3 Alternative Flours For Pancakes So Good You’ll Forget They’re Healthy Too
The pancake revolution has been a long time coming. Now that it’s here, it’s time to make stacks that taste good whether you pour syrup over them or not.
Maple syrup. Whipped cream. Sliced strawberries. I don’t have a problem with any of these things, but for so long—too long—toppings such as these have been pancakes’ big crutch. So one recent morning while tinkering in the Epicurious Test Kitchen, I said enough—it’s time to put the flavor back into the pancake, not just on top of it.
For that, I turned to alternative flours. I know what you’re imagining: Leaden, earthy, “healthy” pancakes—the thing you’d expect to be served on some sort of hippie commune in Oregon. These are not those pancakes. Here, the nutritional boost of alternative flours is nothing but a happy afterthought. The main purpose in using them is to create a new style of pancake—something light and creamy in texture, and bold enough in flavor that when you top it, you do so lightly. Because these pancakes give the toppings flavor, not the other way around.
1. BUCKWHEAT FLOUR
Buckwheat pancakes are nothing new, but they’ve long needed an upgrade. Two dishes inspired me to create this savory buckwheat stack: Classic Breton galette, the French crepe-like pancakes made with buckwheat flour and typically filed with ham, eggs, and cheese, and Chinese scallion pancakes. The result is a pork and scallion-packed pancake that begs you to “put an egg on it.”
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2. SPELT FLOUR
Spelt flour can usually be substituted 1:1 for regular flour in pancakes, waffles, muffins, quick breads, or any baking that involves some kind of chemical leavener (like baking powder). And it has a particularly affinity for citrus, which is why I use it in this riff on lemon-poppyseed muffins (I use oranges instead of lemons, but, you know, you do you). Sunflower seeds add even more crunch to these otherwise light and fluffy pancakes, and a rosemary-infused syrup (just a little drizzle!) makes it fancy.
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3. ALMOND FLOUR AND BROWN RICE FLOUR
And now, a pancake for my gluten-free peeps. I dreamt these almond- and rice-flour pancakes up one day when I ate banoffee pie for dessert and woke up wanting to eat it all over again. Mashed bananas add just the right touch of sweetness to the batter, but the real star here is the date “caramel,” made almost entirely of dates (and therefore free of refined sugars). The whole thing gets sprinkled with some sliced, toasted almonds for crunch and to bring out the almond flavors from the flour. If you really want to get the full banoffee effect, serve these with coconut milk whipped cream.
By Gabriella Vigoreaux
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PHOTOS: CHELSEA KYLE, PROP & FOOD STYLING BY DIANA YEN
