Category: Quick Bread

I am one of the rare ones who, given adequate time, enjoys grocery shopping. But… following multiple warnings about Corona-virus variants, I gave up a month ago and began having my groceries delivered, at least until I am vaccinated and build some immunity. On my appointed “shopping” morning, as “my shopper” begins to collect my grocery items, my phone begins pinging. The store is out of those on-sale blueberries I ordered; would I like frozen berries instead? 

Wait a minute. Blueberries in February? Well, yeah, this farm girl is pretty spoiled with the rich variety of fruit grown next door in California and down south an hour or so in Mexico. With a stretch it’s local-ish, but most certainly not in season… We had to settle for apples, pears and citrus for the week, which took me back to winters on the farm. 

Fresh fruit was a summer luxury. Mom would visit the local fruit farm to pick amazingly delicious strawberries, which she made into her yummy strawberry glaze pie and strawberry shortcake. A few survived for fresh consumption, then freezing took the remainder. A few peaches and Bing cherries might be sprinkled in as the summer rolled on, but with very brief seasons. Come late summer we’d be making applesauce for the winter. And then would come an endless parade of canned fruit. I was mightily grateful when canning in light syrup made its debut. Blueberries would have been either canned or frozen, neither of which lived in our pantry or freezer, in any season!  

Now though, I just happen to have a few blueberries left from last week, enough to make blueberry muffins. My most favorite blueberry muffin recipe was in a 2005 issue of Cooking Light magazine, which highlighted Maine blueberries. The recipe was actually a contest winner from a local girl, lightened by the test kitchens at the magazine. While the magazine no longer exists , their lightened version was popular and is still available on a number of sites. (https://www.food.com/recipe/cooking-lights-blueberry-cinnamon-burst-muffins-170250) But even the lighter version was a bit cupcakey, which in those days was just fine by me… what I loved about it was that the cinnamon rich streusel was folded into the batter before baking, rather than being sprinkled on top. And the sugar, of course… don’t forget the sugar.

Rather doubtfully, I decided to try a second lightened-up version that I could comfortably eat. Start by switching the white flour for white whole wheat. Use butter only in a reduced amount of streusel, with vegetable oil subbed in for the batter. Oh! And don’t forget to cut the amount of sugar in half. I took them out of the oven with great trepidation, but they were perfect. Tender, moist and full of the cinnamon bursts for which they were named.  We’ll be finishing the batch for breakfast tomorrow morning. Next time I have blueberries left at the end of the week, I’ll make them again. No matter the season. 

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Burst of Cinnamon Blueberry Muffins

Moist and tender blueberry muffins, marbled with cinnamon streusel.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Quick Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: blueberry, cinnamon, muffin

Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp white whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 5 tsp butter
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup oil I use avacado oil.
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup almond milk milk of choice
• 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. LIghtly grease a 12-cup muffin tin or coat with cooking spray.
• Combine the 2 tbsp flour, 2 tbsp sugar and the cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender, or rub in with your fingers. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the 1/3 cup sugar, oil and beaten egg.

  In separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with almond milk to make a smooth batter. Fold in the reserved streusel and blueberries.

  Portion evenly into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until firm and lightly browned. Cool for several minutes, then loosen and tilt up in the muffin cups to allow steam to escape. Serve warm.

Bland food was pretty abundant in my youth. Actually, I suppose it still is… and I even know folks who prefer it to the well spiced and flavorful. (Yes, you know who you are out there.) Mom had a spice drawer, which for the time was amazingly adventurous. We’re talking cardamom level adventurous! It was cooking with her that taught me which herbs and spices to use for which dish, and eventually the creativity to switch them out for other combinations. My own taste preferences tend toward the herby and highly spiced. In fact, my theory is that one can gather a great deal about a person by checking out what is in their spice cabinet.

I have two spice drawers, because they won’t all fit into just one. Yep, I’m one of those people who panics when the Herbs de Provence, hot curry powder or Za’atar bottle is empty…

But by far, the most used spice in my kitchen is plain old cinnamon.  I suspect most Americans have at least a jar of cinnamon, even if it’s the only spice jar in the cabinet. I buy the giant size at Costco, because one does not want to run out of cinnamon. According to my Flavor Bible, cinnamon has a flavor profile that can be bitter or sweet, and highly aromatic. Its volume is LOUD, and one little teaspoon has as many antioxidants as half cup of blueberries. It’s botanically related to both the bay leaf and the avocado! Who knew?

What I do know is that cinnamon enhances the flavor of scones.  We are again in the season when blessedly cool mornings encourage both baking and the eating of breakfast in our screened Arizona room. These cinnamon rich scones, complemented by cocoa nibs, vanilla and walnuts, develop deep flavor as they bake to buttery crispness. They take their place at the table aside a dish of yogurt or an over easy egg, and fresh fruit. Cut smaller, they make a delicious pairing with an afternoon cup of tea.

I don’t typically find that a hard sell on scones is required when the lovely aromas of wheat, cinnamon and walnuts waft through my kitchen. 

I doubt you will, either. Make some scones.

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Cinnamon Walnut Scones

Rich, warmly spiced scones with cinnamon, walnuts and cocoa nibs.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast, Snack

Keyword: cinnamon, scones

Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 2 c. white whole wheat flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ finely chopped walnuts
• 6 Tbsp. cold butter
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa nibs
• 1 egg
• 2/3 c. buttermilk or soured milk plus extra for brushing
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• coarse sugar

Instructions

• Lightly grease a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400° F. 

   
• Measure flour through walnuts into a food processor or, if mixing by hand, a large bowl and blend thoroughly. Cut the cold butter into the flour mix until the size of rice grains. Stir in the cocoa nibs. Blend the egg, milk and vanilla, then stir into the dry ingredients to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead several times to gather into a ball, then flatten to and 8-inch circle. Cut into 8-10 wedges, depending on the size of scone desired. Move wedges to the baking sheet, then brush with extra milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar. 
• Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until browned and firm. 

I love a good oatmeal muffin. Pebbled top, deep taste of the grain, ever so lightly sweetened, thinly buttered.  I can’t find this muffin outside my own kitchen, however…

because muffins have earned a bad rap. Deservedly so, with the treatment they’ve gotten in the commercial world. From a mix, bakery, grocery, coffee shop-it doesn’t matter; they have basically morphed from tasty little gems into grapefruit sized cakes, sans the frosting. Who needs frosting when streusel is thickly sprinkled atop one’s muffin? Streusel is definitely permissible in store-bought-muffin-world. These muffins, with their mounding tops, call out to those unwary eaters who love a great excuse to indulge in cupcakes for breakfast. In no time at all, these unsuspecting eaters are sporting their own muffin tops! Given my advanced middle age, I need no assistance from mammoth muffins to grow a muffin top…

Meaning the only way to get a muffin worthy of breakfast consumption is to bake it oneself. On the farm, my grandmother viewed newfangled-boxed mixes as a godsend, and fulfilled her role as the great spoiler of her granddaughter by embracing muffin mix. Sweet white flour mix with these little tins of blueberries included in the box. I thought these were pretty darn yummy!  But Mom, keeper of health, knew that muffins were supposed to be breads, not cupcakes, and eaten in balance with other foods at breakfast. She baked several types of muffins, including oatmeal. While her recipe was healthy, I thought the muffins’ texture needed a little um… upgrade, perhaps. In other words, I wanted to keep the health (well, mostly) but compromise a bit to produce a taller, fluffier product. This did not seem, on my part, to be all that difficult a task. Which was wishful thinking, to put it mildly.

We’re not counting how many trials it required to develop this recipe… or how many sad muffins were consumed in the process. Suffice it to say, there have been a few oatmeal muffin fails. Ultimately, I scaled the recipe up, as the amount of batter in Mom’s was quite small for 12 medium muffins. And in this process, increased the proportion of dry and liquid ingredients to the amount of oatmeal, while adding in oat bran. A bit of applesauce moistens the muffins, while keeping the fat in check.  Maple syrup and vanilla pack in the flavor while keeping the added sugar to one teaspoon per muffin.  There are folks for whom it’s just not a muffin without “add-ins.” When baking for myself, I keep the add-ins to a minimum, just walnuts. Raisins are classic additions that don’t break the health bank, but cocoa nibs and/or mini chocolate chips would doubtless be pretty tasty if you’re willing to make additional compromises!

Once made, these breakfast treats crave a well-made cappuccino. Providentially, the house barista steams up a couple of these aromatic cups, overflowing with foam, every morning. The muffins cozy up well to eggs or yogurt and fruit most mornings, too.  A muffin split and sandwiched with a smear of nut butter would certainly not be amiss, for a speedier grab-and-go breakfast. They freeze beautifully.

So wake up, smell the coffee, and have a muffin. Just skip the waistline muffin top!

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Oatmeal Muffins

Moist, fluffy, lightly spiced oatmeal muffin

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 12

Author: Mary Kay Allen

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil I use avacado
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup oat bran
• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400° F. Lightly grease a  standard 12-cup muffin tin and set aside. 
• In a medium bowl, combine the buttermilk, applesauce, maple syrup, oil, eggs and vanilla. Beat well to thoroughly mix. Stir in the rolled oats and oat bran. Set aside while preparing the dry ingredients.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and walnuts. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients. Mix lightly, taking care not to over mix. 
• Quickly portion the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. The batter should be almost to the top of the cup. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until firm when touched and browned around the edges. Let the muffins sit in the cups for several minutes, then loosen the edges and tip up out of the muffin tin to release steam.

   

Questions abound when it comes to “diet.” What to eat? When to eat? When not to eat? But the big ones are all about the carbs. There are those who eschew them altogether, eating one of the currently popular low carb diets. For me, carbs are non-negotiable, given that high-protein-low-carb leaves me starving. All day long. My gall bladder turned to Swiss cheese thirty odd years ago and I prefer digesting my food, which is why high-fat-low-carb leaves me nauseated, my stomach full of miserable indigestible fat. No! Not another bite of avocado/coconut oil/nut pie!

Eating a good balance of complex carbs, in combination with fats and protein at each meal, works best for me. I do not eat carbs by their lonesome. The grains still nestle in their little coats of bran, and are soaked prior to cooking. The great majority of baked items are homemade, using sourdough fermentation and whole grain flours. And of course, fruits and vegetables are carbs-at least five servings daily, and yes, I consume the starchy ones too.

But not all carbs are complex… Enter the demon sugar. The sugar industry evidently pulled the wool over our eyes for quite a few years. Of course, we were willing participants; lose the fat and up the sugar in my processed foods of choice? Heck yeah! But the truth about added sugar has popped out of the bag and refuses to be pushed back in, meaning that I’ve had to make some tweaks in my recipes and daily diet, particularly at breakfast.

Yes, hard as it is, I’ve cut back on the added sugar. (My taste buds will still be in recovery when I die.) I also employ a number of techniques to s-l-o-w down the rate at which those carbs enter my bloodstream:

1. New recipes routinely have the sugar cut or eliminated, and I strive to keep added sugars in my own developed recipes within a range of one to two teaspoons per serving, depending on what I am baking. Can’t really call ‘em “sweet rolls” anymore…
2. I substitute flaxseed meal for a couple tablespoons of the cereal grains when making steel cut oats or polenta to decrease the carbs and increase the healthy fats. Added hemp or chia seeds provide a protein boost. Pseudo grains like amaranth already have a good carb to protein balance, as well as having complete protein. Note the discussion of porridge? More complex grains, fewer rolls… sigh. And the heaping tablespoon of brown sugar to sweeten those bowls of goodness is gone as well; I do allow myself a single forlorn teaspoon of honey and fresh berries on top.
3. Emphasize what sweetness there is in a recipe by adding enhancers like vanilla, lemon or orange zest, rum or brandy, and warm spices, like cinnamon.
4. Plain unsweetened yogurt gets a single teaspoon of lemon curd or honey with chopped pecans. Tartness is good for you.
5. Muesli/granola is made with half oats/half seeds, nuts, coconut, and flax. Yes, there are granolas made with all seeds, nuts, coconut and flax, but I’m inclined to want to hang onto my teeth, thanks very much.
6. When I do indulge in one of my now not so sweet rolls, I pair it with an egg.
7. Real sourdough bread is a slow digesting carb source. The list of ingredients should include nothing more than flour, water and salt, with some indication that there were many hours of fermentation before baking.
8. I have no problem “borrowing”-well, actually filching-some of the secrets of low carb baking. But instead of trashing all the grain flour, I just substitute nut flour for part of it. As in the pancakes recipe I’m sharing today.

I’ve been making these tweaks for a while now, making me think back to my mom’s approach to sugar in my childhood. Which prompted me to look up what good old Adelle Davis, Mom’s nutrition guru, had to say about sugar:

“Almost every food we eat forms sugar either directly or indirectly during or after digestion…he or she receives all the sugar he or she needs from natural sources. Unfortunately we tend to rely too much on refined sugar to satisfy our hunger since it is absorbed rapidly into the bloodstream and gives a temporary boost to the blood sugar level. However, apart from being used in the body to provide energy it has no other value; it contains neither vitamins nor minerals.”

http://www.adelledavis.org/press/the-great-sugar-debate/

She said this about fifty years ago… Which was why we consumed plain yogurt, whole-wheat toast, bran muffins, NO SODA, etc., etc. on the farm. I am actually quite grateful that I never developed a taste for soda. One full sugar soda has three times my supposed daily allotment of added sugar by today’s standards. An addiction I didn’t develop! Thanks, Mom!

The pancake recipe includes a few of these techniques to slow the digestion of the carbs and keep my stomach happy for the morning. Whole grain flour in combination with nut flour*, and the addition of flax meal and hemp hearts adds healthy fat and protein. The extracts pump up the perception of sweetness. I’m happy to say that these little cakes are fluffy, stack beautifully, (though my personal portion of two pancakes makes a rather pathetic stack) and are jam-packed with pecan flavor. I generally top them with a drizzle of syrup, chopped pecans, and blueberries. If you require them to be more carb virtuous, applesauce and cinnamon with pecans makes a nice topping as well.

These keep my body fueled and contented for an entire morning, no sugar high or mid-morning tummy grumbling allowed!

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5 from 1 vote

Double Pecan Pancakes

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Quick Bread

Servings: 16 pancakes

Author: Mary Kay Allen

Ingredients

• 1½- cup buttermilk or sour milk
• 2 eggs
• 1- teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon maple extract optional
• 1- tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
• 1- cup white whole-wheat flour pastry flour if available
• ½ cup pecan meal/flour or other nut flour
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
• 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• Maple syrup or applesauce for topping
• Chopped pecans for topping

Instructions

• Pre-heat a griddle to 350° F. or large skillet over medium heat.
• Combine the buttermilk, eggs, extracts, syrup and butter/oil in a medium bowl and blend together thoroughly. In a large bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients and mix well. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Blend gently, not over mixing. It’s okay of there are small lumps in the batter.
• Lightly grease or coat the griddle with cooking spray. Ladle the batter by ¼-cupful onto the griddle, spacing to allow for spreading. When bubbles appear on the top and the bottoms are nicely browned, flip the pancakes. Bake for several minutes until golden on the bottom, then remove to a platter. Continue until all the batter is baked.

*Pecan meal can be made in the food processor or purchased online, or another type of nut flour can be substituted.

It’s summer in Tucson, which means extreme heat, monsoon rains, gorgeous cloud formations and sunsets along with the ever-popular humidity. (Well, the ever-popular part might be debatable.) Oh! And…

Figs!

We all know that I am a fanatical aficionado of fresh figs, given that this is my second post starring the petite plummy fruit. There is nothing debatable about the luscious nature of the fig, full of honey and berry flavors. As mentioned here last July, fresh figs were actually a well-concealed part of my retirement plan, given that midwestern farm types don’t have the climate to grow them. My neighbor’s tree here in the desert southwest yielded mightily once again and I have purchased numerous baskets of them from my local grocer. Plus I’ve been keeping an eye out for a certain vendor at the farmers’ market, as he sells the best local organic figs ever. He didn’t disappoint, showing up for the first time several weeks ago. I really hope the fruity little fellas are good for me, as I tend to overdose on them each summer, as is patently obvious at this point!

And yes, given this fig bounty, four pints of my fig frozen yogurt (July, 2017) were securely nestled into the deepest section of my freezer. Maybe not quite deep enough though, since we couldn’t resist serving it for dessert the day it was made, then for a company dinner and now we are polishing off the third pint because it’s summer…or something. Might have to invest in additional fro-yo before summer fig season is over. I’ve also combined these succulent fruits with Greek yogurt and honey for an ingenious summer dessert and feasted upon them simply as fruit in hand. But their potential has come calling again, as it is so wont to do, for a crisp yet delicate Dutch Baby. I make a delectable buckwheat Dutch baby with blueberries and maple syrup, and a fig variation is on the breakfast menu today.

The Dutch baby was not a breakfast item served on our farm. This is somewhat surprising, given that my mom made both delicate lacy crepes and big beautiful crispy cream puffs. A Dutch baby would appear to be the offspring of these two delights, but alas, I did not discover it until many years later. Actually, one could stuff crepes with fresh figs and ricotta, roll them up and apply a drizzle of honey… oh but wait, I’m supposed to be baking a Dutch baby…

Just in case you are one of the unfortunate folk that don’t have a ready supply of summer figs, it’s good to know that Dutch babies are incredibly tasty with any number of fruits. Fresh juicy peaches with pecans or sweet strawberries with slivered almonds would make great combinations as well. Whatever yummy fruits you happen to have around, I hope you’ll give this Dutch baby a try before summer fruit marches into the sunset for the year.

However, I might point out that two types of figs were available at my local Trader Joe’s this week, so this might be your chance to run out and snag them. Which you should most definitely do, particularly if you have never tried them… but I will warn you, if you become addicted to figs, you might have to alter your retirement plans, too!

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Honeyed Fig and Pistachio Dutch Baby

Crisp and delicate cross between a pancake and a cream puff.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Servings: 2 servings

Author: Mary Kay Allen

Ingredients

• ¼ cup toasted unsalted pistachios divided
• 5 tablespoons flour I used a combination of Sonoran white whole wheat and oat flour; gluten free blend is fine
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of cardamom
• 2 eggs
• 1/3- cup milk
• 1 tablespoon honey divided
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1- tablespoon butter
• ¼ cup Greek yogurt skyr, ricotta or cottage cheese
• 5 large fresh figs sliced thinly
• Optional sprinkles bee pollen, chia or poppy seeds

Instructions

• Place a 9-inch cast iron skillet in the oven and preheat to 425° F.
• Measure 2 tablespoons of the pistachios into the work bowl of a food processor. Process until a fine meal forms. Add the flours, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom. Process briefly to combine. Add the eggs, milk, 1 teaspoon of the honey and vanilla and process to blend. Allow to sit while the skillet is heating. Remove the hot skillet from the oven and swirl the butter in it till melted to coat the pan surface. Pour in the batter and bake 15-20 minutes, until puffed, brown and set. Chop the remaining 2 tablespoons of pistachios. Cool for several minutes, then place a scoop of the yogurt in the center. Arrange the fig slices around the center. Drizzle with the remaining 2 teaspoons honey and sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Dust with any of the sprinkles if desired.

Old Midwestern farmhouses are notoriously chilly places come fall and winter. With its huge old fuel oil furnace in the basement, ours was no exception. The family bathroom was the one reliably warm spot in the house. Dread built to a fever pitch each morning as I prepared to exit my warm bed, until finally I’d hop out, grab a robe and race down the steep stairway to that warm room of sanctuary.

My mother could often be found standing atop the heating vent at the foot of the stairs, her nightgown and robe inflated into a bell by the force of the warm air rising up from the basement. Steam emanated from the tightly clutched mug in her hands, an invisible lifeline connecting her to the coffee pot. As a kid, I never understood why she just didn’t want to chat until at least one cup of her caffeine elixir was consumed, but I understand now!

Eventually, she would recover enough stamina to tackle making breakfast, which was always a solid morning repast. While it was often some combination of bread and eggs, she would also bake quick breads like bran muffins and whole-wheat biscuits. In our home, this tradition has morphed into scones, hands down my husband’s most popular quick bread. While he will eat just about any of my baked goods with gusto, when asked what he would like, the answer is always scones. In his mind, they are just slightly reminiscent of his southern mama’s biscuits. I have a number of scone recipes, but the Almond Cherry Scones I’m sharing today is one of my favorites.

These scones are a bit softer than the typical biscuit, due to the addition of an egg and a small amount of almond paste. They are moist and full of almond flavor, without being too sweet or rich. The recipe as written uses 100% whole wheat flour, but all-purpose flour can be substituted for whole-wheat pastry flour if you can’t quite handle that much “health.” Given that I am one of the ill-fated folks with IBS, I use a combination of sprouted wheat, spelt and Sonoran white wheat flours to maximize digestibility and nutrition. But basically you can use whatever wheat based flours you like; I have not tried this recipe with gluten free flours.

This year in the Sonoran desert, summer lingered into what is usually a lovely lengthy fall; summer temps have finally been pushed off center stage, and winter is nipping around the edges. Chilly mornings are welcome and I’m happy to heat the oven for baking. As cool mornings arrive, give these scones a try. I am a real pushover for the steamy aroma and flavor of almonds and cherries, and you may find that you are, too!

Print Recipe

Almond Cherry Scones

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time18 minutes mins

Total Time48 minutes mins

Course: Bread

Servings: 10

Ingredients

• 1- cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1- cup whole-wheat pastry flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter cut into small cubes
• 1 ounce almond paste
• 1/3 cup tart dried cherries lightly chopped
• 2 tablespoons slivered toasted almonds
• ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon buttermilk
• 1- teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 1 egg
• milk or cream for brushing the tops
• coarse sugar for the tops

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400° F. Prepare a baking sheet either by lining with parchment paper or lightly spraying with pan spray.
• Combine the dry ingredients thoroughly in a bowl or food processor. Cut in the butter and almond paste until the size of rice grains. Stir in the cherries and almonds.
• Combine the wet ingredients well and pour into the dry mix. Extra buttermilk can be added a tablespoon at a time if the mix appears dry, but only until the mixture can be gathered together.
• Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly several times and form into a firm ball. Press or roll into a circle about an inch in thickness.
• Cut into 8-10 wedges, depending on the preferred size of scone. Place the wedges onto the baking sheet, at least ½-inch apart. Brush each scone lightly with milk or cream, then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
• Bake for 15-18 minutes, til beginning to brown on top and edges. Remove to a cooling rack. Serve warm with butter. Leftovers freeze well.

Hotcake, flapjack, griddlecake, battercake…

The light, fluffy, even puffy all-American pancake has been a coveted breakfast dish for decades, both in homes and especially in restaurants. Tall stacks featured on menus and on boxes, dripping with butter and syrup… irresistible!

Sadly, for my childhood self, such pancakes were not exactly health food. Each cake is basically a piece of white bread, enriched with additional sugar, eggs and fat. It should come as no surprise that these would not be on our breakfast table on the farm. While my grandmother was usually my processed food savior, pancakes weren’t even served on her table. Turns out this wasn’t really much of a problem, though.

Because my mother made incredibly delicious dishes that she called pancakes. Most often these were actually crepes, rich in eggs and milk with just a smidge of flour, fried up in ultra-thin cakes with crisp, lacy edges. She spread them lightly with butter, poured the briefest of syrup drizzles, and then rolled them up into cylinders on the plate. There were no complaints, no fluffy pancake envy.

Every now and again though, she would make her yeast raised buckwheat cakes. These were a bit thicker, a tad fluffier than her crepes, with a deeply nutty, earthy flavor that married perfectly with real maple syrup. In retrospect, she probably was not able to obtain buckwheat flour very easily, thus these were an occasional treat. Lucky for me buckwheat flour is easily found within a five minute drive at any number of my local grocers!

Mom’s buckwheat cakes began with a yeast starter prepared the night before, and her recipe used no flours but buckwheat. As a dedicated sourdough baker, I prepare a starter using my sourdough leaven and include a small amount of spelt flour to thicken the batter slightly. If you use sourdough on a regular basis for other baked goods, this is a great recipe to use up your leftover when feeding the starter. This is an incredibly simple and flexible recipe, which can also be prepared with yeast and is easily made gluten free. The pancakes freeze beautifully and make a very quick breakfast when thawed and heated.

In her later years, Mom lived in a retirement community. While she had meals available in the dining room, she missed her especially loved dishes; however, cooking had become a challenge for her. On one visit, she asked me if I could help her get a sourdough leaven started and then stealthily opened her small refrigerator and produced a bag of buckwheat flour. Sensing potential disaster growing in her fridge, I suggested that it might be best if I made and delivered the cakes to her, which I did for her remaining years. Yes, that’s just how addictive these buckwheat cakes can be…

While Mom served them with bacon, fresh blueberries, toasted pecans and maple syrup usually accompany mine. No matter what you choose to serve with them, these pancakes are a delicious start to the day!

Print Recipe

Mom's Buckwheat Cakes

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Bread

Servings: 15 pancakes

Ingredients

• The night before you want to make pancakes mix together:
• ½ cup sourdough leaven
• 1- cup buckwheat flour
• ¼ cup spelt or whole-wheat flour
• ¼ cup water
• ¾ cup almond milk
• Cover with saran and let sit at room temperature overnight. In the morning it will have risen and will be quite bubbly. To the starter add:
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons oil I use coconut
• 2 tablespoons honey
• ½ teaspoon baking soda

Instructions

• Allow to sit for about 5 minutes while the griddle heats to 350° F. Lightly grease, then scoop batter by scant ¼ cup full and pour onto the griddle. When the top appears to dry around the edges and bubbles appear, flip the pancakes and bake for about 30 seconds longer. Remove from griddle to serving plate.
• Makes 12-15 pancakes
• To make using yeast, substitute the following for the sourdough starter:
• ½ tsp. bread machine/instant yeast
• ½ cup warm water
• ¾ cup milk
• ½ cup spelt or whole-wheat flour
• -cup buckwheat flour
• The recipe can be made gluten free by following the yeast directions and substituting ½ cup all-purpose gluten free flour mix for the spelt or whole-wheat flour.
• Proceed as above with the “in the morning” directions.