Sunday, August 23, 2009

Teff blueberry pancakes recipe to celebrate my blogiversary!

Teff blueberry pancakes, adapted from The Whole Life Nutrition KitchenWell, it's been a year since I started this whole thing. Coincidentally, it's also my dad's birthday. I suppose it's not such a coincidence - I got the idea when I called to wish him a happy birthday and the conversation turned to cooking. He suggested that I keep some kind of journal to keep track of recipes that I try, and I immediately decided to start a blog. So, many thanks to Dad for starting this adventure! For several months I kept it private and there were only a few family members (and after a while a few friends) who knew about it. I never expected that anyone else would be interested in reading it, but I decided to open it up to the public just in case. Now I spend more time cooking and writing than I ever thought possible, and I'm ecstatic that people who aren't related to me actually find it vaguely interesting.

In addition to Dad, I must thank my other loyal readers who have been with me from the beginning, and all of you who have found my blog through one way or another and think that it's worth reading! I can't tell you how excited I get with each and every comment. If you've seen Julie and Julia, you may remember Julie's reaction to the first comment she receives. I can definitely relate :). Speaking of Julia, I'm also glad to have received some great advice from Julia at Grow. Cook. Eat., my blogging mentor, over the last few months.

It's all too fitting that my parents are visiting this week. So, for Dad's birthday, I decided to make brunch. I almost never cook big breakfasts, so this was my perfect opportunity to try out several new recipes. Unfortunately for my parents, this meant that they had to be guinea pigs for my first gluten-free pancake adventure, but they're good sports. I did let Dad pick the type of pancakes, so I suppose that we all won.

Teff blueberry pancakes (adapted from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen)

1 cup teff flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
2 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey or agave nectar
oil for cooking pancakes (I used macadamia nut oil because that's what I grabbed first)
1 cup frozen blueberries

Whisk dry ingredients (teff flour through salt) together in a large bowl. Combine wet ingredients (water through honey) in a separate bowl, and then whisk them into the dry ingredients. Heat 1 tsp oil in a skillet over medium heat. For each pancake, add 1/4 cup batter to skillet and spread it out with the back of a spoon. Drop some blueberries onto each pancake and wait until bubbles start to form on the top. Then flip and continue to cook for another minute or so, until pancake is cooked through. Makes 9 medium-sized pancakes.

I suppose it's a good sign that the only way that Dad could stop eating these is to get up and leave the table. I loved them, too, and they didn't taste "weird" like some gluten-free baked goods do. I'm really becoming obsessed with teff - it works great for breakfast because of its hint of a chocolate taste, and it's extremely filling. This convinced me that I should put in the effort to make breakfast more often. It was definitely a great way to celebrate my blogiversary and Dad's birthday!

8 comments:

Julia said...

Happy Blogiversary! It's been fun getting to know you as a blogger and also as a "mentee". Though, I think I've learned more from you -- especially with all the technical stuff :)

And look at those pancakes! They look fantastic. It's incredible the different starches you can use to cook gluten free.

Reeni said...

Happy Blogiversary!!! These pancakes turned out great. I haven't used teff flour yet - your reviews of it make me want to try it. Have another great year!

Anonymous said...

I definitely need whole grains in my pancakes to enjoy them (Dad did buckwheat growing up and I've become
a huge fan of Oatmeal pancakes recently) but these look fantastic! I'm going to keep my eyes out for teff fo sho. -eli

Katie said...

Thanks, everyone!

Julia and Reeni - I love keeping up with your blogs, and they keep me inspired to cook and write more.

Reeni and eli - I highly recommend trying teff. I had a hard time finding it, but it's worth the search.

Susan from Food Blogga said...

Ooh, what a happy day! Happy blogisversary to you! And Happy Birthday to your dear old dad!

Katie said...

Thanks Susan! I'll pass the message along to my dad, as well :)

Anonymous said...

what can i use instead of applesauce??thanks

Katie said...

The original recipe used mashed banana instead of applesauce. I imagine that most pureed fruit would work (or even something like a sweet potato).