For the Love of Pancakes...

When I was little my dad made pancakes every Saturday morning. Usually they were blueberry but every now and then he’d concoct some off the wall kind made of cereal or with another kind of fruit. Looking back now, I wonder if my love for changing recipes started with him and his adaptations to various dishes or did I already have that embedded in my DNA. (I have two very creative parents.) I didn’t appreciate his obscure recipes then, but as an adult, I see myself doing the exact same thing and it makes me smile. I substitute one thing for another all the time in everything I’m cooking or baking. If I do make something exactly as I’m “supposed” to I will be mentally changing it as I’m consuming it.
I recently discovered veganism and gluten-free ways of cooking. I’ve noticed that the skin on my face clears up when I don’t eat eggs and dairy. I also have a mean case of dermatitis on my hands that flares up when I ingest too much sugar and wheat. (these among many other things cause these flare ups) Do I follow these guidelines precisely? Hell no. I still love me some sushi, cheese pizza and baked goodies with butter, eggs, cream cheese, the works, but that’s only every now and then. When I cook at home I prefer to make everything vegan and as close to gluten free as I can get.
A little before my twenty fifth birthday I stumbled upon chocolate chip pancakes at Atlanta’s Dakota Blue restaurant in Grant Park. It was love at first bite and since then, I’ve tried making my own but nothing compares. (Prolly ‘cause my home ones are veganJ) Anyway, when doing a search for these I found a blog that soon became a favorite called www.neverhomemaker.com. Ashley and her husband Stephen write all about their running, fitness and…the delicious food they make. I’ve followed many of their recipes and have enjoyed every single bite.
It’s time to do my “artist date” this week I realized as a day off was fast approaching. I have been day dreaming about combining two of my favorite edibles…pancakes and s’mores, but have yet to actually attempt accomplishing this feat. I’m actually excited about it, like I’m giving myself permission for once to try something, maybe suck at it, maybe be successful at it, but try it none the less. I unfortunately have a very perfectionist way about me that inhibits me from doing or trying much unless I can see there is a good chance I’ll be fantastic at it. My head is always swimming with things I’d like to learn or try but putting myself out there to experience it feels terrifying and is something I would like to change.
Enter the Artist Date. This is a time to spend with myself being creative, or experiencing something I normally wouldn’t do. My inner youngin’ is to come out and play for a bit. I am to allow it, let her move as she pleases, let her hands get messy and relax for once. She is to become immersed in something that allows her to express herself while I stand back and let her.
This is certainly no easy feat. I do love to maintain control at all times. Doing something fun means a loss of control to me and that makes me nervous. I am embarrassed to say that I am not always sure I can define what is fun for me. I have a lot of creative outlets but sometimes, I get so militant about doing them that the fun part that brought me to them in the first place gets lost. I’m not sure yet what I’m working so hard for. Maybe to escape myself, to not think about things I don’t want to look at, or maybe because I seen to crave structure of some sort. I hope to find the answer as I continue along this path.
After having coffee at Lovely, and writing for a bit I head home, turn on my laptop and immediately put Pandora radio on. I then log on to www.neverhomemaker.com to get my “base” recipe so I can have something to follow when it comes to measurements. My thought process for these pancakes was wanting to take a basic pancake and make it full of chocolatey, graham crackery, marshmallowy goodness.





So here is what I did after gathering together…

1/3 cup quinoa flour
¼ cup flax meal
¼ cup applesauce
1 cup chocolate almond milk (or any milk you want)
¼ cup graham cracker crumbs (I only had the actual crackers so I annihilated them in my fancy new food processor)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp honey
¼ cup marshmallow “cream”
½ cup oats

Combine all ingredients except the oats in a large bowl, using an electric hand mixer. Fold in the oats after everything is totally mixed together. Oil a pan (canola, or coconut is fine) and set on medium heat. I measured out ¼ cups of batter and let cook a short minute before flipping. Repeat until done.

I totally enjoyed the texture of these guys. They weren’t too dense or too fluffy. Sadly, I couldn’t taste much of the graham crackers or marshmallows and quickly learned that I don’t like the flavor of quinoa flour. To remedy the marshmallow and graham crackeryness, I placed some of each between my pancakes and topped one with a piece of chocolate. While making them, I happily sang along to Pandora, danced around my kitchen, made a giant mess, letting my fingers become a sticky with marshmallow while giggling and delighting in the fact that I just accomplished something. I’m now dreaming up something similar…maybe a pancake that is cinnamony and a little crisper then having the marshmallow stuff, chocolate sauce (or something like icing) and graham cracker crumbs on the side for dipping. The options are endless. What about you? Tell me about your favorite pancake extravaganza…