This morning I awoke with an appetite for American fluffy pancakes. As with many dishes, these days I am having to rethink how I cook without eggs and dairy.

Just in case you are wondering why I no longer eat these: Eggs have been associated with an increased risk breast cancer, read more here. Dairy too would increase my chances of getting a breast cancer recurrence as can be seen from this report. Whilst, I would love to be eating the once enjoyed dairy and egg based pancakes I once did, I love my life much more.

One aspect I am really loving about this plant-based journey is that I am constantly being introduced to new foods. I was given a bag of brown teff flour from a friend yesterday. Teff is a grain grown and widely used in Ethiopia. It has a huge range of health benefits including: balancing blood sugar, being gluten free (though if you wish to make this dish gluten free you will need to eliminate the white flour), assisting digestion and elimination due to its high fibre content, being low fat and it actually tastes really good. Therefore, this formed my main ingredient for the pancakes.

This method of making pancakes was pretty much a trial and error job. Don’t be put off by the vinegar as you won’t taste it at all. As an acid, it is added to produce carbon dioxide. It reacts with the baking powder to help the pancakes rise. I might add a little more baking powder next time to help them become a little fluffier, but other than that, I am proud of my accomplishment. I ate them with maple syrup and seasoned baked beans (made with onion and black pepper).

You don’t have to be vegan or consciously living a plant-based lifestyle to give these a try but you will most certainly gain from its benefits.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 tbsp brown teff flour

2 tbsp white flour

1 tsp white wine vinegar

A dash of vanilla essence

1 tbsp coconut sugar (or any sugar you like)

1-2 tsp baking powder

150 ml almond milk

2-3 tbsp Rapeseed oil

 

Makes 6 – 8 pancakes

Method

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together
2. Add the milk, vinegar and vanilla essence and mix thoroughly
3. Add rapeseed oil to a skillet of frying pan
4. Use a ladle to add the mixture in oval shapes to the hot oil
5. As soon as you see the edge of the pancakes begin to harden, turn them over
6. Once cooked, serve hot with maple syrup