Just call me joyous-pancake-monster. The warm, fluffy, sweetness of pancakes is my favourite morning comfort food and I could honestly eat it everyday! And guess what? I’m joyous to tell you that I’ve perfected this recipe. I mean really… just look at this photo? You would never guess that these are free of gluten, dairy and eggs AND they are friggin’ delicious, would you?

This recipe is fulfilling enough to keep your belly quiet till lunch. It’s full of protein from the oats and almond flour, which will keep your metabolism burning efficiently, good fats – thanks to more than just that schlop of raw coconut butter and plenty of fibre to keep you “on the regular”. When eat these, you will know what I mean by “fulfilling”.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp chia seeds combined with 1/4 cup of water
• 3/4 cup frozen wild blueberries
• 2 bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp pure vanilla
• Optional: 4 drops liquid stevia
• 1 cup raw oats (soak for a couple of hours to increase digestibility, buy certified “GF”)
• 1/2 cup almond flour (also called “almond meal”)
• 3/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1 cup frozen wild blueberries

First off, you need to make your egg replacement. Take your chia seeds and place into a cereal bowl, add 1/4 cup water and let sit for 5 minutes until they swell and become pudding-like.

In a medium size bowl, combine all the wet ingredients together — chia, blueberries, bananas, coco milk, water, vanilla, stevia. In a separate large bowl, combine the oats, almond and brown rice flour. Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. Mix together, but do not overmix.

Heat a large pan to medium temp and melt coconut oil, enough to cover the pan. Pour about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the mixture for each pancake onto your pan and cook for 5-6 minutes each side. Makes 10-12 pancakes.

Now make sure you put a schlop of Raw Coconut Butter on top and use the best quality Canadian Maple Syrup.

Since I’m the self-professed pancake monster, I would like to offer you a few tips:

• Use a coconut oil that actually smells and tastes like coconut. There are many coconut oils that taste like nothing! Nutiva is my faves.
• The batter should be rather thick, like … thicker than wallpaper paste, but thin enough that it pours on the pan. This isn’t your standard boxed pancake watery, nutrient-dead mixture. It’s meaty baby!
• If you find they are too dry, this could be that your almond flour is dry. Just add a little more coco milk or water.
• If you find it’s too wet, then add a touch more almond flour, this happens when you use bananas that you’ve thawed.

Why gluten/dairy/egg free? Why not! Although I personally can eat gluten/dairy/eggs (although I don’t eat a lot of it), many people cannot or you might be eating these foods and noticing that you are often bloated or constipated, suffer from acne and the list of symptoms of food sensitivities goes on and on. Well one thing I can assure you is that it’s highly unlikely you will get bloated or suffer any unpleasant symptoms from these p-cakes and you definitely won’t have a sugar crash — thanks to all that protein, fibre and good fat.

Upcoming Workshops in 2012:

Spring Eat Well Feel Well 6-wk nutrition + yoga class
Gluten-free Deliciously: Mar 10
Spring Detox: Apr 14
Feel Good Food: May 12

Joy McCarthy, Registered Holistic Nutritionist and Health Coach of Joyous Health, loves to inspire others to eat well, live well and be happy.

Joy has clients from all over the world and consults via phone and Skype. Contact Joy today and take the first step.