One of the hardest parts of being a new vegan (or even an old seasoned vegan) is trying to keep up with all the new products out there. I must have spent over $50 looking for the "right" vegan cheese my first year being a vegan and I have over 50 vegan/vegetarian cookbooks in my arsenal but not all the recipes are the greatest. I’m the first born so I’m used to being a Guinea Pig and now I’m your Vegan Guinea Pig. So here are my recommendations and critiques. Let me know what you think!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Lavender Pancakes

A couple weeks ago one of the volunteer’s at my CSA insisted that we go pick some fresh lavender and experiment with it. It smelled so beautiful and you can’t beat the freshness of picking the flower’s yourself so I said, why not. Since then I’ve been putting lavender in everything you can imagine from pancakes and muffins to cookies and cupcakes. These lavender cupcakes have become my new breakfast and brunch favorites. I usually do a double or even triple batch and freeze them in pairs so there’s always some on hand. I’ve noticed fresh lavender in the fresh herbs section of some Whole Food’s and Farmer’s Market’s as well. If you come across a bunch, I highly recommend you try these pancakes.

Lavender Pancakes
Makes 12 Pancakes


1 ¼ cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lavender flowers
¼ teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ cup soy yogurt or vegan sour cream
¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup plain almond or rice milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup canola oil

Warm a large griddle over medium heat and grease with canola oil or canola oil spray.

Combine flour, sugar, lavender, salt, and baking powder together in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, or a strong arm, beat in yogurt or sour cream, applesauce, milk, vanilla and canola oil until batter is smooth and there are no lumps.

Ladle pancake batter onto the griddle, the batter will spread quite a bit so start out in small batches to test for your desired size. When bubbles start to appear on the pancake surface check to see if they are golden brown in color on the other side. If they are, flip and cook until both sides are golden brown, about 1-2 minutes per side. Remove from the griddle and serve with maple syrup.

7 comments:

  1. I love lavender too! Though I tend to infuse my liquid instead of using the flowers, I prefer to not have bits!

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  2. I agree with Carla, I'd rather infuse the flavor int he mixture than add the actual lavender. My kids are not so keen about it either. They keep on insisting that it's flower and that we're not supposed to eat it. So for my 6-year old twin boys, infusing the flavor is more of an option. :)

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  3. Wow! This is so creative, I've really gotta try it. I've had a few things I wanted to try with lavender and this just got added to the list.

    http://misskitchenwitch.blogspot.com

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  4. I knew I had to feature this in a roundup the minute I saw it. What a lovely idea, Alicia. This makes me wish, more than ever, that I hadn't accidentally let so much of the lavender in my new garden dry up during some scorching recent weather.

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  5. These are stunning, what a beautiful dish! I've never cooked with lavender before, but I love dishes that include it. Great idea!

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  6. fabulous! the fanciest cupcakes i ever had. note: i used regular brown sugar, 3/4 c of ricemilk and didn`t stir as much as the recipe called for. came out just fine. ~flamencokitty

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