Recipe: Spelt Pancakes

One of my favorite breakfast foods are pancakes. There's something so hearty and comforting about them. Pancakes can be eaten plain, with butter, with syrup, with blueberries, with bananas, with chocolate chips... the ideas are endless. They can be even be made to be savory and healthy with scallions and zucchini. Pancakes are, in every way, totally awesome.

They bring memories of waking up Saturday morning to my mom in kitchen with a big stack of hot pancakes, drinking her coffee while watching to Food Network. Although she used the Bisquick box mix, they were always better when she was the one to make them.

Now that I am home every morning with Dominik, I no longer have to rely on a super quick breakfast like granola or a smoothie. Sometimes, especially after a long night, it's really nice to be able to stay in our pajamas a little longer and make pancakes. But now that I'm more aware of ingredients I would like us to avoid, I realize that the box mix is no longer a great choice for us. It's packed with added sugar and highly processed flour. I searched and searched for a recipe that used whole grain flour and no refined sugar but I felt like it was nearly impossible. Most, if not all, recipes contained at least a few tablespoons of granulated sugar. Plus, the whole wheat pancakes that I tried to make were coming out like hockey pucks.

And then I perfected it. The most delicious whole grain, sugar free pancake recipe. The secret? Spelt flour. I use spelt flour to make baked goods like muffins because it really helps them to be light and airy like a white flour would. It's a water soluble grain, so it's easily digested and nutrients are absorbed quickly into the body. Because I omitted any sugar from the batter recipe, these are a very plain pancake. For sweetness, fruit or maple syrup can be added; just avoid fake syrup and stick to the real stuff. For a savory pancake, veggies and spices could be added to the batter. Feel free to play around. We love applesauce on ours.

Spelt Pancakes

Ingredients:

-1 cup spelt flour
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (if making sweet pancakes, omit for savory)
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-1 chia egg (1 tablespoon chia seeds soaked in 4 tablespoon water)
-1 cup non-dairy milk
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla (if sweet, omit for savory)

Directions:

1. Prepare your chia egg by mixing the seeds and water in a bowl and letting sit until it is nice and thick.

2. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Whisk milk and vanilla into the chia egg.

4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and only stir until combined, do not over mix.

5. Let the batter sit for a few minutes while the pan heats up. Put a frying pan over medium heat with some vegan butter or coconut oil and let it heat up.

6. Pour the batter into the pan, to make a pancake of your desired size. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

7. Serve immediately.