Teff-Millet Pancakes

In a recent phone consult with a nutritionist, he got me thinking about the nutritional quality of the foods I am feeding the baby.  Of course, I do a pretty darn good job, but when you eat so little like babies do, you need to make every effort to increase the quality of the calories they are consuming.  In this endeavor, I opted to start trying millet and teff porridge in place of brown rice cereal, as nutritionally, these grains pack more of a punch!  You might refer back to my post, Millet Porridge, for how to make this, the technique could work for teff too, and the grains are SO good for you!!  But I wanted to branch out and find other ways to feed these grains to my family too.  Up until this point, I have just been subbing small quantities of teff flour in my baking.    What I love about this recipe is that it almost entirely teff flour, and therefore loaded with all the health benefits of it (high in protein, fiber, calcium, iron and amino acids)!  These have a great pancake texture, even with no eggs.  My new stainless steel pan crisped them perfectly so they were ever-so subtly crisp on the outside and soft and tender on the inside: yum!  If you have yet to try teff, this a great way to start! It has a pleasant, nutty flavor that is easy to palette.   It runs about $6-7 for a 23oz bag, not cheap, but SO good for you and worth it!

LUNCHBOX TIP:   Consider using leftover pancakes to make one heck of a delicious nut butter and jelly sandwich for your kids!!  Novelty always wins points with the younger set....

TIME SAVING TIP:  Make a double batch of these and freeze the leftovers.  They reheat easily either in a toaster or microwave and make busy school mornings a snap!


Makes 3-4 servings

3/4 cup teff flour
1/4 cup millet flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
3 tablespoons ground flax
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 very ripe bananas
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons raw agave, honey, or maple syrup
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
coconut oil for cooking

Mash the bananas with a fork.  Stir in the canola oil, agave, milk, and vanilla to blend.  Sprinkle the flours and flax on top, then the baking powder, soda, and salt.  Using a whisk, quickly blend the mixture into a batter.  You may add more milk to thin if necessary. Heat a stainless steel pan over medium heat.  Add in a teaspoon or two of coconut oil, swirl to disperse.  Drop about 1/4 cup batter per pancake, wait for tiny bubbles to appear, and flip.  You may need to adjust the heat up or down, depending on your pan and heat source.  Add additional coconut oil as necessary to finish the batter. 

This recipe was shared on Real Food Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesday, and Pennywise Platter Thursday.