Recipe of the Week: Healthy Gluten-Free Buckwheat Pancakes

Celebrate Pancake Day the healthy way with these delicious light and airy buckwheat pancakes. Gluten and dairy free, they’re easier to digest and with the addition of so many healthy ingredients, you’re also packing in the nutrients! Top with grilled bananas, toasted pecans, dollops of Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of maple syrup for the ultimate decadence!

Making these Buckwheat Pancakes…

• 200g Buckwheat flour
• 300ml Almond milk
• 1 tablespoon Chia seeds
• 1 tablespoon Poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon Agave/Maple syrup (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Baking powder (option: Gluten free)
• 2 pinches Sea salt
• Coconut oil for greasing

Protein Boost Option: add 2 scoops of vanilla protein powder

Here’s how…

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the almond milk a little at a time, to form a smooth batter.  Whisk together until all the milk is added and allow to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes. After resting, whisk it again and add a little more milk to ensure a slightly thicker (but not too thick) consistency.

Heat a frying pan and brush with coconut oil. Using a ladle, spoon the mixture in large rounds onto the frying pan. Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes on one side before carefully turning.

Transfer the cooked pancakes to a sheet of baking paper and keep warm in the oven whilst you finish cooking the rest of the batch.

Serve with grilled bananas, dollops of Greek yoghurt, toasted pecans/coconut flakes, blueberries and cinnamon.

TIP: Make a big batch and freeze. Re-heat in the toaster as a quick and easy breakfast during the week.

Variations:

Add a teaspoon of ground cinnamon or nutmeg for a spicy alternative

For a fruity twist, include puréed berries such as raspberries to the pancake mixture after resting and serve with fresh fruit and a berry coulis

Replace buckwheat flour with Oat flour (ground oats) or Spelt flour to vary your grains occasionally

Nutritional Nugget

Although it may sound like a cereal grain, Buckwheat is actually a fruit seed related to the rhubarb family and provides a nutritious alternative if you’re sensitive to gluten or simply prefer to reduce your gluten consumption; ideal alternative to rice or made into a porridge. Buckwheat is rich in many trace minerals including Manganese, Copper and Magnesium and also provides a good source of B vitamins, fibre and Rutin; a compound which has been shown to strengthen small blood vessels. For more information on Buckwheat, CLICK HERE

May Simpkin is a BANT registered Nutritional Therapist with a Masters Science degree in Personalised Nutrition. She is an experienced clinician and Head of Wellbeing at Grace Belgravia, London., as well as Chair of the Continual Professional Committee at BANT, the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy . She is also registered with IFM, The Institute for Functional Medicine and a member of the RSM, The Royal Society of Medicine.

For more recipes visit: www.maysimpkin.com

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