Haystacks & Champagne: Spelt and Sunflower Seed Pancakes

A very rare thing occurred: My husband was home on a weekday morning. Granted, he was using a vacation day to study (boards are coming up) and he was working on taxes (for the umpteenth time)--but he was home! And that made us girls very happy. We needed something special to eat to distract from the paperwork and the painting (I'm tackling the trim on the bathroom--my workmanship is disastrous). Solution? PANCAKES!

I have a new love for spelt flour. I have now tried spelt flour in muffins and banana bread with excellent results. So, it was time to move on to using it in pancakes. Spelt flour just called for something nutty to be added with it--and of course, I paired it with sunflower seeds (been a bit obsessed with sunflower seeds as you have seen from my previous sunflower seed spread and the rustic sunflower seed bread).

(A note about SPELT: it's a member of the same grain family as wheat but is not as heavy as whole wheat flour--you get a more tender result by using spelt flour in baking.)

And because we're mentioning sunflower seeds, here are a couple pictures from our local trip out to the sunflower field (from this last August)....

Back to pancakes: Well, I'm happy to say, my experimental recipe turned out great! LOVE these pancakes and will be making them again. Serve them with some veggie sausage on the side for some extra protein to take you through until lunchtime.

SPELT AND SUNFLOWER SEED PANCAKES

Makes 10-12 pancakes (depending on size)--should serve at least 4 people for breakfast

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups spelt flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
~1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds

Wet Ingredients:

2 eggs
1 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. safflower oil (or canola) + more for greasing pan/griddle
1 Tbsp. honey

In a small-medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients (including the sunflower seeds) and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat eggs. Whisk in the buttermilk and oil. Add honey and whisk again until all the ingredients are incorporated.

(TIP: if you use your tablespoon to measure out the oil, the honey will slide out easily when you use the same tablespoon to measure out the honey).

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Feel free to add a little more buttermilk if the mixture seems too dry.

Heat pan, skillet or griddle over medium heat and lightly coat with some oil (of your choice--I used safflower again as it is good with high temperatures).

Pour approximately 1/4 cup of pancake batter for each pancake. (I only got about 3 pancakes in a really large skillet)

Cook pancakes 2-3 minutes on each side, until they are golden brown--you will know they are ready to be flipped when you start to see little bubbles form around the edges.

Serve the pancakes warm with maple syrup and fruit of your choice.