Sunday, April 27, 2014

Almond Flour Pancakes and Matcha Lattes

As many of you know, I do a lot of meal prep and cooking on the weekend. Lately, I have been trying to prep more breakfast foods for the boys. One popular breakfast food In our house are almond flour pancakes. I double the recipe and keep the leftover pancakes in the fridge, and we heat them up during the week.



Almond Flour Pancakes
Yield: About 22 small, thin pancakes

Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup liquid (water, almond milk, cow’s milk, etc.)
  • 2 cups almond flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 packets stevia (optional)
  • Coconut oil
Directions
  1. Mix the eggs and the liquid with a fork.
  2. Add the flour, baking powder, and stevia (optional) until well combined.
  3. Heat enough coconut oil to lightly coat a pan over low to medium heat. [Caution: Don’t use too much coconut oil as it burns easily. Also, make sure not to turn the heat higher than medium, and then once the pan is hot turn it down toward low.]
  4. Wait several minutes until the pan is hot. Add about two tablespoons of batter to the pan and flatten it out with the back of a spoon.
  5. Cook until bubbles form and then turn over. Cook for another minute.
The first time I made almond flour pancakes, it was a disaster as I burned them and they fell apart. I had read that you need to use lower temperatures, but I treated them too much like pancakes made with wheat flour. The key is to be patient and truly use low heat and cook them slowly. Once you get used to working with almond flour, it’s easy!

KissMe Organics Matcha Lattes

One beverage I have recently been enjoying with my breakfasts are matcha lattes. Several weeks ago, I was contacted by KissMe Organics and asked if I wanted to try their organic matcha powder. I had never tried matcha powder at home before (but I had had it in various forms in different drinks and foods, and I enjoy green tea a lot) and was curious, so I said yes.


I got a code to order it for free on Amazon (KissMe Organics Matcha Green Tea Powder is sold exclusively on Amazon). Once I ordered it, I also got access to a free recipe booklet. There are many recipes in the booklet, but I only made lattes with the powder as I enjoyed them so much.



Andy also liked the lattes. My aunt, however, did not care for them at all, maybe because it was a completely new flavor for her. She said they tasted “too green” and she wouldn’t go near them after her first and only taste.

Since I had never tasted matcha powder by itself before, I asked one of my friends who uses matcha regularly to taste some in warm water straight up, and she liked the flavor a lot.

To make the latte, I followed the recipe in the booklet. I mixed one teaspoon of matcha powder with a little hot water and stirred it well (this is important!). Then I filled the cup with warm milk (I used both almond milk and cow’s milk, and both were good). I liked adding some stevia for a bit of sweetness.

According to the package, the matcha green tea powder is supposed to provide:
  • all day energy
  • metabolism boost
  • increased focus
  • improved skin health
  • 137x antioxidants of brewed green tea
I do think the matcha lattes gave me a boost of energy, and I enjoyed it. It was a more subtle but longer boost than coffee had given me in the past when I drank it, and I enjoyed the extra energy without the feeling of “crashing” afterward. I can’t verify the other claims, but I certainly enjoyed my lattes and am sad that the package is now empty. They were a nice change from my usual lemon water and various teas as they felt special and were a nice pick-me-up.

Questions: What’s your usual breakfast? I start most days with a huge green smoothie. Do you make breakfasts ahead of time? Besides making extra pancakes, I like making Bircher muesli (a version of overnight oats) the night before. Have you ever used matcha powder? If so, what did you use it in? Were you more adventurous than I was and made something else than simple lattes? What was the highlight of your weekend?
 
Be well,
Andrea

[Disclosure: I was provided a code to order the KissMe Organics matcha powder for free. As always, all opinions in this post are my own.]