Spelt and Veg Brunch Pancakes

I’m honoured to share an exclusive, original recipe for ‘Spelt and Veg Brunch Pancakes’, created especially for us by Sam Ferguson (social media management, content development and blogger for food, health and wellness SMEs). How delicious do they look?

Sam, who is mum to Josh, has a real flair for creating tasty yet simple dishes, suitable for all the family to enjoy. Give these delicious pancakes a go and let us know how you get on in the comments below. Please tag us in your pics so we can check them out! #MumsOffDuty

If you enjoy this recipe, please follow Sam on her blog, Twitter and Instagram.

Spelt and Veg Brunch Pancakes by Sam Ferguson, What’s Eating Her

Ingredients (to serve a family of four):

• 170ml whole milk
• 1tbsp vinegar or lemon juice
• 100g wholemeal spelt flour
• 1tsp sweetener of your choice, I use maple syrup
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• One egg beaten
• 1tbsp olive oil or melted butter
• Spray oil for frying
• One medium courgette grated
• One medium carrot grated

For the sauce:

• 1 small tub of full fat Greek yogurt
• Juice of ½ a lemon
• ½ tsp of chia seeds
• 1tbsp of fresh chives or parsley, chopped finely

I do love a weekend brunch, when all is a little more relaxed and some indulgence is more than welcome by everyone. I like to keep it stress-free and easy, but most importantly it has to be nutritious.

What child doesn’t love pancakes? It always seems to receive whoops of excitement in my house anyway and, with a pancake mix made from wholemeal spelt, the addition of healthy veggies and a Greek yogurt sauce, you can be content that you’re putting loads of good stuff into their tummies.

I discovered wholemeal spelt flour when trying to find a healthy alternative to the standard refined white flour pancake. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for white flour but it’s nice to use healthy alternatives, we all know the importance of whole grain in our diet so it just makes sense.

Spelt is an ancient whole grain that has seen somewhat of a culinary revival in recent years and is attributed with similar nutritional benefits to whole wheat. It’s also worth noting though, that it contains gluten, and should be avoided by those with an intolerance.

This is a simple recipe, full of flavour from the nutty spelt and the sweet veggies but with a rich creamy sauce, it’s very satisfying.

Here’s how to do it

In a large mixing bowl add the milk and the lemon juice/vinegar and leave to stand while you prep the vegetables and the dry ingredients.

Grate the carrot and courgette then fry with a light spray, such as rapeseed or olive oil, adding a little seasoning if you wish. 3-4 minutes and the vegetables will have softened with a slight colour. Set them aside to add to the main mix later.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in another bowl. To the milk, add the oil or butter, sweetener, and the egg stirring well (I use an electric handheld whisk for speed, a manual whisk will do just fine though). Next add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix again until just combined. Try not to over mix at this point or the pancakes will become claggy and heavy. The vegetables can be stirred in just before cooking.

Next, mix together the yogurt, lemon juice, chia seeds and herbs (save some chia seed for decorating). Have a taste of the sauce at this point, add some seasoning if you wish or increase any of the ingredients to suit your taste (none of the sauce measurements are particularly strict, do make it to your own preference).

Now to make the pancakes, firstly stir the cooked vegetables into the mix and then use a ladle to keep them similar in size. Spray a little oil into a non-stick pan (as hot as you would for standard pancakes or an omelette), pour in just over half a ladle-full, one at a time for each pancake. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side. The mixture is quite robust and as long as your pan is hot enough you will get lovely thick and fairly uniform pancakes. Pile the cooked pancakes up as you go until you have used all the mix.

All that’s left now is to serve and enjoy. I like to add a sprinkling of chia seeds and a lemon wedge for a citrus hit.  Happy pancake making and eating.

Sam
What’s Eating Her

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