ORANGE & POPPYSEED PANCAKES

I love using citrus zest in place of sugar to add flavour to otherwise bland ingredients. Take these Orange & Poppyseed pancakes. Without the orange rind and poppy seeds, this recipe is are dangerously close to producing standard, run of the mill pancakes. Add some orange zest & juice with a sprinkling of poppy seeds and enter the flavour. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup self-raising flour (or gluten-free self-raising flour if intolerant)
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon natural maple syrup (not 'flavoured' maple syrup)
• 1 cup reduced-fat cows milk (or lactose-free, soy or unsweetened almond or oat milk if intolerant to dairy)
• a dash of vanilla essence 
• 1 free range egg, lightly beaten
• the zest and juice of a medium orange 
• extra virgin olive oil spray or 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 

COOKING 

1. Combine the flour and poppy seeds into a large bowl. Make a well or hole in the centre. Pour the syrup, milk, vanilla, egg and orange zest & juice in a medium bowl into the well and stir well to combine. 

2. Heat a pancake pan or medium non-stick frying pan on medium-low heat and add cooking oil spray or 1 teaspoon olive oil. Using a 1/4 cup as a measurement, spoon the mixture into the pan in droplets and create circles. (However big you want to make the pancakes is up to you- I find that it is easier to cook them if they are slightly bigger than pikelets but smaller than pancake size). Turn each pancake over when bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Keep the pan on medium-low heat. Cover to keep warm and repeat until all batter has been used. 

These pancakes have enough flavour so there is no need to serve with any syrup! You can reserve some of the orange zest and poppy seeds and serve with these sprinkled on top, if desired. 

Serves / 4 
Total Preparation & Cooking time / around 15 minutes 

x Emily 

MAPLE SYRUP PANCAKES

Pancakes: not always bad for you! They can be, if you serve them alongside ice cream, chocolate, pure cream and knobs of butter. However, just a couple homemade pancakes with a side of fruit can be healthy and delicious at the same time. I like adding the maple syrup to the batter as it gives it more flavour. Also, when you put the syrup in the batter you do not need to add maple syrup to the cooked pancakes, which can result in a lot of extra calories when the maple syrup is poured on at liberty! Cooking pancakes are a great way to cook for both your kids and yourself on a weekend morning. I have very fond memories of my Dad making pancakes and pikelets for us every Sunday morning when I was growing up. I'm sure my mum would have loved when Sunday rolls around, as it was only of the only times he cooked! 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup self-raising flour / gluten-free self raising flour for the intolerant or allergic 
• 1 egg, lightly beaten 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 
• 1 cup reduced-fat cows milk (or soy, lactose-free, unsweetened almond or oat milk if intolerant to dairy)
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 200g fresh strawberries, halved 
• extra virgin olive oil spray or 2 teaspoons 

COOKING 

1. Pour the flour, egg vanilla essence, milk and maple syrup in a large bowl and whisk well to combine until the batter contains no lumps. 

2. Heat a medium to large frying pan over medium-low heat and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Pour 1/4 cup of the pancake batter into the pan per pancake and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Carefully flip the pancake and cook on the other side until the pancake is browned to your liking. Remove from the pan and cover, keeping warm whilst you repeat this process until no batter remains. The batter should make around 8 large pancakes. 

3. Serve with strawberries 

Serves / 4  = 2 pancakes each 

Preparation & Cooking Time /  30 minutes maximum 

x Emily 

COCONUT PANCAKES

Have you ever smelt coconut flour? It smells like heaven, that is, if you are a fan of the smell of coconut. I spent a frustrating 5 minutes trying to scrape ¼ of a cup of coconut flour out of a bucket at a health food store on Saturday afternoon just for this recipe! My struggle paid off, as my finance loved these pancakes for Sunday breakfast- and he doesn’t even like coconut! For any dairy and/or gluten intolerant people out there these unique pancakes are a great substitute to regular pancakes and taste much better than the packaged cartons. I must give credit to Sarah Wilson for this recipe, found in her ‘I Quit Sugar’ cookbook that I am just racing through.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 eggs, preferably free-range, whisked
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, plus extra to cook
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/4 cup coconut flour 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon xylitol 
• 1/2 heaped cut shredded coconut, plus extra to serve 

COOKING 

1. Stir together the eggs, oil and coconut milk in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl, making sure that you stir well to remove any flour lumps and are left with a semi-runny batter. 

2. Heat a teaspoon of coconut oil in a non-stick pancake pan or medium shallow frying pan over medium heat. Pour in around 1/3 of a cup of batter to form an oval pancake. (You can make the pancakes big or small by adjusting the amount of batter you use for each pancake). Flip the pancake over when the batter surface starts to bubble and cook the other side until both sides are lightly brown. Repeat until all batter is finished. Serve with organic maple syrup and extra shredded coconut, if desired. 

Makes / 5 -7 big pancakes & 10-12 smaller ones

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes

Total Cooking time / 20 minutes 

x Emily