Editor’s Note: Mmmmmm, pancakes. Years ago during a short stint in Seattle, my husband and I would wake up every Sunday morning and wander the few blocks down Capitol Hill streets to an amazing soul food restaurant where the most lip-smacking delicious buttermilk pancakes in the history of pancakes lived.
Just the thought takes me back to childhood, warm, comfort-food breakfasts and, of course, those early years with the great guy who I always knew would become my permanent partner in life.
After both of us ditched the wheat, pancakes have been all but distant memory – tasty ones anyway. We tried soy and rice with the most unkind of results. Then, much like so much that has to do with our wheat-less ways, spelt saved us from a life without pancakes.
Christa Herrling is here today with her recipe for that tasty spelt treat. You’ll have to excuse me…I have breakfast to make.
I am a really big fan of breakfast. In these colder months, my husband and I rise on weekends positively yearning for a nice, greasy restaurant breakfast, accompanied by lingering refills of comforting, delicious coffee.
One other breakfast tradition- a healthier, more economical one- I’m hoping to bring back this month in our home is the weekend open-invitation breakfast feast.
Years ago my best friend and her roommate would host such a feast every few weekends in their tiny apartment. Emails would circulate inviting masses of pals to come with a contribution to the meal, and find a tiny piece of carpet space to sit and enjoy the grub and conversation for a couple of hours before getting on with their day.
The weekly breakfast was a fantastic way to catch up with friends, while meeting new people & connecting with the community. It makes sense to me that these types of traditions deserve a revival with a family spin on it- a way for parents to connect with other parents, for kids to connect with other kids, all with the bonus of being easy on the wallet.
Over the weekend, the very friend who hosted weekly breakfasts way back when was up visiting from Victoria. These days, she’s on the wheat-sensitive side, so I decided to experiment with a standard pancake recipe from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook, substituting spelt flour for wheat flour, with fantastic results.
This recipe will likely be the backbone of our open invitation breakfasts, as it is so easily adapted to avoid most allergenic ingredients. Any kind of milk can be used. An egg substitute such as _ a large banana, mashed, can be used (pancakes don’t rely on egg for their lift, so it may not be crucial to use any substitute at all).
Apart from the substitution of spelt for wheat, I added my favourite trio of additional pancake ingredients to maximize the yum factor: Cinnamon, vanilla, and fruit (in this case I used one chopped banana and a couple of handfuls of summer boysenberries from the freezer).
This recipe should respond well to experimentation and tweaking of ingredients, so get inventive and let CVK know what delectable pancake creations you come up with!
Spelt Pancakes
Makes 12
1 cup plus approximately 2-3 Tbsp light, stone ground spelt flour (the coarse stuff doesn’t work. Got to be the light stuff)
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 beaten egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp vanilla
Chopped fruit to taste
1. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt & cinnamon. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside. Combine the egg, buttermilk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Add additional milk to thin batter if necessary.
2. For standard-size pancakes, pour or spread about _ cup batter into a 3-inch circle on a hot, lightly greased griddle or heavy skillet. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or until pancakes are golden brown, turning to second sides when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry. Serve warm.
I’m usually a Bisquick guy (and my son is spoiled by his mom’s homemade pancakes)so this is something I’ll definitely have to try out. I hope I won’t have to hear “Dad, your pancakes suck compared to Mom’s” anymore.
Thanks!
Would these be just as good if I used regular flour, or should I get the spelt? I should probably get the spelt anyway.
Pancakes are the best.
They’d be great with regular flour. Spelt is a great alternative, though. I have found that you really need to have the light, stone ground flour for these recipes though. The more coarse version that is common in bulk bins at the health store just doesn’t work.
Happy eating and thanks for dropping by.
These pancakes were Great! I made them this past weekend. I added thinly sliced banana to each pancake (yummm…), but I’m sure any type of fruit would be good.
Thanks for the Easy/Healthy receipe.
This totally gave me another view on pancakes. I don’t eat white flour and try to stay away from whole wheat as much as I can, Organic Spelt though saves my day. I have R.A and am really watching what I am eating. I was curiouse if Instead of milk (im lactose intolerant) Can I use water??? or soya milk?, please respond if anyone knows,,, thanks,,,
Mirta
Hi Mirta.
Spelt really is awesome.
You can use any kind of milk substitute. We often use almond or rice milk.
Besides these pancakes looking totally awesome…I just gotta say that I really love your blog….like I LOVE everything about it! I’ve visited the Comox Valley a few times and it’s where it’s at! Everything is so local and fresh and you just feel so good out there! Visiting your site brings me back to those splendid days so keep up the good work! We love you over here at Bitchin’ Kitchen!
Thank you for this recipe! I absolutely love it. I don’t use sugar, so I replaced the sugar with a dash of powdered stevia and it worked great. Also, instead of the cinnamon, I used pumpkin pie spice for a great fall pancake! I will definitely keep up with your blog. Wonderful!
Jeannie
Just finished my first batch of these and they were so light and fluffy and absolutely wonderful! I used buttermilk (the recipe says milk but the directions buttermilk?) and organic sprouted spelt with a few tablespoons of regular spelt since I used up all the sprouted. Have enough left over to pop in the freezer for a quick breakfast another day. This will be my pancake recipe from now on!
Thanks for your great Spelt Pancakes recipe. I am undergoing chemotherapy and developing an over-acid stomach. Because spelt is alkalizing, I loved being able to enjoy pancakes and be kind to my stomach. I also used almond milk instead of regular milk, with perfect response. Add some fresh strawberries to the top and home-made maple syrup from friends, the panckakes made a comforting, delicious breakfast!
spelt is actually wheat and contains gluten, so not suitable for celiacs, or people on a wheat or gluten-free diet. see http://www.csaceliacs.org/documents/Spelt220062-10-06_3_.pdf for more information.
i omitted the sugar, and the pancakes were delicious!
Hi tried these and they are yummy ,i added blue berries too & loved them. Has anyone kept the mixture in the fridge overnight & still had great results?
one of the best pancake recipes I’ve ever made! and I’ve tried many. I added blueberries, soo good.
These pancakes were voted by 3 generations of our (picky) family as “the best pancakes ever”! Finally, a pancake recipe that we all love! Thank you!
I have been making spelt pancake for about eight years. One morning I thought I would try a new spelt recipe.
So I came to your site and tried your recipe very good. Just that little bit of cinnamon gave the pancakes a interesting flavor. Grand kids loved them and so did I. Thanks so much. Ken. I used 1\4 tsp.
I am making an effort to establish a Saturday Morning Breakfast tradition and just made these this morning for the family with Organic Blueberries…..Very Good. Kids ate them right up, including the 9 month old. I liked how they actually turned out like the picture!