adapted from Levana Cooks, using Vanilla Bean Levana Nourishments
The Low Carb Pancakes challenge is: no grain flour and no sugar.
But just as it is true that if life sends you lemons, you make lemonade, so too, if life withholds carbs, you make no or low carb pancakes and other goodies, period. Smile please.
You’ll be amazed how resourceful it will make you!
I have been exploring with low carb pancakes, and both the savory and sweet low carb pancakes and flat breads turn out to be real viable and delicious options, and have been right in the center of my kitchen playground these past three weeks. It is not a matter of swearing off carbs for life, just a matter of reducing them and exploring with their healthy no-carb alternatives. Not having any carbs, it goes without saying they are also gluten-free to boot. I make no end of delicious and wholesome pancakes and crepes in every shape and form, both gluten-free and low gluten, with spelt and other whole grain flours.
The secret is in the almond flour, ground whole almonds, with some ground flax, and coconut flour, not necessarily all at once, so nut-allergic diners can experiment more with flax, pumpkin seed meal, sunflower seed meal, and coconut flour. I was surprised to see how neutral all three turn out to be in each mixture, and how obediently they take on all flavors they are paired with. If you intend to use these flours on a regular basis, take yourself to a price club where they will be much more affordable than in retail health food stores. Curiously, some people, like my granddaughter Musia, can’t have tree nuts but are totally OK with peanuts. In this case use peanut flour.
Rather than give you set recipes, I am giving you a couple base recipe suggestions for low carb pancakes, and suggest ways to play with them in exciting combinations. My suggestions below are for just one serving, go ahead and multiply the ones that appeal to you the most.
Attention dear Vegan friends: Low Carb Pancakes are for you too!
Skip the egg, and raise the flax meal to 3 tablespoons and the liquid to 2/3 cup.
I tinkered with low carb pancakes into a bread loaf and muffin shape:
I must say I was not happy with the results; both the loaf and the muffins looked stunted and had no visual appeal whatsoever. So my advice is, make it a sort of skillet bread as I am making it here, sacrifice some of the pristine raised look (remember, in many cuisines, like Indian, ALL breads are flat breads) and keep all the flavor!
My recipe makes 1 serving. No problem multiplying the recipe. Make the batter up to 4 times larger, and make small pancakes. Too lazy to make the pancakes one by one? Make just one giant pancake, and cut it in wedges.
