, if this is one of those slippery slope kinds of foods for you, be careful. You may find you've eaten six of them without coming up for air. Everything in moderation, even the healthy foods. That's the key.

So, there you are. If you were unaware of the fabulous holiday that is Pancake Day, you can celebrate it tomorrow. Or this weekend. Or whenever the mood strikes you. Do you really need a holiday to have pancakes?



4 comments:

  1. It was pancake day here in Australia, too (also known as Shrove Tuesday). Traditionally it's a Catholic thing and marks the beginning of Lent (it represents how people used to use up all the flour in the house before the traditional fast), but these days everyone celebrates it (who wouldn't want an excuse to eat pancakes!) I'm glad you were able to find some yummy primal pancake recipes. The coconut flour one sounds delish.

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  2. JO! How are you playing online with that new baby at home? She's gorgeous. And you should definitely try the coconut flour ones, they are SO good. Thanks for the info on Pancake Day. I had no idea what it was about, just that everybody ate pancakes. Which was enough for me to know it was great!

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  3. We don't eat pancakes on this day (yesterday) over here. In Finland we eat "shorvetide buns" (I think I've seen it translated something like that) instead. It's buns cut in half and filled with jam or almond-paste and whipped cream. I'm totally on team jam (preferably raspberry, but strawberry is alright too). :P

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  4. These look DELICIOUS--thanks for sharing! I'm definitely replacing the paczki with these next year (and maybe whipping them up this weekend, as well). :P

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