I recently spent a weekend in Amsterdam and was amazed by how easy it was to eat clean for the whole 3 days! Don’t get me wrong – I did have 1 or 2 (ok 12 or 17) macarons while wandering through the streets, they sell those naturally gluten-free treats on every street corner. But overall you could get healthy and fresh food in most places with gluten- and dairy-free options (Hello almond milk latte – when will you make your way to German cafés??) widely available.

One of my favourite things I ate on the trip were the buckwheat and almond flour pancakes I had at CT Coffee and Coconuts (Ceintuurbaan 282-284, 1072 LR Amsterdam). Fluffy, light, topped with a berry compote – the perfect breakfast. So when I was back home and the “I do not want to be here and I most certainly do not want to work tomorrow”-blues hit, I knew just what I needed to make me feel better – those pancakes (there isn’t a problem that can’t be solved by eating a stack of pancakes)!

So off to the kitchen I went to recreate this healthy treat. I encountered the first problem after mere seconds – no almond flour 🙁 What to do? Fret not foodie friends, chestnut flour came to my rescue and so the pancake adventure could continue. I didn’t really think about it much to be honest and just threw together a few ingredients. But what came out was, and I don’t mean to brag here, but it really was the best gluten-free pancake I have made so far. And if you’ve been following my Instagram you know I’ve made quite a few. Texture and taste were perfect and it even looks like the real deal! No wheat needed 😉 If you try them I hope you like them as much as I do, enjoy xx

Buckwheat Pancakes (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian)

Serves 2

Ingredients

 

• 2 eggs (preferably organic, pastured)
• 1 cup full-fat coconut milk
• 1 tsp maple syrup (use more if you like it sweeter)
• ½ cup buckwheat flour
• ¼ cup + 1 tbsp chestnut flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp maca powder (optional, you could use vanilla or just omit)
• coconut oil for frying

 

Instructions

 

1. Whisk eggs, coconut milk and maple syrup in a large bowl. In a second bowl combine all the remaining pancake ingredients. Add them to the egg/coconut/maple syrup mixture and whisk until well combined.
2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. I like to add just a tiny bit of coconut oil when frying pancakes (think ¼ tsp). However if you have a non-stick frying pan it is not absolutely necessary. In any case don’t add too much cause then they won’t have that nice, pancakey texture on the outside.
3. Once the pan is hot enough turn the heat down to low. Add about 1-2 tbsp of the batter per pancake, depending on how big you would like them to be. Fry for a minute or two, until it looks almost cooked through, then flip and fry for another minute. I made three pancakes at a time and got out 15 small pancakes in total.