RECIPE: Heavenly Hazelnut Pancakes... look - no eggs, no dairy!

My favourite breakfast EVER has to be... American-style 'fluffy' thick pancakes!

New York is one of my favourite places to spend time and of course absolute heaven when you're a fan of these little beauties (Pershing Square under the bridge opposite Grand Central Terminal - make some of the best). And in a previous life of course my favourite accompaniment to them would be crispy bacon and maple syrup.

These days however, gone is the pork (and the milk and the eggs for that matter) and instead I love to serve mounds of fresh fruit with these completely vegan pancakes - still topped with maple syrup and occasionally (for real decadence) some soya cream too.

Quick as a flash to make and worth getting out of bed for any day...

So - to my newest experiment with them - Hazelnut - discovered mainly due to running out of soya milk, but thankfully inspiring a whole new delicious way to enjoy!

Tuck in...

Chantal xx

[Makes about 10 small pancakes - easy to double the mix quantity for more]

 

Gather:

Utensils - 

Put some serving plates on to warm and collect your weighing scales and measuring spoons, a large 2l jug, a hand whisk, a large heavy bottom frying pan, or two if you have them and a spatula. 

I actually used an electric whisk and didn't need the cups.

Ingredients - 

150g flour - I like a mix of plain white and wholemeal

10g sugar - I use unrefined granulated

25g baking powder (approx 2 tbsp) - seems like a lot but will give you a good 'fluff'!

pinch of salt

230g Hazelnut milk (250ml / 1 cup)

25g oil (approx 2 tbsp) - I use hazelnut oil but a light flavourless oil such as vegetable or rapeseed is fine

A little extra veg/rapeseed oil to brush your frying pan/s

Some chopped roasted hazelnuts plus any mix of prepared fresh fruit that you love - raspberries are in season just now, bananas always great and blueberries are a classic. Maple syrup or agave on the side.

Create:

1. Put your pan/s on a medium to high heat to warm up while you prepare the batter.
2. Weigh all of the dry ingredients straight into the jug and stir to combine.
3. Weigh the wet ingredients into the jug and whisk straight away until a thick smooth batter is formed.
4. Oil your pans (if they are smoking then they are too hot - take them off the heat to cool for a minute or two) and pour a little of the mixture into the pan - I usually fit three pancakes to a pan & use two pans.
5. Cook the pancakes until you see bubbles start to appear and the batter is starting to set - then flip them over gently with your spatula.
6. Cook for another 2 minutes or so on the other side - lifting one up to see if it is cooked to a dark golden brown.
7. Transfer to your plates and eat immediately - these really are best eaten as freshly made as possible.

Bubbles start to form and when the batter is set you can flip!

Don't let your pancakes be too anaemic or they may be raw in the middle.

Enjoy:

You can vary the pancakes by adding some finely chopped hazelnuts to the batter or sprinkling some on when you have poured the batter into the pan and before you flip the pancakes - or of course sprinkled over once cooked! Go NUTS!!!

Pancakes with added chopped pecans before flipping.

Served with fresh raspberries - from our garden, fresh bananas - not from our garden + pure maple syrup!

Cooks tip:

This is a great general recipe that can be easily adapted. Plain pancakes can be made in exactly the same way, with the same ingredients, except using soya milk instead of the hazelnut milk and vegetable oil instead of the nut oil.