Almond Pancakes {Gluten-Free}
A couple of months ago I asked for your healthiest budget-friendly recipes. You responded with all kinds of yummy ideas . . . only I didn’t know until last week.
You see, my contact form, Dave, did something pretty irresponsible. For three months he didn’t come around. No messages . . . not even spam. I didn’t think anything of it (other than being grateful for a little less spam) and then WHOMP! He dropped a truckload of messages on my doorstep and ran back to his cave.
My new contact form, Steve, is pretty reliable, so please feel free to drop me a line. 
Opening all those emails at once was both fun and overwhelming. Questions, birth stories, recipes. Oh the recipes. This easy almond pancake recipe was sent in by herbalist and nutritionist Katja Swift. More than just a sweet treat, a short stack of these will load you up with protein, vitamin A, folate, magnesium, vitamin E and more. I liked them enough to make them THREE times in two days. Thanks Katja!
Ingredients:
- 6 pastured eggs (where to buy eggs)
- 1 cup almond meal. I didn’t have any so I put a handful of sprouted almonds in a coffee grinder. Voila!*(where to buy nuts)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp unrefined sea salt (where to buy salt)
Instructions:
- Mix ingredients until there are no clumps
- Heat ghee or coconut oil over medium heat in a nonstick cast iron skillet
- Pour batter into the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes on the first side, then flip.
Serve with ghee and sea salt, and just a bit of grade B maple syrup. Grade B has all the minerals. Grade A is for tourists . It’s also illegal for GAPS families, but honey would be nice, too!
If you eat dairy, you can leave out the vanilla and serve them like blinzes, with sour cream and salmon roe, or meat and mushrooms. Instead of sour cream, Katja uses homemade avocado oil mayonnaise or homemade bacon-grease mayonnaise. There are tons of possibilities, so go for it if you feel like getting creative!
* We have a coffee grinder for coffee, and one that we use to grind spices, herbs, nuts, etc. It’s not really a good idea to use your actual coffee grinder unless you want everything to taste like a mocha.
susan
this is similar to our almond pancake recipe.. i add 1/4c of honey to the mix for a little extra sweetness.. makes any toppings optional so we can take them on the road for trips, or to school in lunchboxes.
Heather
Great tip, Susan!
Esther
oh my, I just made this for supper. (been craving pancakes and couldn’t wait until breakfast!)
I watched as my hubby and 3 year old took their first bites….I leaned forward on my seat waiting for their (good or bad) reaction. Sheer, delight! a hit! they loved it! even 14 month old Jackson devoured them. mmm, this hit the spot and will def be a regularly made in our home. Thanks so much, Mommypotamus! Have I told you that you ROCK!?!?!
Heather
Well, technically Katja rocks, but thanks! And stay tuned cause she promised to send more recipes
Mellanie Gray Sheppard via Facebook
This sounds delicious! I think I will make them for breakfast in the morning.
Jennifer
So yummy looking! I am hoping to add it to our “unschool” plans this week, can I link this in my blog post?
Heather
Yes, absolutely! Thanks Jennifer!
Rachel J.
If you like fluffier pancakes you can whip the egg whites separately and then fold them back in after the dry and wet ingredients are mixed together. Sometimes it’s worth the extra effort
Heather
Great tip, Rachel! Thanks!
Genevieve Mama Natural
YUMMY! These sound fantastic! I need to get myself another coffee grinder
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Mary
Where do you get sprouted almonds and what makes them better than regular? I’m still very new to this healthier lifestyle and interested in learning all that I can.
Heather
Hi Mary – Almonds contain enzyme inhibitors that make them difficult to digest. When an almond is planted and watered these inhibitors slowly break down, making the energy source (protein) more available . . . which is part of why the plant starts to grow. To mimic this process and therefore get more nutritional benefit out of almonds, you can “sprout” them (http://www.ehow.com/how_2169114_make-sprouted-nuts.html) and then dehydrate them at low temps to make them crispy. Unfortunately, almonds that are irradiated will not sprout . . . and 99% of what is sold today are irradiated even if they are labeled “raw.” It’s best to avoid irradiated foods whenever possible (http://www.truehealth.org/nukedfood.html), so you might want to consider purchasing sprouted almonds (http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/category/nuts-and-seeds-s-d-nuts-and-seeds.php).
Most other nuts and seeds are sold without being irradiated, so you can sprout pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. if you’d like. Let me know if you’d like to give it a shot and I’ll send you some info!
Heather
I hope I didn’t overwhelm you (but I think I probably did), so here’s a more affordable option: sprouted grains! I’ll be posting a tutorial on how to make them soon . . . these pancakes would work with regular flour.
Mary
Thank you so much for all of the info. Every aspect of ridding my family of processed foods seems pretty overwhelming at the moment.. but I am just trying to get all of the information I can and then making changes bit by bit as I can afford them and can find them available.
Jamie
Hi Heather,
We enjoy eating nuts, but would love more information about sprouting them like you mentioned in this post. Could you send us more info regarding that?
My family and I are fairly new to the paleo lifestyle (about 4 months in), and I’m pretty sure we learn something new about food every day!
Thanks! And thanks for your wonderful website too…you are such a wealth of knowledge!
Heather
Hi Jamie! Here are the instructions! http://www.mommypotamus.com/how-to-soak-and-dehydrate-nuts-the-nourishing-traditions-way/
Jessica Bennett Espinoza via FB
Leftover meatloaf with roasted cauliflower and wilted spinach with butter and lemon.
Alison Wonderland Sheffield via FB
I had eggplant parmesean.
Julie Whetstine via FB
my usual — yogurt, blueberries and walnuts — oh but strawberries too today! love, love,, love it!
Julie Whetstine via FB
wow! excellent recipe! almond meal & eggs (okay and vanilla & salt) — amazingly simple! can’t wait to try it!
Bethany Lane Nash via FB
Scrambled eggs. Again.
Margo Snider via FB
I could eat pancakes anytime time of day, they are one of my faves!
Anna Caltagirone via FB
Leftover enchiladas.
Julie Sutton Jones via FB
Heather, you are lucky Josh and I don’t live close to you…I would have been eating almond panckaes for lunch! lol
Amy McDaniel Botts via FB
Teff w/cinnamon, cardamom, and coconut milk courtesy of Natalie Weimer! ‘tWas yummy!
Mommypotamus via FB
@Amy – What is teff???
Mommypotamus via FB
@Julie – Yum! Yogurt with berries/nuts is my usual bedtime snack!
Bethany Lane Nash via FB
Teff is a gluten-free grain (technically a grass, I think)
Amy McDaniel Botts via FB
It’s an itsy, bitsy grain that grown on a grass, lovegrass, I think, usually ground into a meal and made into bread in Ethiopian, with a very mild, nutty flavor.
Natalie mentioned that she ordered it because she didn’t find it locally. It is REALLY filling, and for my second helping yesterday, I added cacao powder and molasses; it tasted a lot like a hearty pudding!
Michelle Valdes via FB
me! and I love love love almond pancakes!!
Jesse Miles via FB
We did bfast for lunch today
Kristen Eppner Ethridge III via FB
I love BFD. My husband hates it. How did I not know this before we got married???
Elzane Krupa via FB
We just finished an awesome POT of Stone Oats w/Raisins/Walnuts/Cinnamin for Dinner! Cold Night = Warm Tummy’s
Sara Creitz Rockarts via FB
I do bfast for lunch sometimes, too. Like when they have pb toast for bfast and I don’t wanna give them pb&j for lunch.
Janice Ebel Leverenz via FB
I could eat breakfast foods for every meal. I love eggs!
Peyton Ray Lauderdale via FB
This is one of my go-to meals when I forgot to take something out (or when I just don’t feel like doing much). My other is salmon–defrosts so quickly and cooks even faster.
Kathleen T. Johnson via FB
I do not get this. To me, breakfast for dinner is a HUGE amount of work. Maybe because i am fixing pancakes for eight bottomless pits, plus the eggs and bacon for that sized crew. A huge greasy mess. Guess that’s why I only do it about four times a year.
Mommypotamus via FB
Kathleen T. Johnson – With a crew like that I can’t imagine meal prep is ever all that easy! What’s your “simple” meal for busy days?
Kathleen T. Johnson via FB
Probably tacos. I usually have some taco meat in the freezer and my kids can pull together all the ingredients pretty easily.
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Sarah
These are wonderful and SO easy!! I added cinnamon and topped with raw honey. My 3 year old is in heaven!
Heather
Ahhh, so glad you liked them Sarah! I think I will try them with cinnamon next time. Yum!
marc
can you use the almonds still wet from soaking and just blend them with the other ingredients in a vitamix and start making pancakes?