American Pancakes with Berry Compote
By nutritional therapist Christine Bailey
Children adore pancakes and these light and fluffy American-style ones are a healthy treat served with the berry sauce. Buckwheat flour adds a lovely rich, nutty flavour and provides plenty of fibre to support gut health. It is also rich in key minerals, including manganese, copper and magnesium that help to boost energy levels. It also provides quercetin, an antioxidant known for its antihistamine properties.
You can make this egg free by using commercial egg replacer. Alternatively, mix 1 tbsp potato flour with 1⁄4 tsp xanthum gum and 2 tbsp water or mash up 1⁄2 banana and add to the batter to replace the egg.
(makes 8 pancakes)
Vegetarian ( can be Egg Free), Gluten Free, Dairy Free
Ingredients:
50g buckwheat flour or gluten-free flour
75g gluten-free flour
2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp xylitol, erythritol or stevia, to taste
100ml dairy-free milk
60ml dairy-free yoghurt, coconut kefir or dairy-free milk
1 egg, beaten, or egg replacer
2 tbsp melted dairy-free spread, coconut oil or olive oil
Olive oil for frying
For the berry compote:
200g mixed berries, fresh or frozen
2 tbsp water
1 tsp xylitol, to taste (optional)
2 tsp cornflour
Dairy-free yoghurt, to serve (optional)
Method:
First make the compote. Put the berries, water and xylitol in a pan, cover and simmer gently over a low heat for 2–3 minutes to soften. Add a little extra water if needed. Mix together the cornflour with 2 tbsp water to form a smooth paste. Add to the pan and stir for 1–2 minutes until the mixture thickens. Set aside. This can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator until required.
For the pancakes, gently sift the flours, baking powder, salt and xylitol into a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, yoghurt, egg (or egg-free alternative) and melted spread or oil.
Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and beat with a wire whisk to create a smooth batter. Leave it to stand for a few minutes. Alternatively, simply place all the ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.
Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a little coconut oil or olive oil. When the pan is hot add a ladle of batter (or more if your frying pan is big enough to cook several pancakes at once). Cook until bubbles show on the top of the pancake then flip it over and cook on the other side until golden. Repeat, adding extra oil as needed, until you have used all the batter.
Serve the pancakes with the compote and dairy-free yoghurt if wished.
Recipes and images from Christine Bailey’s new book My Kids Can’t Eat That: How to Deal with Allergies & Intolerances in Children. Published by Nourish Books.