My quest for more nutritious versions of my favorite brunch foods continued this morning. We are really trying to eat a more nutritious diet here but I don’t want to have to give up our usual weekend pancakes. Oh my goodness did I strike gold in these delectable, fluffy chocolate strawberry almond pancakes. Using quinoa flour in place of AP flour and cutting out most of my usual ricotta or mascarpone to substitute almond butter gave these pancakes substance and a little heft.
Then the chocolate strawberry almond pancakes simply went onto the plates with lots of the warm strawberry sauce on top. They were so fluffy with loads of flavor. The quinoa flour added such an amazing nutty flavor to it! They tasted like pure decadence but were not nearly as decadent as those sneaky beauties let on. Enjoy these for brunch my friends!
- 2 1/4 cups quinoa flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate almond milk
- 1/2 cup almond butter
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon strawberry balsamic vinegar
- 3 whole eggs yolks separated from the whites
- 1/2 pound fresh strawberries hulled and finely chopped
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 pound fresh strawberries
- 1 tablespoon strawberry balsamic vinegar
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the quinoa flour, baking powder, granulated sugar, cocoa powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the chocolate almond milk, almond butter, ricotta, strawberry balsamic and egg yolks. Whisk that all together thoroughly until it is smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the big bowl of dry ingredients and whisk it all together until you have a smooth, really thick batter.
- Take the egg whites and use a hand mixer to whip them up until they form soft peaks. They should look like a big cloud. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter until completely incorporated, then fold in the chopped strawberries. Set the batter aside while you put together the strawberry sauce.
- In a small pot combine the water, sugar and chopped strawberries. Heat it up over medium high heat and let it gently boil for 10 minutes. It will thicken and the strawberries will break down. Pour the strawberry balsamic in and let it continue to gently boil for another 2 minutes. Take the pot off of the heat and set it aside.
- While the strawberry sauce cooks, pre-heat your griddle to cook off the pancakes. For an electric griddle, pre-heat it to 325. Lightly grease the griddle, scoop the desired sized portions of batter on to it and cook the pancakes in batches for about 2-3 minutes per side, until they are golden and puffy.
- Plate the pancakes and serve with a generous drizzle of the warm strawberry sauce. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Love Pancakes! How’s weather in NJ? Your Florida Bud, Cheryl GO RU
You would love these pancakes my friend! Weather here is wet and cold…yuck! Hope it’s sunny and nice in FL. Your TK bud. GO RU!