Pancakes for breakfast are a special treat in our house. It’s hard to justify them as a healthy start to the day. I love them but there is nothing like a sweet plate of pancakes to make you feel like going right back to bed and sleeping off your carb coma.
In my quest to feel a little less guilty about feeding my family fried discs of flour and butter topped with sugar, I have tried tons of pancake recipes. They all have their charms. Whole wheat pancakes, oatmeal pancakes, I do love them and I feel slightly more virtuous eating them for breakfast. But my new favorite pancakes are made with polenta. I love polenta not for the fact that it’s packed with fiber and it’s minimally processed. No, I love polenta because it’s delicious. And versatile. Polenta lasagna… Red wine braised beef on a bed of Parmesan polenta…polenta served creamy and cheesy or chilled and cut in to wedges and fried in olive oil served as a side dish…polenta porridge for breakfast. You see where I’m going with this? There are so many ways to enjoy polenta but right now it’s breakfast time and I want to share with you my new favorite pancakes…
Polenta Pancakes
In a bowl, whisk together:
1 cup white wheat flour (King Arthur is commonly available in most supermarkets but you can also use AP flour)
1 cup polenta
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
1 T sugar
In another bowl, whisk
1 1/4 cups of buttermilk
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted butter or olive oil
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix together just until all dry ingredients are incorporated . I like to let the batter sit for 10 minutes to soften the polenta but I’ve also used the batter right away and the pancakes are fine.
We like our pancakes topped with jam or fruit compote but I think these would be wonderful with maple syrup or apples sauteed in butter and sugar.
The best part of them, aside from how delicious they are, is that you don’t feel overly full and sleepy after a breakfast because who wants to start the day on a sugar high?
*Note: These pancakes are wonderfully adaptable to a wide variety of alternative milks. I had them this morning with rice milk and they were fantastic. We frequently use coconut milk so I’m going to try them with that next.
Sweetly Tart 