Buckwheat and Banana Pancakes

BUCKWHEAT AND BANANA PANCAKES
So, I admit I am not very creative but I do love to cook which is a form of creativity in its own right. I love to find healthy recipes that still taste good and this is a good example. Saying that, I love pancakes. I especially love the taste of banana with the sticky syrup. You could sprinkle chopped walnuts on the pancakes as they’re cooking for a full-on pancake-meets-banana bread experience. These happen to be vegan, but don’t taste like it. Buckwheat flour adds a lot of value to the plain white flour – it’s rich in nutrients like calcium, iron, B vitamins and protein, and it's gluten-free. Definitely worth a trip to the health food store.

Serves: about 3-4 (makes about a dozen)
Time: 15 minutes

• 1 1/4 cups soy or rice milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour or white spelt flour (substitute rice flour to make pancakes completely gluten-free)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 bananas, thinly sliced

Mix all the wet ingredients together in a small bowl. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a slightly bigger bowl. Add the wet to the dry and stir just enough to combine – be careful not to over-mix (that’s how you get tough pancakes).

Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat. Ladle as many pancakes as possible onto your griddle. Place a few slices of banana on top of each pancake. Cook for about a minute and a half on the first side or until the surface is covered with small bubbles and the underside is nicely browned. Flip and cook for about a minute on the second side. Repeat the process until you run out of batter. Serve stacked high with plenty of maple syrup.