7.4.11

Mission Impossible: Pancakes


My mission: cook pancakes every weekend. Enjoy life :)

So this post is a long time coming! Thanks for being patient, those of you whom I've promised that I was going to post it. 

My favorite part of my weekends is pancakes. It started when I was a kid. My Mom, Dad and I went to the cafe at the golf course right down the road from my house every Sunday for breakfast. Mom got the Belgium waffles topped with fresh fruit and a side of bacon. Dad got the western omelet with toast and bacon. I got the short stack of pancakes. Everyyyyy week until I was about 16 (when I entered the official working world). It was great; Dad would read the "snooze"paper, Mom would read the USA Today, I read the Comics; we all ate together and chatted causally about life with the sun shining down on us (we ate on the patio), the golfers practicing on the putting green, everyone with a smile on their face... ahh, memories!

Well needless to say, a grain-free diet doesn't exactly warrant eating pancakes on weekends anymore. Or does it...?! After puttering around a bit on some of our favorite sites such as Mark's Daily Apple, The Food Lovers' Primal Palate, CFSCC Present's Eat This!, and several other sources, I have found a multitude of "pancake" recipes.

So here they are! This is my review of the different pancake recipes I have tried over the past few months. They are all delicious in their own way and I highly recommend them!

Pumpkin Paleo Pecan Pancakes
I found this one from CFSCC presents: EAT THIS! This might be my favorite of all of them. Sweet, not too heavy, overall totally delicious! Turned it into a nice balanced meal with bacon and eggs. I can't wait until fall so I can roast my own pumpkin to use for the recipe!


Coconut Flour Pancakes (and Waffles)
The Food Lovers' Primal Palate may have perfected the grain-free pancake. This recipe, which can also be used with a waffle maker, is by far the closest I have found to a "traditional" pancake. They taste absolutely fabulous. Even my Mom likes them :)




Almond Banana Pancakes
These are basically a dessert for breakfast :) This recipe was sent into Mark's Daily Apple for the Primal Cookbook Challenge. A grand total of three ingredients, these pancakes are super sweet and totally yummy. I made mine with only one banana, one egg, and a tablespoon of flaxseed meal (don't tell Mark!) and think it turned out outstanding!





Yet another one inspired by the great Mark's Daily Apple. His recipe calls for almond meal, but I had pecan meal on hand so I used that instead. Again, very few ingredients, super simple, and totally delicious!



Coconut Pumpkin Pancakes
One word: Heavenly. In fact, they were so good, that I was delighted when I couldn't finish all four pancakes and had to save two for left-overs (which were equally as good). The original recipe is featured in The Primal Blueprint Reader Created Coconut Cookbook from Mark's Daily Apple. I adjusted the recipe a bit; here's my version:
The Food
- 3/4 cup pumpkin (make your own by roasting a pumpkin, or buy the can. NOT pie filling!)
- 1 cups almond meal
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1-2 tbs coconut oil

The Prep
Toast coconut! 
Mix everything but coconut oil together

The Method
Heat coconut oil in skillet over medium heat (important! don't go too hot)
Add batter in pancake size dallops (will need to spread out a bit because it is thick)
When the bottom is golden, flip (about 3 minutes)

Enjoy :)


BUT WAIT!
I just want to leave you with a few more tid-bits!
1. MAKE SURE that you don't heat your pan too hot. Medium heat at most. And be patient. Otherwise you'll end up with uncooked centers. The recipes with a high amount of nut meals will get golden rather quickly and burn even quicker (especially on high heat). 
2. To test that they are done after you've flipped them, push down on the center of the pancake. If it wiggles,  it's not done. If it's firm, you're good to go!
3. If you are worried that the pancakes will burn if you keep it on any longer, stick 'em on a plate in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. That should cook them all the way through if they aren't yet.
4. Get some pure maple syrup on hand and soak it up! Especially on the coconut flour and pecan meal pancakes since they don't have a real sweet element in the batter to begin with. Or top with some mashed fruit reduced in a pan. 
5. And of course, serve with a side of bacon and some eggs. Breakfast of champions!

Have you picked one yet that sounds irresistible?!? Maybe try them on your kids this weekend and see what they say. I know I would never go back to those all-purpose-flour-bland-tasteless-pancakes again :)

2 comments:

  1. Hey Bonnie,
    i'm really enjoying your posts. This pancake post reminds me of the cottage cheese pancakes I used to make a lot in college.

    I got the recipe from a zone perfect website. Honestly, I haven't check to see if they measurements were true to the zone portions, but I thought they were delicious.

    This is how we used to make it:
    1 cup low fat cottage cheese
    1/2 flour
    1 egg
    spalsh of vanilla extract
    1 packet splenda
    cinnamon (sprinkled in for flavor)

    depending on the consistency sometimes we would add a splash of water. It makes 3 nice sized pancakes. We would top them off with some peanut butter (or almond butter) instead of maple syrup.

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  2. Thanks for the recipe, Meg! I made them this morning and they were delish! I only used about 2/3 cup of cottage cheese and used pecan meal instead of flour. I want to try them with coconut flour next! Thanks again :)

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