Missing pancakes on paleo diet? My sympathies. Bye now.
I’m kidding. I do sympathize with you. I’ve been trying to lose weight ever since I had my daughter (and that was 2 years ago). It is not easy, but I am getting there. I have only about 11lbs more to lose but, alas, they seem the hardest to get rid of. I have tried many diet plans. I was even on Paleo diet for a while. I found it the most difficult of all the food regimens I’ve tried. The reason? My chocolate cravings. Real reason? Pancakes.
Remembering Pancakes
The Paleo diet (short from Paleolithic diet, also called stone-age diet or caveman diet, is based on foods supposed to be available to Paleolithic humans. This diet includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, roots and meat and excludes dairy products, grains, sugar, salt, processed oils, coffee and alcohol, i.e. the point is to avoid the modern processed foods.
The most difficult part of the paleo diet for me was that I couldn’t get rid of my sweet cravings. And under sweet cravings I mean pancakes. I was not ready to give up pancakes at any point, but I was assured that it was virtually impossible to make pancakes without ingredients like milk and sugar. I was wrong.
If you are on paleo diet don’t say goodbye to pancakes just yet. You can still make prepare delicious and healthy pancakes without the classic ingredients. Take it from an experienced paleo sufferer. Here is a selection of easy and simple pancake recipes for you.
Phenomenal Paleo Pancakes
What do all paleo pancakes have in common? Fewer ingredients, which makes them even easier and quicker to prepare than classic pancakes. Oh, and fruit. Here are the most common substitutes to common ingredients:
- flour: coconut flour, almond meal, tapioca flour, flaxseed meal.
- sugar: honey, molasses
- oil: coconut oil
- milk: coconut milk
Paleo Buttermilk Pancakes
I found this recipe on MyGreatRecipes. The word “buttermilk” was what drew my attention. What do you mean “buttermilk” in paleo pancakes? The trick is in the home-made dairy-free buttermilk. It is made of 1 cup dairy-free milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Mix and let it sit for about 5 minutes. The pancakes are served with home-made strawberry sauce sweetened with honey. They are a bit thinner than regular pancakes but they taste divinely.
Fruit Paleo Pancakes
Banana
Many paleo pancake recipes use bananas in the batter. The banana will make the batter thick and creamy and will act as natural sweetener. You can completely omit the flour if you’re using bananas. Bonus: it will add some tropical flavor to your pancakes. Place the bananas, eggs and coconut flour in a blender, blend for about 30 seconds and cook. As simple as it gets.
Carrot and Pumpkin
You can use pumpkin or carrots instead of bananas, mixed with some almond meal, almond flour or coconut flour. These versions go well with spices like cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, as well as nuts. Nuts are allowed in paleo diet so feel free to include them as much as you like.
Apple
Another fruit alternative for delicious paleo pancakes are apples. Pack them with apple-cinnamon flair, including apples inside the batter and on top smothered with maple syrup. Try not to over-eat because that does not comply with the principles of the paleo diet. Listen to your body and stop when you feel full.
Well, these are my favorite sweet variations of paleo pancakes. Don’t forget that all fruits are allowed and try to include them at least in the topping. Also, dark chocolate is in compliance with the paleo diet rules, so sprinkle some dark chocolate chips on top and in the batter.
There are also some awesome ideas for savory paleo pancakes. I love the Peking Duck Pancakes-Paleo Style that are super delicious. My whole family enjoyed them, even though they were not on paleo diet.
So if you’re planning on switching to paleo diet, fear not. There is something for everyone out there. Don’t make the same mistake I did, prepare in advance with a stack of interesting and tasty recipes and you’re good to go.
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