I know I just recently posted, but I couldn't wait on sharing this one because it is so darn yummy.
In discovering new recipes that are Specific Carbohydrate
Diet friendly, I found these little gems from one of my SCD cookbooks. I
altered the recipe because I didn’t have cashews, but it turned out ammmmaaaaaazing! Plus I just got a new immersion blender (thanks, Save-on-More
points!) and wanted to use it for pancake batter. Perhaps not necessary but
it was fun.
For context, here's what is in the original recipe.
- organic cashews, eggs, yogurt, baking soda, honey, cinnamon, vanilla extract, salt
Now before I continue, something to keep in mind is the
quantity of these you make/eat—they’re not
a low-cal food. I'm not sure I completely agree with the description of this recipe: “Imagine
pancakes that are actually good for you and taste better than the white flour
kind!....Drizzle them with melted butter and honey before serving.”
- What does “good for you” mean? Because ¼ cup of almond flour has 170 calories and I used three of those…..not to mention nuts aren’t exactly low in fat, even if it IS the “good” fat. Cashews wouldn't be any different.
- Drizzle with melted butter and honey? Again, more fat, more sugar, not really necessary. I actually really like these plain in order to best enjoy the cinnamon and added banana. It is great with a dollop of yogurt, though. Dollop. What a fun word.
- I do have to say they taste better than the white flour kind. Hands down.
Below is what I did to make about 4, 4" diameter pancakes (probably would have been more if I didn't eat the batter). Don’t forget to take gratuitous photographs
of each step of the process.
- ¾ cup almond flour (the first time I made these I ground my own almonds, which made for a bit of a crunch in the final product because it wasn’t as finely ground as the store-bought flour—it was lovely and I actually prefer that to the almond flour)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (this wouldn’t be necessary with cashews because they are naturally so oily, but it helped with the almond substitution)
- 1 egg (the first time I think I used 2 eggs, 1 was fine)
- A good chunk of banana (to make up for fewer eggs)
- 2 tbsp homemade yogurt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp honey
- A good punch of cinnamon (I always go crazy with cinnamon. 1 tsp is not enough)
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- Butter for the pan
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| Confession: the above photo is actually a complete lie, since I forgot to show the vanilla and the butter, and I ended up using a completely different type of honey. |
Blend everything together really well.
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Really all you need is a spoon or fork. Or your hands.
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Oh my gosh, the
batter is so good. I literally licked it off my blender….after
unplugging it of course. Try to save some for the pan, though. Drop some butter in that pan and let er' bubble. Don't forget to take a picture of your chef-self enjoying an iced americano from The Duchess while you accidentally let that butter burn.
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| Me. Drinking coffee. Not paying attention to the stove. |
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| Butter in a pan. |
I had to experiment with size of batter plop and length of heat-time…..it was a bit more difficult than traditional pancakes because the bottom browned up before the top had time to set, even at different temps. Made for some interesting pancake shapes! But medium heat on an electric stove worked okay, with 1.5-2 minutes for the first side, and ~45 seconds for the second one.
Top with whateva the pancake fairy has given you. Here's a great way to use up the rest of that banana.
Enjoy!
Yum, these look amazing Mara! Omission of refined grain/sugar sounds like a pretty good definition of 'good for you'! I love the idea of leaving some almond chunks in...that sounds fantastic. Did they stay together pretty solidly?
ReplyDeleteA faint memory just popped into my brain (many hours after having read this post...)....did you mention somewhere that your yogurt can be made to taste like TART frozen yogurt? Oh, teach me, please!!
ReplyDeleteSo, I can't remember *exactly* what I did, but this should get you close:
ReplyDeleteHere is the ice cream recipe that I used: http://kateshealthycupboard.com/gluten-free-recipes/cinnamon-ice-cream-dairy-free-option/
* I didn't use ANY coconut milk--just 2 cups of yogurt (I *think* it was 1.5 C yogurt made from whole milk then 1/2 C yogurt made from whipping cream....? I can't remember! :S. Some sort of 'mostly milk-based, but also a good bit of whipping cream-based yogurt'.
* I used ~ 1/3 cup honey for the sweetener
* I'm almost positive I only used 1 egg yolk
* everything else is pretty much as is (including the melted butter)
Now, a good quality plain yogurt will hopefully get you there (rather than making your own), as I found my homemade stuff tasted almost exactly like my Astro Balkan-style yogurt that I usually buy. I suppose the difference is that I also used the whipping-cream yogurt. So if you want to try the whole shabang, here is the yogurt recipe--I usually start fermenting mine in the evening, which will allow me to start using it the 2 mornings later (24 hours fermentation, 8 hours in the fridge)
http://btvc.webfactional.com/knowledge_base/detail/yoghurt-how-to-make-with-heating-pad/
The instructions are more complicated than those in the book. 1) bring your dairy product to a simmer 2) remove from heat and let cool to room temperature so it doesn't kill your starter bacteria (I put mine in the fridge for a bit) 3) mix 1/4C starter yogurt w/ 1/2C of the cooled milk, then mix that into the whole batch. 4) pour into the container you'll keep it in 5) ferment for 24-29 hours (no longer) at 38-43 degrees C. 6) Carefully put into the fridge for 4-8 hours to cool and set completely.
Then make yummy froyo!
The pancakes did stay together very nicely--like a normal pancake, even. The almond were pretty finely ground so that probably helped--so it was like little almond granules almost....not so much chunks. And I loved that texture, a soft crunch. :-)
ReplyDeleteHey - i'm a little late, but wanted to say yes please...i'd eat that!!
ReplyDeleteMara - i'm also curious - do you use a "yoghurt maker" to keep it at 38-43 degrees, or have you figured out a low-tech version? We bought a yoghurt maker years ago (in Edmonton actually I think!) and use it constantly. My only concern is that it's plastic, and i'm not so into the warm plastic these days...i'd love to be able to pour the cooled milk/bacteria into a glass jar and process that way.
Anyways...just curious!