pancakes

That’s a really old recipe and really old photos, but I have a fondness for these apricot pancakes. Recipe comes from a recipe book from the 80’s. I’ve made them years ago, but still when I look at these photos it reminds me of hot Summer days when life was a bit more gentle. Not that I feel like life would be more harsh than ever, it’s just different than it used to be. But you know that feeling when you come back to some of your old memories – they always look happier and more colourful in your head (than they’ve really been, most probably). I guess everyone has these kind of memories, and mine are often somehow connected with food. Photos are not the best ones, but I still like looking at them, and they always make me smile inside.

That was the days when I was exploring recipe world, there was no one day with the same meal. It’s a really great recipe – 80’s were masters of making something out of nothing. The pancakes came out plump, delicate and I think that even without the addition of apricots (because there are no apricots in the original recipe) they would be delicious. I love apricots. I like all nutty flavours of fruit, and apricot has such a slightly nutty flavour for me. In addition, they have a beautiful colour – probably even peaches are not so pretty.

Pancakes are not the meal I would make often. First of all because I’m not a fan of frying (oil splashing everywhere, smell of frying, lots of cleaning after), second of all I try to avoid high carb foods. Although this recipe requires only couple spoons of flour, so it’s not a crime. These pancakes are going to be amazing as a treat yourself weekend breakfast or Summer dessert.

Being able to cook from scratch and make for yourself (and your loved ones) something you really enjoy eating is a great value. On the other hand eating something you don’t even like or enjoy makes me feel a bit sad. Eating good things it’s such a simple thing that can add value to your life, just try to spend some time and little bit of effort and you can make your life more pleasurable.

That’s why I want to encourage you to start cooking from scratch if you didn’t tried it yet. There’s a whole word of flavours, and I’m sure you’ll find the ones that will bring you instant joy and make your gut happy.

apricot pancakes

INGREDIENTS for about 10 pancakes:

250 g curd cheese
3-4 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp powder sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
few apricots
vegetable oil for frying

DIRECTIONS

Separate egg whites and whip them with a pinch of salt. Add sugar and curd cheese to egg yolks and mix it until smooth. Next add flour and baking powder, and combine (it will be very thick) at the end add whipped egg whites. Mix it gently using a spatula or spoon with folding motion. If it’s still to thick add a little bit of water or milk.

Now it’s time for apricots: wash them, separate seeds and chop them. Add them to pancake mix. Heat the pan with some vegetable oil. Using a spoon make small pancakes. Fry on a small heat until golden-brown on both sides. They are pretty gentle and might be tricky to flip, so better wait until one side gets nicely golden brown then flip it.

I made about 10 pancakes from that amount of ingredients – it’s definitely to little, because they were delicious!

🙂 Enjoy!

I like the idea of no flour crepes so much that each time I see a new way to make them I have to try. This is one of flour free keto crepe recipes I found on Instagram (@keto_loversi), made with only two ingredients: eggs and nut butter. Comparing to other keto two ingredients recipe (eggs and cream), these are more crispy and stiff, but they are still very fulfilling.

If you’re looking for some variety in ketogenic diet and like to experiment I highly encourage you to try this recipe. I feel like with this batter you could also make a great pancakes. This idea just pop into my head while writing this post, so one day I will need to try this.

Instead of basic peanut butter I used almond butter – leftover from making keto truffles – in compare to cream& egg crepes these ones have different texture and less egg-like taste. They are also much more crispy. I served mine with drizzle of more almond butter and little bit of dark chocolate with dried raspberry and apple. But you can stuff them with whatever you want. For low carb option choose from: cream cheese, mascarpone, ricotta, ad some strawberries, raspberries, blueberries or dark, low carb chocolate. If you don’t mind carb intake you can stuff them with some mush banana or apple and cinnamon. Choose whatever is best for you.

If you have some trouble making crepes or you don’t have a lot experience, let me help you with couple tips and trick that will make you crepe making easier and more pleasurable.

Here’s couple tips for you, to make the process easier:

use a special crepe pan – it will make your job easier – it has a low edge, it’s thin and flat, so it’s easy to spread the batter evenly. If you have regular one remember to heat the pan until very hot and roll the pan from side to side just enough to cover the bottom evenly with a thin layer of crepe batter,
it’s best to use a non stick pan – also you can spray it with oil spray, a bit of clarified butter or coconut oil. I always grease the pan before first crepe, after first one there’s no need to do that,
heat the pan until very hot,
if you have a pan without a non stick layer, grease it slightly before each crepe,
flip the crepe when the edges starts to pull away from the pan, shake the pan to make sure that crepe doesn’t stick, if it does help yourself with a spatula, be gentle,
use a large spatula to flip crepes or flip it by tossing it in the air and catching it, it will be difficult at the beginning but in my opinion it’s easier than using a spatula,
be patient – making perfect crepes it’s an art. If you don’t have any experience it will take some time and a few failures before you get it right.

If you’d like to explore more flour free crepe recipe ideas, scroll to the bottom of this post.

almond butter crepes

INGREDIENTS:

eggs
smooth almond butter
optionally addition of your choice: cream cheese, mascarpone, low carb chocolate, strawberries, raspberries or blueberries

DIRECTIONS

You’ll need one medium to large sized egg for 1 tablespoon of almond butter. I used 4 eggs and 4 tablespoons of almond butter and I got 5 crepes. Depending of the thickness of each crepe. I made 4 quite thin and 1 slightly thicker (it was not enough batter left for 2 crepes, so I made 1 thicker one).

It’s the best to mix eggs and almond butter with a blender. You’ll get even and fluffy consistence without any lumps. If you have quite runny almond butter and you don’t have a blender a fork or whisk will also do the job, but it will take a little bit more time.

When your batter is ready, simply heat a crepe pan (or other non stick pan you have) and pour some batter, spread out the batter evenly holding the pan and making circular movements. Use a spoon to to spread the batter, it will be quite thick. When you see that the edges of the crepe starts to pull away from the pan, take the spatula and very gently flip it over. If it folds, no worries just gently unfold it and try again. It’s quite tricky as the crepes are delicate and a bit stiff, but if you have some experience with making regular crepes, you’ll manage with these as well. You can also give the pan a little shake to make sure that it doesn’t stick to it (if it does, shake a bit more or help yourself with a spatula), then make a circle with your hand, tossing crepe into the air. If you’re lucky enough, your crepe should land on the pan with the other side. It should work well with shallow, crepe pan. If you have a regular deeper one, the high edge of the pan might not let you flip crepes easily. This method requires a little bit of experience, so don’t give up if it doesn’t work. If your crepe folds, just unfold it and try one more time.

Choose the best method for you, after couple times you’ll feel more confident.

Place each crepe on a large plate, they will be quite stiff and crispy. If you’d like to make them a bit more soft and easy to fold when you finish with the last one, simply cover the plate with the frying pan and let it stay like that for couple minutes. The water vapor condenses and will make crepes softer.

You can fold them and drizzle with some more almond butter, sprinkle with some dark chocolate or stuff with cream cheese, mascarpone, add fruits and whipped cream.

Enjoy!