Espresso Pancakes

I just want you to pause for a second. Take a look at the photos in this post. Don’t eat your screen, I know you want to, but just have a good look. Ignore the photography skills, or the sheer lack of, I’m just learning afterall. With my digital camera in hand I stand on chairs and dance around the table, guessing my way to the right angle and light combination. But that’s irrelevant right now. I want you to imagine yourself behind that camera. Not me, just yourself. The smell of freshly brewed hot espresso in the air. A stack of fluffy pancakes steaming before your eyes. And the sound of empty rumbling bellies. But you can’t eat them yet. You haven’t managed to capture the perfect photo yet. Can you feel the torture? I don’t know how I managed to wait long enough to even take one photo!!!! Was it willpower? Probably not. Maybe it was Robbie’s calming mantra, telling me to breathe, that it was all going to soon be over. Either way it was torturous for the both of us. This is the food blogger life I’m afraid. I can safely say that I can’t wait to make these fluffy morsels of deliciousness again, less the photo-taking torture, of course.

Luckily for you, all you need to do is follow the recipe, eat and enjoy! Believe it or not, after I was finished taking all the photos, the pancakes were still warm, and damn did we enjoy them. The combination of the espresso and almond-based pancakes is perfect and super energizing.

Just a note on almonds… Some people suffering from fructose malabsorption do not tolerate large amounts of almonds. If this is you, do one of two things. 1. Limit the pancakes you eat (if you have willpower). 2. Substitute half of the almond meal for an alternative like buckwheat or oat flour, it’ll still work a treat.

Espresso Pancakes
Serves 2

1 1/2 cup almond meal
1 tsp ground espresso
3/4 cup almond milk (or milk of your choice)
1/4 cup brewed espresso, cooled
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
Coconut oil for frying

Espresso Date Paste
6-8 dates, chopped
2 tbsp brewed espresso, hot
1/2 tsp raw cacao powder

To serve
Natural yoghurt
Fresh or frozen banana

Freshly brew espresso – enough for the pancakes, date paste and of course, to drink. Prepare the date paste by mixing chopped dates, hot espresso and cacao powder in a small bowl, and set aside. Prepare the pancake mixture. In one bowl, lightly whisk eggs, vanilla, milk and maple syrup together. In a separate bowl, combine almond meal and ground espresso, and stir this into the wet ingredients. Stir in cooled espresso. Heat a fry pan on medium heat and use coconut oil to cook pancakes.

Enjoy.