NatRecipe: Pancake Batter
One of the most versatile and successful recipes from Nourishing Traditions is the pancakes. Freshly ground flour (spelt, emmer, or soft winter wheat) soaked overnight with equal parts of yogurt or kefir serves as the base for delicious, light tasting, and highly digestible pancakes.
Every few weeks I make a double recipe of pancake batter — not that I am making huge batches of pancakes but because the batter is useful for a variety of recipes, or just to have on hand for pancakes another day. The batter will keep well in the fridge for several weeks. I store it in wide-mouth, quart-size, mason jars. Don’t be put off by a layer of dark batter that sometimes forms at the top—just stir it back in.
BASIC PANCAKE RECIPE – Makes about 2 quarts
2 cups wheat berries—use spelt, emmer or soft winter wheat
1 quart yogurt or kefir
4 eggs
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
In the evening, grind the berries into flour—2 cups of berries makes 4 cups flour. (If you don’t have a home grain grinder, use sprouted wheat flour.) Mix thoroughly with yogurt or kefir to make a very thick batter. Cover the container and leave on the kitchen counter overnight.
In the morning, beat 4 eggs. Beat in the soaked flour and remaining ingredients. For pancakes, measure about 1/3 cup per person into a bowl and thin with a little water. Transfer the remaining batter to wide-mouth, quart-size mason jars and store in the fridge.
To make pancakes, brush a heated griddle or cast iron pan with melted butter. Spoon on the batter and cook a few minutes on each side until the pancakes are browned and cooked through. Serve with melted butter and warmed maple syrup along with a side of natural bacon or sausage.
CRISPY PANCAKES – Makes about 18
1 cup pancake batter
water
Thin the pancake batter with a little water so that it is the consistency of cream. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of batter per pancake—the pancakes should be about 1 ½ inches in diameter. After cooking on both sides, transfer to a stainless steel cookie sheet.
Dehydrate the pancakes in a dehydrator or for 8-10 hours in a warm oven. They must be completely dry and crisp. These make great crackers and will keep a long time at room temperature in airtight containers.
CAVIAR CANAPES – Makes about 12
2 ounces caviar
12 crispy pancakes
1 small onion, diced very fine
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped very fine
1/2 cup sour cream or crème fraiche
On each crispy pancake place 2 teaspoons sour crème or crème fraiche, 1 teaspoon caviar, ½ teaspoon chopped onion and a pinch of parsley. Keep very cold until just before serving.
BATTER FRIED FISH – Serves about 4
About 1 ½ pounds fresh fish fillets, skin on, cut into pieces
1 cup pancake batter
water
about 1 cup unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
lard for frying
lemon wedges
Make a mixture of flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Dry the fish pieces with paper towels and dredge in the flour mixture. Thin the pancake batter with a little water to the consistency of cream. Shake the flour from the fish pieces and dip in the batter until well covered.
Fry the batter-coated fish fillets in lard in a cast-iron skillet, a few at a time, about 5 minutes per side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to paper towels, and then to a platter. Keep warm while finishing the other fillets.
Serve on heated plates with lemon wedges.
PECAN COOKIES – Makes 24-30 cookies
2 cups pancake batter
¾ cup maple sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon white pepper
About ½ cup crispy pecans, chopped
Use a beater to add the maple sugar, vanilla, and seasonings to the pancake batter. Stir in the chopped crispy pecans. (For Crispy Pecans recipe, see Nourishing Traditions.) Cook as pancakes in a greased cast iron skillet, several minutes per side. Transfer to a stainless steel cookie sheet.
Dehydrate the cookies in a warm oven for 8-10 hours or until completely dry and crisp. Store in an airtight container.
About the Author
Sally Fallon MA
Sally Fallon Morell is founding president of The Weston A. Price Foundation (westonaprice.org), a non-profit nutrition education foundation dedicated to returning nutrient-dense food to American tables. She is also the founder of A Campaign for Real Milk (realmilk.com), which has as its goal universal access to clean raw milk from pasture-fed animals. She is the author of the best-selling cookbook Nourishing Traditions (with Mary G. Enig, PhD); The Nourishing Traditions Book of Baby & Child Care (with Thomas S. Cowan, MD); Nourishing Broth (with Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN); Nourishing Fats; and Nourishing Diets.
Her latest book is The Contagion Myth, co-authored with Thomas S Cowan, MD. She and her husband Geoffrey Morell are owners of P A Bowen Farmstead (pabowenfarmstead.com) in Southern Maryland, which produces raw cheese and milk from pastured cows, woodlands whey-fed pork and grass-fed poultry and eggs.
