I love lemon, especially lemon with poppyseeds, in any sort of baked goods: tea bread, scones, muffins, cookies, you name it. Since many traditional bakery items are now off-limits to me thanks to their gluten and sugar content, I decided to doctor up our latest Pancake Sunday with these favorite and much-missed flavors.
If you can do dairy, these pancakes would be just as delicious with genuine whipped cream. However, whipped coconut cream‘s unctuous mouth feel and fluffy texture make a satisfying substitute. Since the Gent and I are following an anti-inflammatory diet, we also avoid Cool Whip and other non-dairy, processed whips, because they contain inflammation-promoting ingredients like hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. I find coconut milk sweet enough on its own without added sugar, so we made our whipped coconut cream with just a splash of vanilla extract.
The secret to a nice golden brown color on gluten-free pancakes is to melt a small pool of coconut oil (or whatever cooking fat you’re using) onto the griddle, and then — slowly and carefully, so as not to splash — pour the batter directly into the hot oil. If you cook gluten free pancakes on a non-stick griddle, you don’t need the extra oil for cooking, but you will end up with rather pale, unappetizing looking pancakes. However, they’ll still taste fine, so if you’re looking to save calories, just skip the cooking oil and top the cakes with something that will hide their pallor.
Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes
For the pancakes:
1 1/2 cups Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 to 3 Tbsp poppyseeds
zest of 2 lemons
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 Tbsp agave nectar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups almond milk
For the topping:
1 lb fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and sliced
1 Tbsp agave nectar
juice of 1 lemon
Toss the sliced strawberries with the agave nectar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Cover and set aside, stirring occasionally, until the strawberries release their juice, about 20 minutes. In the meantime, make the pancakes.
For the pancake batter, sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the lemon zest. Add the remaining (wet) ingredients and whisk until smooth. Batter will be very thick. Ladle the batter onto a hot griddle (with or without cooking oil, as noted above) by 1/4 cup measures. Use the back of the ladle to spread the batter out if necessary. Cook the pancakes over medium-low heat, flipping when the edges start to dry out and the surface is bubbly. Keep the cooked pancakes warm while whipping the coconut cream. After whipping the coconut cream, serve immediately. Makes about a dozen pancakes (four servings).
