Lemon Berry Pancakes

I have been back in my kitchen again creating recipes and it feels so good! Cooking and baking are both hobbies of mine and something that makes me happy. I also love to share that passion with people who also enjoy it and who are interested in healthier recipes. I have six new recipes to share so far, but today I wanted to share my favorite one of them all, which is Lemon Berry Pancakes.

I have been making these pancakes over and over, sometimes for breakfast and sometimes for our bedtime snack. For some reason, breakfast-like foods feel good to eat before bed too. We often have cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, or toast before bed to keep our tummies satisfied throughout the night.

When I first came up with the idea for this recipe I used raspberries instead of cranberries. The second time, all I had on hand was mixed berries. And the third time we had neither of those, but we had frozen unsweetened cranberries so I threw those in and it turned out that those made for the best combination with the lemon. Raspberries are very good too, so whatever you prefer and whatever makes your taste buds happy. I usually use frozen fruit in my pancakes, but fresh is great too!

Lemon Berry Pancakes

Fluffy, whole wheat pancakes with the fresh flavor and fragrance of lemon and sweet juicy berries. Enjoy with pure maple syrup as a great way to start your day!

Makes 4 large or 6 smaller pancakes

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1 /2 tablespoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 1/3 cups unsweetened almond milk
juice and zest of 1 lemon (2 tablespoons lemon zest + 1/4 cup lemon juice)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups frozen whole unsweetened cranberries or berries of your choice (raspberries, blueberries, or mixed berries are great too!) You can also use fresh.

Directions

Place a medium skillet on medium heat.
Combine the flour, baking powder and sea salt in a medium mixing bowl.
In a 4-cup measuring cup, place the 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and almond milk together to make the vegan buttermilk. Allow to sit and curdle while you zest and juice your lemon.
Add lemon zest to the dry ingredients. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk.
Pour the vegan buttermilk and lemon juice mixture together with the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Place a bit of margarine into the heated skillet and then pour 1 cup of the pancake batter into the skillet. (You may have to spread the batter around a bit because it is thicker with the whole wheat flour.) *
Cook the pancake until small bubbles start to peek through the batter.
Flip the pancake and cook for another few minutes until heated through and golden brown.
Repeat steps 6-8 until all of the pancake batter is used up.

* For smaller pancakes, use a 1/2 cup measuring cup or fill the 1 cup measuring cup only 3/4 of the way full. I like to use a measuring cup to pour my pancake batter because I find it easy and keeps all of the pancakes the same size.