Hazelnut Vanilla Pancakes!!!
*Cooking-I cooked them at a medium to high heat. Once the griddle got warmed up, they cooked pretty quickly (1 to 2 minutes for each). The way you know that they’re done, is if they’re not gooey anywhere. The first one I made I was unsure of, so I cut it in half to double check it’s level of gooey-ness. But after that I knew that if they were brown on both sides, they were probably done. I usually flipped them 4 times, so that each side got cooked twice.
*Hazelnuts- It was difficult to find hazelnuts at all. They did not have them at Whole Foods. I ended up getting mine at Arax in Watertown, MA. I don’t know if the pancakes, or crepes, as they ended up being, would have been tastier with roasted hazelnuts. I don’t have enough experience using hazelnuts to really tell. But they were plenty tasty with them raw.
*Eggs- What I’ve been told, is that if the author of a recipe does not specify the size of the eggs, that means to use large eggs. This is good to know. Thank you Josh.
*Vanilla Extract- For pancakes called Hazelnut Vanilla Pancakes, I didn’t taste that much vanilla. While the experience would have been really different had I had syrup, I will probably put in a tablespoon as opposed to a teaspoon when I make these again for breakfast. And again, finding gluten free vanilla extract is a total pain. I would highly recommend the internet. The price is about double if you buy them from Whole Foods. I get mine from Tropical Traditions. www.tropicaltraditions.com.
*Agave Nectar- I used agave nectar as my sweetener. I know that using it made this recipe not suitable for those on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, but that’s an easy fix. One of the reasons that I like baking with agave (particularly the light colored agave nectar) is that the flavor isn’t strong. Other sweeteners have a tendency to overpower, and generally, I find that light agave nectar does not do this.
*Cinnamon- I couldn’t taste it all. If I had put in a full tablespoon as opposed to a teaspoon, maybe it would have made a difference. I think it would be a nice addition to the recipe.
*Jam- I use only fruit sweetened jam. It’s also a little bit difficult to find. The brand that I have found that tastes the best, that I used to slather on my “pancakes” is St. Dalfour, black raspberry jam. It’s sweetened with grape juice and that works for me. But FYI it’s not cheap. It’s about $4 for 10 ounces at Whole Foods. But I’ve looked and I haven’t been able to find it any cheaper. So, rock, hard place.
Oops
*Maple Syrup- Obviously, that was a fiasco. I can’t believe I walked all over to get the hazelnuts and forgot to check for the maple syrup. You can make your own syrups, Raman Prasad has a recipe for it and Elana Amsterdam has a few as well, but I just couldn’t face it at that point. So, jam it was.
*The Batter- The batter was really thick and fluffy. I would have liked it to have been a little less so. I might have kept them in the blender too long. They were in there, maybe a minute after the batter started to look smooth. Maybe if I had stopped it sooner, It would then have been easier to make the pancakes/crepes even and thin like you’re supposed too. In the end, it didn’t matter that much for taste, but it would have been easier to maneuver. And perhaps easier to make shapes. But I think that no matter what, that star was doomed to be a blob. Such is life.
Thoughts
My only complaint about this recipe, is that I felt that it was a little vague. I know making pancakes is something a lot of people do, and is relatively simple. But for someone who hasn’t eaten one in close to 10 years, it would have been nice if the steps were spelled out a little bit. The level of heat to cook the pancakes, whether or not to use roasted or raw hazelnuts, they weren’t specified. And I like a little more explanation when I’m making something for the first time. But despite my momentary confusion and forgetting the syrup (sigh. double sigh) I think they were really tasty and worth a try.
This recipe can be found in Raman Prasad’s cookbook: “Recipes For the Specific Carbohydrate Diet”
Lovelillian
Filed in: breakfast
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