Nourish the Budding Lotus

Banana Buckwheat Pancakes

Lazy Sunday mornings, lounging in bed, taking it slowly, and enjoying a long brunch.  Our favorite treat on these days are pancakes.  The pancakes that don’t leave you feeling weighed down afterwards.

For those that don’t know, buckwheat is actually not part of the wheat family.  It is a gluten-free grain with a pronounced taste.  This grain adds character to the pancakes without overpowering them and since there is no gluten, the pancakes are light and fluffy going in and easy to digest!

I have adapted my recipe from a beautiful cookbook called Conscious Cuisine written by Chef Cary Neff.  His recipe uses some wheat flour with the buckwheat flour, but I find that there is no need for it.  I have tested this recipe on tons of friends and family and they love the pancakes!

Definitely try them out!  We usually make a double batch and save them for snacks too.

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Banana Buckwheat Pancakes

1/2 c buckwheat flour
3/4 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 large egg
3/4 t olive oil
3/4 t agave
3/4 c rice milk (or milk of your choice)
2 large egg whites
1 medium banana diced (or more)
1/2 t cinnamon
3/4 t fresh lemon zest
3/4 t fresh lemon juice

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  In a second bowl combine the milk, whole egg, oil and agave.  Once the liquids are mixed, combine them with the dry ingredients just until combined well.

With an electric mixer whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. (Separating the egg whites and whipping them works best if they eggs are at room temperature.)

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.  Then fold in the bananas, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice until just combined.  Be careful not to over mix because the egg whites will fall.

Heat a griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat with a teaspoon of olive oil.  Using a 1/4 c measure, spoon the batter onto the warm pan.  Once you see bubbles appear on the tops of the pancakes they are ready to flip!  Cook until golden brown.

Now they are ready to eat

Try them without butter or syrup first.  We use very little syrup, if any, and they are perfect. Also feel free to try different fruits with or instead of bananas.  They are great with blueberries, and strawberries with the bananas are a great treat too!  Let me know what you think!

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