​Fluffy Sourdough Pancakes
These pancakes are so fluffy and delicious! You can make the batter up the night before so you can have fantastic pancakes for breakfast with no fuss at all. You can either use active starter or discard from the fridge.
This is a fantastic recipe and so versatile. The pancakes don't taste sweet so can be topped with sweet or savoury toppings. Topped with berries and a drizzle of maple syrup is a delicious weekend brunch or to go in a savoury direction, with poached eggs, avocado and a side of sauerkraut is delicious too!
I tend to omit the vanilla extract so I can have have my pancakes sweet or savoury.
This recipe makes a lot of pancakes, so I like to keep my options open! Excess batter will keep in the fridge for a few days but will become more sour so don't keep it any longer than that.
A good idea is to make all the pancakes, then freeze them.
You can toast them straight from frozen for a delicious treat anytime!
And this recipe also makes wonderful waffles, just thin the batter down a bit with more plant based milk and cook in your waffle maker. The thinner the batter, the more crispy your waffles will be, and the addition of vanilla extract just adds an extra sweetness which kids love!!
I hope this becomes one of your family favourites and go to weekend pancake recipe!

Ingredients

• 300g  self raising flour
• 250g sourdough starter
• 350mls dairy or dairy free milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 eggs or 2 chia or flax eggs for vegan option *
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional and only if you are having the pancakes with sweet toppings!)

 
 
Method

1. Combine the sourdough starter, flour and milk in a medium mixing bowl. Cover and allow to ferment overnight.
2. In the morning create a well in the batter with a wooden spoon and crack the eggs in, mix in then add the sugar, oil, sea salt, baking powder and vanilla extract. If using chia eggs then make sure to mix them in well, they tend to clump otherwise!
3. The batter should be fairly thick, but pourable, you add a bit more milk if its too thick.
4. Lightly grease a griddle or large non stick pan with oil or butter. Heat over a medium heat and add spoonfuls of the batter to form pancakes. Cook for several minutes until bubbles begin to appear. Carefully flip and cook for a few more minutes until evenly browned.
5. Serve with sliced banana, mixed berries and a drizzle of maple syrup or with savoury toppings.
6. These pancakes freeze well and are delicious toasted the following day!

* a chia egg is 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons warm water, mixed and left to sit for 5 mins to form a gel. So you need 2 chia eggs for this recipe, 2 tablespoons chia seeds plus 6 tablespoons warm water. 

It's been a busy old week here at Nourished by Nature! It's Scotland Food and Drink Fortnight and also Organic September so I've been promoting both of them big-time!

I'm taking part in a My Healthy Breakfast Challenge for schools in conjunction with Food for Thought  and Hamlyn's Oats and my brief was to come up with a few ideas for kids breakfasts with no nuts or expensive ingredients!

So I came up with this rather delicious crunchy oaty granola which is flavoured with maple syrup and cinnamon and packed with lots of healthy seeds which kids should definitely be eating more of! I used my organic maple syrup from Lidl which was a total bargain at £2.99!

Pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds are now widely available everywhere from Home Bargains to Lidl, Aldi and all the major supermarkets and are very reasonably priced.

I used a mild flavoured organic Sunflower Oil but you could easily substitute olive oil or good old Scottish Rapeseed Oil.

Oats are a great energy food, packed with complex carbohydrates, soluble fibre, protein and B vitamins supporting digestive and heart health and providing a filling and nutritious base for breakfast for kids and adults alike!!

Sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds add lots of minerals including calcium & magnesium for building strong bones and teeth and good fats as well as fibre and protein.


Dried fruit gives a wee burst of natural sweetness and cinnamon helps the body to deal with the sugar, which along with all the fibre, good fats and protein in this recipe will help to stabilise blood sugar levels for sustained energy and good mood!

Coconut is also high in soluble fibre and is naturally sweet which beats refined sugar any day of the week!

Served with yoghurt and fresh fruit or simply eaten as a snack, this oaty seedy crunch is sure to be a hit with kids!

I've been enjoying it on my smoothie bowls, porridge and just as a wee snack! It's a bit more crumbly than normal granola which I usually make with jumbo oats and buckwheat but it still tastes delicious!

I also added a handful of goji berries and some toasted coconut flakes to mine to add some colour and a bit of extra crunch. The brief was nut free but I love nuts so would add a good handful of almonds, chopped brazil nuts or walnuts to mine! 

Here is the recipe...
 
MAPLE CINNAMON OAT CRUNCH
Ingredients
2 cups Hamlyns rolled oats
1 cup desiccated coconut
½ cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup sunflower seeds
½ cup sesame seeds
2 tablespoons milled flaxseeds (optional )
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Large pinch sea salt
¼ cup organic sunflower oil (4 tablespoons)
¼ cup maple syrup (4 tablespoons)
1 cup of mixed dried fruit, raisins, apricots or dates
 
Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F
2. Add all the dry ingredients, except the dried fruit, to a large bowl and mix together.
3.  Mix the maple syrup, sunflower oil and vanilla extract in a small jug and pour it over the dry mixture. Give it a good stir to evenly coat the dry ingredients.
4. Pour the mixture onto a large baking tray and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until nicely browned.
5. Check it a few times and stir the mixture to make sure it browns evenly and doesn’t burn.
6. Remove the tray from the oven when nicely browned and allow it to cool.
7. Stir in the dried fruit. If using apricots or dates then cut them into small pieces first.
8. Serve with yoghurt and fresh fruit or eat as a snack.
9. Store in an airtight container.

          .....your health in your hands...

Its been a heck of a busy week here at Nourished by Nature! I've been out and about spreading the word on Healthy Eating at Nurseries, Community Halls and schools!
I've started a blog post on sugar but haven't finished it so will post it next week, its such a big topic!
Instead I thought I'd share this rather genius pancake idea from the lovely people over at Food Matters
It passes the NbyN test in that it is free of anything unhealthy or artificial, is super easy, tastes delicious and your kids will love it!
Its so simple you don't need a recipe at all.
I'm a big fan of bananas, they are naturally sweet, a great energy source and easy on the digestion. Likewise eggs are a great source of omega 3, protein, vitamins and antioxidants but please buy organic eggs, they are so much higher in omega 3 and antioxidants and the chickens who produced them will have had a natural life, see blog post Eggsellent eggs.
Anyway back to the super simple pancakes!!

Ingredients
Makes 1 large pancake
1 ripe banana
1 medium to large organic egg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional but recommended)
1 spoonful coconut or rapeseed oil
The cinnamon gives your body a wee helping hand to deal with the sugar in the banana.
Method
1. Simply mash the banana in a bowl then add an egg and whisk them both together to form a batter, add the cinnamon.
2. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a non stick pan, add your batter and cook on a medium heat for around 5 minutes until bubbles start to form on the surface, lift the edges and check if the pancake is browned, then flip it over and cook the other side for another few minutes until cooked and nicely browned.

I didn't actually manage to flip mine, I had visions of it stuck to the ceiling or my face!! I just used a lifter but feel free to flip yours!

.I'm a big fan of coconut oil which has many health benefits and is the most stable oil to cook with and it tastes delicious, will boost your metabolism and every other body system.
Rapeseed oil is also very stable at high temperatures, has a great fatty acid profile and is a great alternative to coconut oil.  A lot of it is produced in Scotland and I am a big promoter of quality, healthy Scottish products. I use both oils for cooking, a blog post on oils will be coming soon!

A wee note, I made a pancake for Laura's breakfast this morning and used a fairly small egg. Its rather strange I have 2 ex battery chickens, both the same size and they lay quite significantly different sized eggs!
Anyway the pancake tasted fine but was more difficult to turn and broke up slightly so I'd always use a medium to large egg, for ease of flipping!
The pancake doesn't taste remotely eggy, its deliciously sweet and is perfect served with some lovely berries for extra vitamins and antioxidants and a drizzle of maple syrup or rice malt syrup, for a lovely sweet but nutritious breakfast! 
Give them a go this weekend, you will be pleasantly surprised how simple and delicious these pancakes are!!
Apologies about the random coloured text, Weebly is playing up today so it's not my fault!​

 .........your health in your hands......

Overnight oats is quite simply a wonderful idea, so easy, fast, delicious, healthy and versatile. It really ticks all the boxes for a filling, nourishing start to the day. The oats are a great source of soluble fibre, protein and B vitamins to set you up for the day and the berries add vitamins and antioxidants to support your immune system.

To be honest I prefer pinhead oatmeal porridge when the weather is cold but the Overnight Oats is a winner in the warmer weather! Sadly we haven’t seen much of the sun recently but hopefully there is some good weather coming soon!

Anyway back to the awesome oats. Here is the basic recipe to which you can add any selection of fruit, nuts or seeds. I buy my jumbo oats loose from Locavore or Wholefoods, much cheaper and no plastic packaging to deal with so better for the environment as well!

Ingredients

 2/3 cup of jumbo oats
 1 cup of non dairy milk, I like Oatly oat milk, almond milk or              hemp milk
 2 tablespoons of chia seeds
 A handful of berries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries all work well.  You can use frozen berries too. Alternatively a mashed ripe banana and  some cinnamon or a grated apple with some raisins is also delicious.

Method

Simply mix the oats and chia seeds in a glass mason jar, add the milk and berries and stir well to mix. You can add a teaspoon of maple syrup or honey for extra sweetness.

Close the lid, put the jar in the fridge overnight and by the morning the chia seeds will have absorbed all the milk and you will have a delicious breakfast! Just add a selection of toppings, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, goji berries, toasted coconut flakes or more berries to your taste.

The great thing about this is if you don’t have time for breakfast in the morning or you’d rather eat your breakfast later then just take the jar with you to work and eat it at your leisure!

              …………….your health in your hands…………