Einkorn Pancakes

The most ancient form of wheat still in use, einkorn has a wonderfully distinct flavour and is easier to digest for many. These einkorn pancakes are sweetened with honey and made in one bowl with simple ingredients, for fluffy American-style pancakes made with a delicious ancient grain.

Einkorn acts a little differently from other ancient grains, and it took a bit of time to develop this recipe. You can’t sub it for spelt flour 1:1 with no changes. The flour is a bit stickier, and with an even lower gluten content (and higher protein) than other similar grains. Einkorn is among other ancient grains that are more sustainable crops to grow versus conventional wheat.

I very highly recommend using einkorn-specific recipes when using this flour. See einkorn bread, and there will be more to come – I am working on an einkorn sourdough right now.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Einkorn flour: there is no substitute for einkorn for this recipe. I have used purchased ground flour and home-milled einkorn, sifted at home and left completely whole grain, all with good results.
• Honey: substitute another liquid sweetener or use sugar if preferred.
• Milk: I have only tested these with non-dairy milk (usually oat milk) but I’m certain that cow milk would work just as well.
• Oil: pictured is olive oil, which can’t be tasted in the final product, but any oil you like could be used, or melted butter.

Step by Step

Step 1: mix the wet ingredients in a large bowl, whisking the egg well.
Step 2: sift in the dry ingredients to avoid any baking powder lumps and stir until just combined.
Step 3: pre-heat the pan well and brush with a bit of oil, then add dollops of batter to the pan.
Step 4: when bubbles have popped around the edges of the pancake, flip and cook the other side.

Recipe Notes

This is made specifically for whole-grain einkorn flour. I have made this exact recipe with spelt flour and it results in a much runnier batter that doesn’t make for the same fluffy pancakes. I have only made this with whole-grain flour (or home-sifted) and not ‘white’ einkorn but that should be fine if it’s what you have.

The recipe simply doesn’t work properly without the egg. I did several trials with various replacers and the pancakes always turned out stodgy and unpleasant without it.

How to Store

Storage: keep cooked pancakes in a sealed container at room temperature for a day or two. The batter can be mixed and then refrigerated, covered, for up to 24 hours before cooking.

Freezing: freeze cooled pancakes in an airtight container for up to three months.

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Expert Tips

• Pre-heat the pan: if you often have a first pancake that fails, it’s almost always due to the pan being too cold. Let it heat up for longer than you usually might when making pancakes.
• Use weights for best results: this is especially the case if you want to mill your own flour, but I do recommend buying a small kitchen scale to use for any baking recipes like this one.
• Brush in the oil: to prevent greasy pancakes, I highly recommend brushing the base of the pan with a bit of oil rather than letting it pool and spread. This way you use much less oil and it results in golden pancakes that aren’t oily around the edges.

Suggested Toppings

Because we no longer live in Canada and maple syrup is imported from across the Atlantic, it’s a special treat rather than a common topping these days. Depending on the season, I now top pancakes with any of the following:

• Lingonberry sauce, as pictured
• Blueberry compote (use the same recipe for other berries)
• Rhubarb compote
• Lemon curd
• Rhubarb curd
• Applesauce
• Runny honey

More Pancake Recipes

Lemon Pancakes with spelt flour
Banana Buckwheat Pancakes
Spelt Pancakes
German Baked Apple Pancake

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