I’m currently in a very experimental mood.
My latest kitchen experiments have me feeling more like a mad scientist than your average home cook.
After discovering the joys of making raspberry vegan ice cream, I was forced to up the personal ante a little more.
I had planned a small brunch in my already cramped apartment for a few people.
In my head, I envisioned a “buffet style” menu.
Fruit salads, muffins, pancakes, scrambled eggs and mini chipolatas would be taking centre stage.
Then the came the phone call from a good friend, informing me that she had been diagnosed with a gluten intolerance.
She had taken the news quite well, knowing that it was not the end of the world. Her eating choices would need to be modified but as I explained, there was a whole new world of gluten free cooking to discover! (or being the good friend “who cooks” I would discover!).
There was a lot of research on my behalf. I have to say it right now, I'm not familiar with a lot of the pre packaged flours sold as “gluten free”.
I'm also not familiar with all the different starches and other goodies that make up the base for a lot of baked gluten free goods.
I love my friend and I really wanted her to enjoy my brunch and not feel like she was "missing out". Especially the pancakes!
I googled a few recipes and realised that there was a whole lot of almond meal love associated with gluten free cooking. I was comfortable with almond meal. My “intense” orange and almond cake uses it as a base for this delicious desert. And I often have it in the pantry...so it was a no brainer.
So after a few days of trial and error, I settled on an almond pancake recipe that incorporates the humble banana, an egg and some almond meal.
These almond pancakes will not be like your typical “fluffed up” and “bloated” pancakes. These will be a lot lighter in texture and taste. (Think of them as more of a bulked up omelette!).
I was amazed at how good they looked and tasted. (ok they're not going to replicate my blueberry pikelets in any hurry but even I was impressed). I added blueberries to the pancake batter for a bit of bulk and scattered a few more on top.
Just a word of warning. If you plan on making these pancakes be wary about the cooking temperature. My initial pancakes had to be thrown away because my cooking temperature was too high.
Keep the heat at a low/medium setting for best results. Don't spread your batter too thick. Otherwise the top will take forever to cook and the bottom will be burnt. And it's ok to flip them when the batter is a little wet. (don't expect to see the holes form like you do on regular pancakes).
Almond Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 banana, ripe, mashed
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp almond meal
- 1 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- fruit of your choice i.e. blueberries
Instructions
- Mix the banana, egg, almond meal and almond butter in a medium sized bowl. (add any extras you wish at this point)
- Allow to rest for 10 mins.
- Heat up a griddle pan with a little olive oil or butter.
- Spoon in pancake batter and allow the underside to cook on a low/medium heat for 3-4 mins. Flip and cook the other side for 1 minute.
- Serve with fruit and maple syrup.
Nutrition
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