Christmas Pancakes

         

♬ ' Fur & Gold' Bat For Lashes

Can you believe it will be Christmas in two days? 

This year I've slowly eaten my way through: 

 6 weddings which included making two wedding cakes, ran 6 half marathons, got a tattoo, danced like J -Lo in Bali and Morocco for my 30th, lasted three days on a juicing diet, finally acquired an amazing job, ate 12 mince pies (consumed in December only) and got so close to having my own TV show.

I haven't given up, I'm not made to be on the Great British Bake Off, Come Dine, or any other food competition show which supply one hit wonders. I'm meant to do something BIG and I will continue on this rocky road journey.

Normally the lead up to Christmas does something weird to my festive logic. The flip side to pure laziness occurs - I run a lot, take on an ab and squat challenge, swim four times a week, eat really healthy apart from a Konditor and Cook mince pie for a treat and dance to Prince and Mark Ronson when no one is around. This morning had a few of the above elements and I made some festive pancakes that looked guilty but were actually full of mighty fine goodness.

Ingredients for 10 pancakes. 

• 135g gluten free plain flour
• 1 tsp gluten free baking powder
• 1 medium ripened banana
• 1 tbsp Greek honey
• 120ml almond milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tbsp melted coconut butter (keep another teaspoons worth to grease frying pan)
• 100g blueberries
• 50g dried cranberries

To top:

Pinch of bee pollen

1 tbsp coconut butter melted with 20g dark chocolate chips.

Extra blueberries and cranberries

1 tsp organic red banana powder

Method:

Whisk milk, egg, melted coconut butter and honey to keep to one side.

In a large bowl add flour, baking powder and mashed banana.

Pour liquid into dry ingredients and mix well until a batter is formed.

Add blueberries and cranberries.

In a small frying pan add dessert spoons of mixture and wait for a few minutes to flip each one over. 

Once all the pancakes are done, make a chocolate sauce by melting 1 tbsp coconut butter with dark chocolate chips in a saucepan.

Drizzle this in between each pancake, top with blueberries, cranberries and dust over banana powder and sprinkle bee pollen.

Enjoy!

Have a lovely Christmas.

M

GF Blueberry, Ginger & Quinoa Pancakes

 

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY
 

♬ 'GIRL' by Pharell

Happy pancake day!

Load fluffy blueberry pancakes with low fat yoghurt, maple syrup, a variety of fruits and hey presto, a happy and healthy stack of pancakes.

 I need you to be ready to make these with passion, a happy face and decorate your own stack of pancakes the way you want.

Ingredients for 8:

100g quinoa flour

70g gluten free plain flour

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

2 tbsp xylitol

130ml Rice milk

1 large egg

1 tsp ground ginger

1 drop of vanilla essence

50g fresh blueberries

Coconut oil to cook.

To serve (optional)

Grapefruit

Raspberries

Blackberries

Blueberries

Chopped bananas

Cherries

Plums

Maple syrup or agave nectar

0% fat greek yoghurt

Method:

Combine dry ingredients separately from wet ingredients. After mixing both, add to one bowl with blueberries.

Melt half a teaspoon of coconut oil in a frying pan and start making these bad boys.

When you are ready to serve, whip the yoghurt and sandwich in between 3/4 pancakes. Load loads of fruit on top with syrup.

xxx

GF Orange Polenta Pancakes

 ♬ 'The Temper Trap'

I normally use polenta as porridge or in a lemon cake but this morning I wanted to see how it would work as a fluffy pancake.

 

Verdict?

 

Amazing! The orange and Manuka syrup is wonderful soaked into each pancake and takes away the grainy texture you can get with polenta.



Ingredients for 10.

 

100g polenta

30g gluten free plain flour

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 orange zest

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar

200ml almond milk

1 large egg

 

Organic unsalted butter.

 

To cover:

Manuka honey

2tbsp orange juice (preferably from the orange in batter)

 

Method:

 

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl including zest.

Whisk egg and milk in a separate jug and combine with dry ingredients.

Whisk until there are no lumps.

 

Heat half a teaspoon of butter in a frying pan and try one pancake.

 

When you've made six, start on the manuka syrup.

Add 1 tbsp of manuka to a small pot and let it melt, then pour in orange juice.

 

Drizzle over finished pancakes so absorb the syrup, looking moist and scrumptious.

 

Enjoy.x

 

 

 

GF Bounty Pancakes

♬ 'Never Say Never' by Brandy

At school I once got called a 'bounty' for reasons I won't get into on the blog, but at the time I found it hilarious. Obviously not understanding the racial connotations associated with the term! To be honest I love coconut and chocolate, it's a beautiful couple.

 
Try these chocolate and coconut beauties for pancake day.
They look sexy, taste flipping amazing and healthy!
 

Ingredients for 10 medium pancakes.

 

100g coconut flour

50g gluten free plain flour

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 large egg

150ml Lacto free milk

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar

20g poppy seeds

2 tbsp coconut oil

 

To sandwich and decorate:

100g 70% dark chocolate

1 tbsp Lacto free milk

Desiccated coconut

 

 

Method:

 

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.

Whisk egg, milk and 1tbsp melted coconut oil.

Combine and mix well until there are hardly any lumps appearing.

You will have to mix this batter in between cooking, coconut flour soaks up a lot of protein.

In a decent frying pan add one scoop of batter and wait for bubbles to form at the top, then you can flip it over.

 

As soon as you have made five, melt the chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water and stir in the milk until it becomes runny and smooth.

Take off the heat.

 

Sandwich about four or five pancakes with chocolate and scatter desiccated coconut over each layer and finally the top.

 

Enjoy.xx


Favourite song:

"Top of The World"

 

 

GF Banana, Chia, Quinoa Pancakes with Manuka & Marmalade

 

♬ 'Pure Heroine' by Lorde

WOOO HOOO QUINOA FLOUR IN THE HOUSE!

On pancake day make these gluten free, tasty fluffy pancakes for breakfast.

Perfect for anyone looking to eat gluten free, also anyone who gets excited about all these new healthy products on the market.
When I walked into Holland and Barratt my excitement was similar to a little girl in Toys R Us. Budget wasn't a question and I walked out a happy lady.

I know you may look at all these ingredients and think 'seriously when and where can I get all this stuff?!' Source your local health food shop or even scout out some bargain websites. I'm all over Holland & Barratt at the moment or even Wholefoods online has nearly everything.

Makes 12 medium sized pancakes.

Decent frying pan.

130g quinoa flour

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

2 tbsp xylitol

130ml lacto free semi skimmed milk or almond milk

1 large egg

1 medium mashed banana

2 tsp maca powder

20g chia seeds

2 tbsp coconut oil (keep on one tablespoon and melt tiny bits when cooking pancakes)

Marmalade 1tbsp

Manuka honey 1tbsp

Here's another sexy image....

Right let's get started:

In one bowl mix quinoa flour, maca powder, baking powder, chia seeds and xylitol.

In a jug whisk egg, milk and melt one tablespoon of coconut oil and pour in.

Combine both with a mashed banana until there are no lumps and the mixture is quite thick.

Add a drop of coconut to your frying pan and let it heat up for two minutes, then use an ice cream scoop to pour the mixture. Remember coconut oil heats up very quickly and you only need a small amount.

The first one will be a tester and probably too dark on both sides.

Whilst making the pancakes heat up the marmalade with honey and drizzle over finished pancake stacks. Alternatively put in a cute pot for your friends to help themselves.

Chia seeds pronounced (chi - a) are an incredible source of omega 3 and fibre. Make sure you drink loads of water if you eat them regularly.

Quinoa pronounced (keen - wa) is gluten free and a super protein containing all nine amino acids.

Coconut oil is in Jennifer Anistons shopping basket, so what you waiting for?! Seriously it's a great oil for controlling weight and manages type 2 diabetes.

Xylitol pronounced (zie-li-tol) is a sweetener I'm still investigating. More on this soon...

Manuka bees are gangsters, I wouldn't question paying over £20 for a jar of this ghetto goodness. This honey is dark, beautiful, full of antioxidants and a healer. 

THE NUMBERS ON MANUKA JARS:

This is the assay number which means the bacteria killing power of the product. Similar to when buying sunscreen, the higher the factor the better the protection. 

Maca powder is known to help hormones, skin and sexual function. Go on, slip a teaspoon into his hot chocolate every now and then!

GF Sweet Potato Pancakes

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

♬ 'Jinx' by Weekend

There's something I'm loving about Weekends grey and foggy voices. Perfect album for a Monday in monochrome London.

Oh yeah!

Sweet potato is so amazingly versatile I went through another creative burst this morning and made these delicious pancakes.

They are sweet, perfect warm and really tasty.

Yes guys, PERFECT for your special lady if she is steering away from wheat and refined sugars.

If she doesn't jump on you after you serve these for breakfast - you've made them wrong!

 Makes 8 small fluffy pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato

2 medium eggs

1 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 tsp sunflower seeds

1 tsp pumpkin seeds

1tsp pine nuts

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1tbsp semi skimmed milk

Rice bran oil

Large banana

Manuka honey

Method:

Chop and boil sweet potato, keeping skin on.

Meanwhile whisk eggs in a medium bowl and keep to one side.

Once sweet potato is done, mash well with milk.

Whisk into egg mixture until lump free.

Add seeds, cinnamon and baking powder.

Let it rest for five minutes.

Heat 1 tsp rice bran oil in a large frying pan.

Drop one large scoop of mixture in each corner. Try and fit four.

Three minutes on each side should do.

Serve with Manuka honey and chopped bananas.

Enjoy.xx

Raspberry & Oat Pancakes

♬ 'Tribute' by John Newman

Ingredients that used to bless my morning pancakes were sugar, lemon and nutella, these have now been replaced with honey, oats and raspberries! Pancakes don't have to be a guilty treat or covered in chocolate, time to make them red and beautiful. 

Healthy pancakes full of slim ingredients and well tasty. Fluffy, fun and good looking.

Ingredients:

120g Doves gluten free plain flour
10 raspberries

30g rolled oats

20g oatbran

2 tsp caster sugar

130ml skimmed milk

1 large egg

10 raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1 tsp butter

To serve:

Agave nectar or Manuka honey

Fresh raspberries

Method:

Whisk egg with milk and leave to one side.
Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, oats and oatbran in a bowl.
Add milk mixture, whisk well and let it stand for 5 minutes. It should be thick when you're ready to fry.
Stir through raspberries, being careful to not crush any.
In a large frying pan melt butter until sizzling hot then use a ladle to pour out four small pancakes.
Cook until light brown on each side.
Serve with agave nectar, fresh raspberries and a fresh juice.

Why wait until pancake day? 
Mix it cook it....and flip it.

X

Wholemeal Banana Pancakes

♬ 'Speakerboxx/The Love Below' by Outkast

A great soundtrack for getting in the mood for pancakes. I made so many today, I think my tendonitis might have started up again from the flipping wrist action! The basic lemon and sugar pancakes went very quickly at the table, to be honest I find them too flimsy and weak, you know - like a crêpe.

For dessert I prepared American style pancakes. To be honest I'm a fluffy pancake girl at heart, they are bulky and always rising to occasion. 

Here's the recipe for the best banana pancakes, I used wholemeal self raising flour instead of plain, semi skimmed milk and also I found 400ml of milk was beneficial not 300ml. 

I was going to list the recipe etc, but the fact is, its not mine to reiterate! So a link will take you to the Hairy Bikers recipe. Instead I will fill this space with other ideas for sweet and savoury pancakes. The sweet suggestions will work well with fluffy banana flavoured pancakes, maybe switch to basic or plain fluffy for savoury. 

Sweet layer ideas:

Nutella and berries (shown above)

Strawberries and cream 

Lemon juice and poppy seeds mixed in vanilla yoghurt.

Greek yoghurt with honey and figs.

Satsuma and melted organic milk chocolate.

Lemon drizzle sauce (lemon mixed with granulated sugar)

Baileys cream

Banoffee style - whipped cream, melted chocolate and toffee sauce.

Apples covered in cinnamon with toffee sauce.

Marshmallows and chocolate sauce.

Honeycomb crunch (bits of honeycomb with double cream)

Fruit conserve, natural yoghurt, pumpkin and sunflower seeds.

Blueberry and maple syrup (New Yorker classic)

Savoury layer ideas:

Bacon and syrup

Brie and cranberry

Sliced sausages and fried mushrooms with ketchup.

Fromage frais, dill, smoked salmon and spinach.

Chorizo and rocket

Ricotta and spinach

I think that's about it for now, enjoy whatever idea you go for. Any of these ideas are perfect for a decadent treat and great for brunch.

ê Favorite songs

'GhettoMusick'

'Hey Ya!'

'So Fresh, So Clean'

'B.O.B'

Poppy Seed and Tangerine Pancakes

♬ 'Greatest Hits II' by Queen

I wish I was in New York. Buttermilk pancakes oozing with syrup, blueberries and decent weather. I saw pancakes everywhere, that's why I had to make them for breakfast. Who needs to wait for the weekend to indulge?! 

I've been loving soya products at the moment, I like to mix things up in the shopping basket with a range of alternatives. Don't worry this is not a PR exercise for any brand, simply a tip to try something new on your next shopping trip, whether it be soya, oat or rice products! This pancake recipe is from BBC Good Food and I've put my own twist on it. If you don't have tangerine sugar then zest a small tangerine or orange. I saved this packet from Heston Blumenthals mince pies, hopefully I can track down, on the other hand I could make some!

Recipe for 6 pancakes, size similar to the ones above.

Dry ingredients:

135g sifted plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp caster sugar

Zest from small orange/tangerine or 1tbsp tangerine sugar.

2 tbsp poppy seeds

Wet Ingredients:

130ml soya milk

1 large egg

25g melted butter (keep a bit extra to grease frying pan)

Fruits dipped in melted milk chocolate (keep in fridge until ready to serve)

One small pot of Alpro soya chocolate dessert (125g) or extra melted chocolate.

Method:

: Basically put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk the wet ingredients in a jug.

: Combine and whisk with a fork until smooth. Put to one side for 5 minutes.

: Warm up a small frying pan and add half a teaspoon of butter and let this melt, then keep the hob on a low heat, I kept mine on mark 3. 

: With a large spoon or ladle, pour a small circle in the middle of the pan. Honestly don't worry about how big your spoon or ladle is, as long as you know how much you are pouring on, you can manipulate once in the frying pan. 

: The trick is to pour in the middle then slowly move the spoon in a small circle and leaving it to cook. They should look thick not thin.

: Once bubbles have started to form at the edges then flip over. The first one might be a tester and too brown but they will get better.

: Don't raise the heat or press them down, be patient and the pancakes will start cooking and rising quicker.

: Give each pancake one minute on each side.

: Serve with drizzled chocolate dessert, fruits or with syrup. 

Your choice, your pancakes!

This is also a perfect Valentine's breakfast...think about it guys. 

Dazzle your partner with your creativity.

ê Favorite songs

 'Who Wants To Live Forever'

'I Want It All'

Full English Pancake

♬'Greatest Hits' By Foo Fighters

A fry up with Dave Grohl singing in the background, oh yes what a great start to the weekend! Before I face the stress of public transport I needed a full English that is cooking in one pan, and something that can slot on the plate. 

This delivered.

▶Recipe to serve 2 or 1 to cure a hangover!

Ingredients:

Pancake batter:

100g wheat free and gluten free plain flour (or normal plain)

1 large egg

200ml milk

pinch of caster sugar

2 pork and apple sausages (or vegetarian)

1 large egg

Spinach

Cherry tomatoes (or 2 large tomatoes cut in half)

Mushrooms (slice thickly or if you have button mushrooms leave whole)

Olive oil

Method:

: In a large non stick frying pan drizzle a bit of olive oil and cook the sausages.

: After 15 minutes cut the sausages open and add the mushrooms.

: Make sure there is enough space for an extra egg, spinach and tomatoes, now is the best time to move things around.

: Crack 1 egg opposite the mushrooms.

: Place the tomatoes next to the egg, leave on a low heat.

: Whisk all the pancake batter ingredients.

: Pour this around the sausages until the batter has surrounded everything in the pan.

: Place as much spinach as you want in one corner, you could add this before you pour the batter if you want.

: When bubbles start forming on top, shake the pan to loosen the pancake.

: The sausages should be done and have no pink showing on the inside.

DONE! 

Love it with a glass of orange juice.

Let me know if you added another favourite breakfast ingredient into the mix!  

Have a great weekend.x

Favourite Song:

ê'Times Like These' By Foo Fighters

Orange Chocolate Pancakes

'Get up offa that thing and eat this to make you feel better!' 

(chuckling - I had to get this in!)

♬ James Brown Playlist:


'Sex Machine'
'It's a Mans Mans Mans World'
'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag'
'Get Up Offa That Thang'
'I Don't Know'
'It's Too Funky In Here'
'Fine Old Foxy Self'
'Hot Pants Road'
'My Thang'
'The Boss' 


Seriously 'The Boss' was the first song that crept in my head this morning and ever since then, I thought let me start the day as I mean to go on - with chocolate.

▶ Recipe

Ingredients:

140g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

200ml semi skimmed milk (rice or soy works too)

100g dark chocolate chips

1 fresh orange

Squeezy honey

50g melted butter

Compared to the standard pancake recipe - this one has baking powder and butter to create a springy cake texture. This way the sponge has been dampened with orange juice.

Method:

: In a small non stick frying pan melt the butter until it sizzles then pour in a bowl. The frying pan should be greased so leave that off the heat until the batter is made.

: Whisk the egg and milk, then add the melted butter and then the flour and baking powder.

: The batter should be thick, pale and runny.

: Put the frying pan back on a low heat.

: Try using an ice cream scoop for consistent shape.

: No need to flip the pancake if you don't feel comfortable - just use a fish slice*.

: Wait for the top of the pancake to form bubbles then turn it over and let it cook for 2 more minutes.

: Once done squeeze a bit of fresh orange juice on top and add a few chocolate chips.

: Once each pancake is done do the same so the chocolate melts in the layers.

: This batter should make about 10 pancakes.

< Serve with a glass or orange juice or milk and trickle the honey over the top of the pancakes.

Next Time:

⤵ Blackberry and raspberry pancakes with white chocolate.

Favourite Song:

ê 'The Boss' By James Brown

* No fish used in this recipe, a fish slice is a kitchen utensil ideally used for fish. I use it for flipping pancakes, bacon and loads of other ingredients I don't want to spoil the look of.