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Table Of Contents
- Nutritional Perks of Using Almonds in a Recipe
- Finding the Right Almonds
- Other Grain Free Pancakes
- More grain-free recipes:
- Your kids CAN make their own healthy breakfast!
- GLUTEN-FREE CAN BE CONFUSING BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE HARD!
When our family first started experimenting with going grain-free, it was important to me to find simple recipes that didn’t call for unique ingredients. I didn’t want to make any big investments in grain free pancakes or other recipes in case it wasn’t something we kept up.
After a week or two of breakfasts consisting of eggs or yogurt and missing our crunchy homemade granola, I was desperate to find some more options! I tried two different grain free pancake recipes using almonds (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!) ground into meal – these almond meal pancakes and anothergrain free apple cinnamon pancake recipe (from a Paleo website that is no longer in exsistence), but one was too dry and one needed more flavor.
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I selected the best of each recipe and created my own, and meshing them together made it just perfect. If you like cinnamon, you’ll love these grain free pancakes, and they’re no more work than a conventional wheat-based pancake recipe.
RELATED: Kid-Friendly Gluten-Free Sheet Pan Pancakes
Nutritional Perks of Using Almonds in a Recipe
Almonds, an honorable mention in my list of super foods, have a ton of Vitamin E, which is a powerful antioxidant and good for the skin. Much more nutritional infohere.
Your kids CAN make their own healthy breakfast!
Join the Kids Cook Real Food Weekend Challenge: Kids Master Breakfast and imagine your kids making breakfast independently! This challenge contains pro-filmed video lessons you can do at your own pace and finish in one weekend. Perfect for busy families!!
Almond Apple Grain Free Pancakes Recipe
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.5 from 2 reviews
- Author: Katie Kimball
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 1 dozen thick, 3″ pancakes 1x
- Category: Breakfast
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 c. almonds (preferably crispy almonds)*
- 1/2 large apple or 1 small OR 1/3-1/2 c. applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 2–3 Tbs oil (melted coconut oil (use the code STEWARDSHIP for 10% off at that site!))
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 2+ tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- optional: add up to 3 Tbs. coconut milk or whole milk
Instructions
- In a food processor, grind the almonds into a fine meal, stopping before almond butter.
- Add the apple, cored, if using a whole apple and food process until finely chopped.
- Continue with all the other ingredients in any order, either in your food processor or in a mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Add milk if needed for thinner batter.
- Cook over medium to medium-high heat in butter or coconut oil until bubbly and slightly dry on the edges, and flip once.
- Serve with butter and maple syrup. Leftovers will refrigerate or freeze just fine and reheat in the toaster oven, as they are very sturdy pancakes.
Notes
* These are very thick pancakes; the coconut milk does a nice job making them thinner. You can also use water, but it really dilutes the flavor.
* Time-saver: Grind almonds in a batch and keep in the freezer to make breakfast prep quicker. Just be sure to stop before you reach almond butter – a fine meal is the goal, and once the nuts start swishing around and starting to stick together just slightly instead of food processing evenly, it’s time to stop.
* When you have already ground almonds, you can either chop the apples or just use applesauce, and then you don’t need to get the food processor out in the morning.
* UPDATE: a reader tried the recipe with almond meal/flour and it works great! She did not need the coconut milk or any liquid for moisture, possibly because she used applesauce instead of an apple. That makes it an even easier, quicker breakfast!
* UPDATE: another reader made a CAKE out of the same recipe! Double these amounts and pour into a glass 9″x9″ pan. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes or until it’s done. Tastes like coffee cake!!
* We tried it without eggs for our newly egg-allergic child (2016). I used the flax-egg substitute of 2 Tbs. flax in 6 Tbs. water, but it wasn’t really successful. The baby loved them, but they were super hard to flip and very crumbly. I might try psyllium husk next though!
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Finding the Right Almonds
While these pancakes can be made with any almonds, blanched, whole, pieces, and even purchased almond meal, there’s something about almonds you may not realize.
Have you ever purchased “raw” almonds in a store to make crispy nuts, taking the time to soak, then carefully dehydrate at a low temperature to preserve the enzymes?
If so, you may feel hoodwinked.
All almonds sold in stores are pasteurized.
Even if the label says “raw.”
All of them.
If the almonds are organic, they’re pasteurized using a burst of steam. Otherwise, most likely chemicals are used in a process called PPO, or Propylene Oxide. It’s FDA and EPA approved. Of course. Last time I checked the really great price almonds at Costco are chemically pasteurized which is a total bummer.
The idea behind them still being labeled “raw” is that the treatment is only on the outside and doesn’t really “cook” or (apparently, according to the government) alter or effect the inside or nutritional value.
If you don’t like the idea of chemicals being puffed at your food, whether EPA says it all goes away in a few minutes or not, or you want truly raw almonds, you have to buy directly from the grower.
You can find farms like this one selling online, but the almonds aren’t cheap.
Note: A reader told me recently that the almonds sold at Trader Joe’s are steam pasteurized, so if you’re lucky enough to have a store near you, stock up!
Other Grain Free Pancakes
- Even easier, you’ll love the simplicity and sweetness of these banana paleo pancakes, which we eat without even adding syrup.
- The best part about these pumpkin paleo pancakes, other than the great taste, is that there’s a whole cup of veggies in every dozen or so pancakes. Veggies for breakfast? Possible!
More grain-free recipes:
- Almond Power Bars
- Grain-free Pie Crust
- Grain-free Coconut Muffins
- Meal Planning on an Elimination Diet
- Grain-Free Apple Flax Muffins Recipe
- Grain-free Quinoa Bars
- Grain-free Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Bites
GLUTEN-FREE CAN BE CONFUSING BUT IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE HARD!
I’m thrilled to share a FREE gluten-free cheat sheet mini eBook to help get you started!This is perfect if you’ve just been told you need a GF diet, if you have a friend or family member eating GF and you’d like to cook for them, or if you’re just curious what it’s all about!
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Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.
Category: Real Food Recipes
Tags: almonds, apples, breakfast, dairy-free, evergreen, gluten free, grain free, grain-free lifestyle, kid-friendly, pancakes
