I grew up eating lots of pancakes. LOTS. It was a Sunday tradition. My Dad makes (and always made) THE BEST pancakes. Fluffy, not too sweet, not over or under cooked. Perfect for ripping up by hand to dunk in syrup or to slather in butter and maple. 



Although these Cosmic Blueberry Pancakes aren't the pancakes I grew up eating, they are pretty special. Though they don't look it, these pancakes are gluten free and vegan, which honestly for pancakes is a serious  challenge I have struggled with for years now. Up until this morning I'd all but given up on authentic-tasting vegan and gluten free pancakes without bad-for-you ingredients. My husband had too -- he has grown increasingly resistant to my healthy pancake attempts and almost never agrees to base his breakfast on them anymore. He's a pancake purist I guess, and all the healthy imposters I've come up with over the years have failed to fool him. In my many trials, the pancakes have tended to come out too dense, too crepe-like, too earthy flavoured, too undercooked inside or too overcooked outside. Poor guy. I had come to accept that most gluten free vegan pancake recipes result in a first batch of throw-aways (undercooked, overcooked), followed by a few successful edible pancakes. This recipe however has blown my mind a little. I managed to rope my husband in as a very wary taste-tester and we both ended up licking our plates clean -- woo -- they really are THAT good. Finally -- a light, fluffy, sweet but not too sweet pancake with no failed first flips. 


You might be wondering why I called these pancakes Cosmic Blueberry Pancakes. Though its hard to tell from these photos, these pancakes are swirled and speckled with a lovely deep blue hue -- the result of me trying to gently "pulse" in my wild blueberries into the batter in my blender. I pulsed too much, resulting in some of the blueberries blending in and dying the batter a gorgeous blue colour. When I gazed at the first successful pancake the batter produced I was struck by how much it reminded me of a galaxy. So even though most blueberry pancakes recipes go out of their way to avoid this kind of blue overload, I embraced it. Plus they came out totally delicious so why mess with a good thing?


Seasonal cooking is great but I decided to make these pancakes with frozen wild blueberries so that this recipe could be accessible for everyone year round. Plus when it comes to baking and desserts I generally prefer using frozen fruit. As if the blue hued batter wasn't enough blueberry to pack into these pancakes, I decided to top each of them with a handful of extra berries while they were frying so that the undersides of the pancakes were studded with juicy wild blueberries.

These pancakes are perfect for weekend brunch, a lazy Sunday morning or a dreary winter's day. To me they taste like a really good blueberry muffin in pancake form. They will definitely be a staple in this house and hopefully will find their way into yours too. 


COSMIC BLUEBERRY PANCAKES 
(vegan, gluten free)

• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 3 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 1.25 tsp baking soda
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp maple syrup
• 1.5 tsp acv
• 1.5 cup non dairy milk
• 2 level tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp neutrally flavoured oil
• Pinch of cinnamon

• 1/2 cup plus extra frozen wild blueberries

If you give these pancakes a try, please share a picture on social media, I'd love to see it! #BakingBackwards

I love crepes, which is weird because I HATED them for years...



But last summer my husband and I took a trip to Montreal and found ourselves in Jean Tallon market -- a year round farmer's market and gourmet food complex. If you have never been and have the chance, go. Its one of my favourite markets in the world, and I have visited many. We had some crepes there that I will never forget.


Montreal is a tricky city to navigate as a gluten free vegan -- but then again, what city isn't? When my husband and I travel we opt for renting Air BNBs with kitchens or kitchenettes to ensure we have the option to cook. Though we both love to eat out from time to time, a week of that gets old fast. Our trip to Montreal this summer was no different -- we stayed in a charming downtown apartment with a nice kitchen and kitchen table setup. We cooked most of our meals and took advantage of seasonal local produce from markets like Marche Jean Tallon. We ate out too, but most things were cooked at home. We've been back recently -- two weeks ago. Every time I go to the market I head straight for the crepe stand. After searching "gluten free vegan Montreal" on Google, many things came up. Restaurants like Aux Vivres at the top of the list. We never ended up eating there because pretty much everything on the menu contained something I am allergic to. I find that I have a harder time eating in vegan restaurants like Fresh and Aux Vivres than I do in "normal" restaurants or even steak houses! Most of the vegan menu items at these places are either not gluten free or contain soy or nuts, leaving me with few to no options that meet both restrictions. The kitchens use such a large amount of the ingredients that I am allergic to that I am nervous to eat there. So, when I found out that Creperie Du Marche in Jean Tallon offered vegan and gluten free crepes I knew I needed to stop by. I'm so glad I did!


The crepes at the market come sweet and savoury and are absolutely perfect. I opted for a sweet apple crepe with maple butter. It is still one of my most memorable meals out.

For my 30th birthday last week, my husband and sister surprised me with a trip to Montreal. We pretty much went straight to the market for a crepe on day one, and probably will again the next time we're back in town.

This weekend my husband and I entertained my parents at our home -- which rarely happens. We fed them dinner and dessert -- including these holiday cookies and a pear and gingerbread galette. The galette was totally delicious but wasn't photo friendly -- a bit on the messy-looking side, so I decided to start my day today with a pretty crepe inspired by the galette. 

• 1/2 cup of brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 3 tbsp arrowroot starch
• SPICES: Pinch of salt AND ground cloves + 1/2-1 tsp each cinnamon + 1/2-1 tsp cacao or cocoa powder + 1/4-1/2 tsp ginger + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp coconut sugar
• 1.5-2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp oil (I used a light olive oil)
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup of water

PEAR TOPPING:

• OPTIONAL: 2 bosc pears (thinly sliced, seeds removed) and a little coconut sugar
• Maple syrup (to drizzle on top of the crepes)

Sunday morning. Its a time when sleep, laziness and pancakes are most appropriate. That magical time of the week when you don't feel guilty about still lying in bed at 10 or 11 in the morning or walking around naked.


I don't work out, I stay in a lot, I bake, I watch movies...I relax. I actually love Sundays for all those reasons. I also find that time seems to move a lot more slowly on Sundays than on other days of the week. I seem to accomplish far more than I ever can in a normal day in only a few hours. This morning was that kind of a productively lazy one. I woke up late, I made me and my husband pancakes, we went for a huge walk in which we found a new park (and ran around it like idiots), we bought some groceries and haggled for a piece of art for our dining room, drove back downtown to pick up the art piece and then home again. This all happened in the span of a few hours. 

Sunday morning is the only time I like to make pancakes. I find pancakes a little heavy as a breakfast, and even though they're pretty easy to make, I always assume they are a big project, a project fit perfectly for the only day of the week when I have the nothing but spare time. 

I have been doing a lot of refined-sugar-free and low-fat baking lately. I have a hard time digesting refined sugars and fats and am constantly trying to reduce my processed sugar intake or annihilate it altogether. My most recent experiment was a sugar-free Saskatoonberry pie. I liked the pie a lot but it was not very sweet in the end. In fact, it tasted more like a fig newton than a berry pie. Today I wanted something really delicious that just happened to be low fat and sugar free.

I have been experimenting with baking with pear sauce and pear butter lately and have loved the results.  The two ingredients may sound similar but they are quite distinct. Pear sauce is pears cooked down to an apple-sauce consistency that is thin and fresh tasting. Pear butter is pear sauce reduced to a thick and syrupy consistency with a caramel and malt flavor. Today I decided to incorporate both ingredients into a vegan pear pie pancake. The result was a great Sunday breakfast.

I had never made a vegan pancake before but they turned out even better than I had hoped. I wanted to top them with a fruit based sauce instead of maple syrup so I thought an apple pie inspired sauce would be great. 


Its absolutely delicious. Firm pears are a little less acidic than apples and I find that they make lovely pies and crumbles. They also pair well with chocolate (pun intended!) so I decided to give this recipe a bit more depth of flavor by adding some cocoa powder and chocolate extract. It gave the pancakes and sauce a little richness and earthiness. You can't really taste the cocoa at first but then you notice it a little in the aftertaste.

They are fruit-sweetened, full of fiber, protein and EFAs.They taste like pear pie or pear cake with a hint of cocoa. The pancakes are light and fluffy while the sauce is rich and sweet. The recipe is pretty easy to throw together for an impressive brunch or breakfast.




Vegan Pear Pie Pancakes with a Hint of Chocolate 





Pear Pie Sauce
Makes 2-4 servings

• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 firm pear, cored and chopped
• 1 dash coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp unsweetened pear butter
• 4 tsp unsweetened pear sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 8 drops stevia
• 1-3 tsp maple syrup (optional, can be replaced with more stevia if you want sugar-free sauce

Note: If you want to add maple flavor without adding maple syrup try maple extract.

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat. Add a dash of sea salt, and the cinnamon. Stir for 30 seconds. Add the chopped pear and saute for a minute. Add the cocoa powder and saute for 30 seconds. Add the pear sauce and pear butter and stir. Heat for a minute. Add the water, vanilla, and chia seeds. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the stevia and maple syrup (if using) and simmer on low heat until ready to serve.



Pear Pie Pancake Batter
Makes 4 large pancakes

• 1 cup millet flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp unsweetened pear butter
• 5 tsp unsweetened pear sauce
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 dashes coarse sea salt
• 1.5 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 7 drops stevia

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine millet flour, cinnamon, and cocoa until mixed thoroughly. Add the pear butter and pear sauce and stir to incorporate. Add the baking soda and baking powder and apple cider vinegar and chia seeds and stir through. Add the water and stir until smooth. Add the olive oil and stevia and stir to incorporate. Let the batter rest until small bubbles appear on the surface of the batter (about 5-10 minutes).

When ready to fry, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Pour 1/4 of batter into center of the pan and tilt the pan around to spread into pancake shape. Dust the surface with a little cinnamon. The pancake is ready to flip when its edges are light brown and a few small bubbles appear on top (note: there will not be a lot of bubbles on the surface with this batter). Pancakes can be flipped when you can easily slide your spatula underneath them without batter sticking to the spatula. When flipped, the top will be a deep golden brown but not burnt. Allow to cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute on the opposite side before plating.

Optional: butter the pancake with coconut oil before adding the Pear Pie Sauce.

Once plated, top with a few spoonfuls of the Pear Pie Sauce. Serve immediately.

Right this very moment, diners and bars around the world are offering pancake entrees for Shrove Tuesday, otherwise known as 'Fat Tuesday'. This annual celebrated day of decadence marks the beginning of Lent, a 40 day fast. As the faithful masses gear up to cut back, they celebrate with a short stack.

I am not a religious person but I can appreciate a day devoted to pancakes. In honor of Shrove Tuesday, I tackled a task that's troubled me for months. My husband loves pancakes -- fluffy pancakes. He is a health conscious man so he prefers not to eat white flour or even wheat flour whenever possible. When he makes pancakes or asks me to make some he always wants spelt flour pancakes. He has never met a spelt pancake that was not dense though. I have tried a few pastry tricks in the past to help him in his quest, but to minor avail...until now! I have finally perfected the spelt flour pancake. These pancakes are fluffy, light and dare I say good for you. If you are not going to fast for 40 days, these pancakes are healthy enough that you won't have to.

Strawberry Pancakes for a Not So Fat Tuesday

2 cups organic spelt flour
1 cup vanilla rice milk (I use Natura)
1 egg, yolk and white separated
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
pinch of sea salt
4 strawberries, sliced

Instructions

Separate the egg. Put the yolk in a medium sized mixing bowl and the white into a cereal sized bowl. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt and vinegar to the yolk and stir to combine. Add the flour and rice milk. Stir to combine all ingredients.Set aside.

Beat the egg white until soft peaks form. Fold the egg white into the batter until evenly distributed.

Heat a large non stick frying pan on medium high heat.Once hot, pour in batter for pancake size you prefer (large or small, make sure to space them out evenly in the pan). After a few seconds, top with a few strawberry slices.Wait until small bubbles form on the pancake before flipping with a spatula. Once flipped, allow a few seconds for the other side to cook before removing from the pan. Repeat until batter is used up.

Serve immediately with butter or coconut butter and maple syrup or powdered sugar.