Saturday Morning Fire Alarm Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes

Back in March, I was up in Whistler for a work retreat and on one of the mornings, I went to my favourite Whistler breakfast places, La Brasserie des Artistes. It’s a small, funky place with great bacon and eggs (and great everything), but I had never tried their buttermilk pancakes.

When I went in there I was actually craving French toast, which they reminded me they do not have. But the pancakes were highly recommended and since I’m allergic to strawberries (the menu item comes with a strawberry coulis), the waitress was really lovely and had the cook make me a batch with blueberries. And they were AWESOME. Easily one of the best breakfasts I had eaten in a long time.

Since then, pancakes have been on my very long list of things I want to make at home, but I needed a good recipe. As it turns out, Denise Jardine’s The Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free Kitchen book that I bought for OHAC has a great recipe for buckwheat pancakes that I decided to add blueberries to.

Sean was going hiking this morning so I made my batter the night before so I didn’t have to wake up any earlier that necessary on a Saturday. (Though 8:15 is sleeping in for me these days. So sad…) We rarely get to have a sit-down breakfast together, so this was a nice treat and we each had a good breakfast to get us through the beginning of our day.

Everything was going really well until a charred bit of something that was stuck in the bowl of the element I chose to use made the smoke alarm go off. Always fun. (If I wasn’t awake before, I was after that!) Sean was awake at that point so it was more an annoyance for me than a panic. So I waved my tea towel under the alarm, opened the window, turned on the stove fan, and switched burners.

I always know a recipe is a success when Sean cleans his plate or just likes something in general. And now that I’ve made and eaten them, there’s no turning back. They were really delicious (dare I say better than the Brasserie pancakes) and will become an occasional weekend breakfast staple in our house. Who says gluten and dairy-free can’t taste good?

BLUEBERRY BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES WITH FRESH FRUIT (Adapted from Denise Jardine’s Buckwheat Pancakes in The Dairy-Free & Gluten-Free Kitchen)

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp flax seed meal
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour mix
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed
• 2 cups unsweetened original flavour almond milk
• Coconut oil or Earth Balance Coconut Spread for greasing the griddle
• Pure maple syrup, warmed
• 2 cups fresh fruit or berries

Method:

Batter – Combine flax,water, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar in a bowl and whisk to blend. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix together with a whisk. Whisk the flax mixture for one minute until slightly thickened. Add the almond milk to the mixture and whisk to blend. Pour the milk mixture in the dry ingredients bowl ad whisk until the batter is smooth. Gently stir in blueberries. Refrigerate overnight or start making pancakes!

Making the Pancakes – Place a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in the oven and turn the lowest setting. (Ours goes down to 170 F.) Preheat a heavy griddle or skillet over medium/high heat (375 F on an electric griddle). Lightly grease the pan/griddle with the coconut oil. Ladle and pour batter enough to create a 6-8 inch pancake. Cook until bubbles cover the pancake surface. Flip with a spatula and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Place pancake on the cookie sheet in the oven to keep warm. Repeat until done. Serve immediately with warm maple syrup and sliced fruit and/or berries.

(Denise recommends not pressing down on the pancake after flipping, and I agree; but of course I had to see why… It wasn’t a pretty pancake.)