Healthy Pancakes

Pancakes are great, aren't they? I like both the savoury and sweet varieties. I remember my mum making the pancakes on Pancake Tuesday. My heart would literally skip a beat when she would toss the pan up towards the ceiling (keeping a hold of it of course) while the now solid pancake batter rose up out of it and did a flip in the air, only to land, seconds later on the reverse side back where it had started...Phew! I seem to have some other vague recollection of one in particularly rising up just a little too far and ending up sticking to the ceiling....Or, is that a scene from some movie I've seen?? Hmmn, that one certainly is food for thought. Even today when I make pancakes, which is quite regularly, my heart still skips a beat right before I toss them in the air in order to turn them onto the other side. Even though I could quite easily use any of a number of kitchen utensils to simply turn it, that just far to boring for me. Being the dramatic type, I love the thrill I get from the flip and manage to get it right almost every time. It really is great fun though altogether, you really should try it..oh, but make sure to have some friends around to add to the thrill....Fabulous!

With Pancake Tuesday just around the corner,  there will be lots of pancakes for sale in supermarkets and available on restaurant menus. If I could give you one piece of advice, particularly if you are shopping for them, it is to take moment to turn the pretty packaging over to have a look at the ingredients they've been made from before you go ahead and wolf down a few. I don't want to be a party pooper, but honestly, if you can't pronounce what's in there, put them back, but if you do recognise what's in there as real food, go right ahead and enjoy them. However, for the more adventurous of you would rather try making their own, healthier version, then here is a gluten and dairy free version that I rather like.

What you'll need...

Basic Pancake Recipe

100g buckwheat flour 

1/4tsp salt

12 Tbps water/milk (preferably non-dairy such as almond, rice, hazelnut, soya)

2 Tbps oil (I use coconut oil for frying, but you can use olive, sunflower or rapeseed)

How to Make

1. Mix flour, salt and milk together and leave to stand for approximately 10 minutes.

2. Then give the batter a stir, add 3 large spoonfuls or more (on thickness of the pancake that you like) of batter  onto a hot oiled pan.

3. Cook until light brown underneath, then turn and cook the other side.

If you would like a richer pancake you can add in 2 or more eggs. I prefer not to, but this is a choice you can make yourself. You can also use plain flour (which will contain gluten) or spelt (which is actually an older and easier to digest form of wheat) flour if you cannot get your hands on buckwheat flour. However, I really recommend that you do buy buckwheat flour in the you health food store and start using it. It is a brilliant substitute for ordinary plain or self raising flour in most recipes. Actually, come to think of it, I think I may have even bought mine in Tescos last time I needed it, so it's really easy to source nowadays. With over 3% of the Irish population being diagnosed as gluten intolerant, get rid of the Odlums from the kitchen and start looking at the alternatives for your and your family.

For my own pancakes (above), I've used the exact recipe provided here. No frills, no fuss.  For my filling I used lemon juice and a produce called  Xyitol, which is a great tasting, excellent and safe sugar alternative, which once again can be found easily in most health food stores. I may have gone a bit over board on the lemon juice, but you don't have to, I just love the taste. Yes, that is icing sugar you are seeing too. I sprinkled some on top, which although not something I usually use, it does make pancakes and sweet delights look ever so pretty and as far as I'm concerned, is perfectly fine to use now and again. If you are sensitive to sugar, diabetic or have been advised to avoid it for any reason, then I suggest you leave it out and decorate with perhaps some desiccated coconut or perhaps some of the other superfoods like mesquite.

I hope you enjoy this basic recipe. They are really simple to prepare and great to eat so get back into the kitchen!

Please also feel free to share with friends who many not know where to begin when it comes to pancake making.

Thanks for reading and happy Pancake Tuesday everyone!

Best wishes,

Ruth.