Remember going camping as a kid? You didn't have to do any of the work and all you had to do was eat s'mores and dig for worms and go in the lake?
We used to go as a whole family, cousins and all. Our grandpa would take us 'snipe hunting' with our butterfly nets, we'd walk through the woods banging tiny rocks together not even knowing what a snipe was. I was pretty confident it was a raccoon type animal and that it would DEFINITELY fit in my purple dollar store butterfly net.
I found out about a year ago it was just a thing to keep us busy. A memory he created for us. There were no snipe in the woods we were camping in, he never even told us what exactly we were looking for. He would just occasionally rustle the bushes and make a scary grandpa noise to get all of us to squeal- and it was magic.
The next morning we'd wake up with marshmallow still in our hair and beg Uncle Don to have a turn shaking the bisquick mix for pancakes. I was probably five when I learned how to make a perfect pancake, first you drop a few droplets of water on the skillet and make sure they dance to see if it's hot enough, then you watch for the bubbles in the batter and wait for the edges to dry just a tiny bit before flipping.
People have been telling me for years that one day all of the early morning carbs and sugar would catch up with me and OH BOY they were right. This recipe helps fix that issue, a hearty batter that fills you up without leaving the 'I need to take a nap while laying on my belly' hangover pancakes can sometimes offer.
Dairy Free + Gluten Free Almond Butter Pancakes
makes 3 cups of batter, enough for 15 pancakes or so
3 overripe bananas
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 TBSP almond butter
1 1/2 TSBP sunflower oil (or coconut)
3/4 c almond milk
1 1/2 c oats
1/2 c brown rice flour
maple syrup, for serving
In a medium bowl, smash the bananas with a fork- mix in the baking powder, salt and vanilla until the bananas kind've fluff up a bit.
Stir in the almond butter, eggs and oil until combined and smooth- slowly whisk in the almond milk.
Stir in the oats and brown rice flour just until mixed.
Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat until when you flick a bit of water on the skillet it starts to dance. Drop a bit of coconut oil in the pan and spread around in a thin layer with a paper towel.
Drop spoonfuls of batter in the pan, just under 1/4 cup at a time. DON'T BE SAD IF THE FIRST PANCAKE SUCKS. THE FIRST PANCAKE ALWAYS SUCKS. YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO THROW IT OUT!
I like these pancakes with just a drizzle of maple syrup, but it does not hurt to throw a few chocolate chips in or a pat of butter on top! I won't tell your dietician, I promise.
Recipe notes:
-I usually make these for myself, so I save the batter in a quart container in the fridge and stir in a little almond milk (because it will thicken in the fridge) when I'm ready to make more. It lasts for a week or so in the fridge!
-You can also sub peanut butter for almond butter!
xo, Audrey