Cattail Paleo Pancakes

The No. 1 rated restaurant in the world, Noma in Copenhagen, features ingredients sourced from the local landscape, such as reindeer moss.

In Northern California, we have the cattail plant. It was used by Native Americans for flour, weaving, wound dressing, and insulation. A relative of saffron, the pollen can be harvested from green stalks with yellow tops (male plants) found in marshy areas in June and July. For something a little different, why not try this salute to our own locavore movement?

Ingredients:

Sifted pollen on top of flour before mixing

3/4 cup Cup4Cup gluten-free flour, sifted, or other gluten-free flour
1/4 cup cattail pollen, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons coconut sugar

1 large egg, beaten
1 cup coconut milk + 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1/2 vanilla bean, finely cut with scissors, or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Coconut oil and butter for cooking pancakes

Directions:

1. Mix flour, cattail pollen, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, whisk the egg until it is frothy. Add the 1 cup coconut milk, butter, and vanilla; mix well.

3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix just until blended together. Add more coconut milk if mixture is too thick.

4. Set batter aside for 5-10 minutes.

5. Heat a frying pan over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and heat until very hot. Add 1 teaspoon butter; make sure the oils are hot enough to start cooking the pancakes by adding a drop of the batter - it should sizzle. Quickly add 1/4 cup pancake batter for each pancake; don’t overcrowd the pan. When the bottom of the pancake is brown, flip the pancake and brown the other side. Turn the heat down to medium to allow the batter to cook through, about 4-5 minutes total cooking time. A toothpick or fork should come out clean. Set aside.

6. Add 1 teaspoon coconut oil and butter and repeat cooking as above until batter is used up. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

#paleo #pancakes #glutenfree #healthyeating #locavore

Note: While it’s wonderful to have gluten-free, mostly dairy-free pancakes, the rise and texture is not 100% comparable to regular pancakes. Very tasty, though!