Spelt Pancakes with Caramelized Peaches
The alarm clock buzzed at 5am and my husband wearily climbed out of bed as I hid my head under the covers shielding the sunrise from my eyes. It was comfy in our large bed and the room was cool with the breeze from our fan. Our dogs laid lazily in their bed barely lifting their little heads to see if it were time to wake up. I didn’t envy my husband one bit that he was about to meet his friends and take a long bike ride through the desert from Be’er Sheva to Mitzpe Ramon. I closed my eyes and drifted back to sleep fully taking over the now empty bed. When I woke a few hours later I was ready to start on the large brunch I had promised to make for the 4 hungry men who would be returning that afternoon from their terribly long bike ride.
I’m not a huge breakfast person but can never turn down a beautiful fluffy stack of pancakes. Weekend mornings and brunches with friends wouldn’t be the same without them. They are that classic breakfast staple that brings a sense of comfort as soon as you smell them cooking on the hot griddle. And, after bike riding for hours through the desert, comfort is exactly what these boys were going to need.
In my post where I made a beautiful cherry pie I spoke about how I am trying to change my eating habits and live a much healthier lifestyle now that I am pregnant and only 4 months away from being a mom. Changing your eating habits is a difficult thing to do after 30 years of life and even harder when you are pregnant and craving certain things like really salty potato chips and sugary ice cream topped with caramel. And, though I think indulging every so often is not only ok but super important, I have learned that I can still have certain things I crave and love without feeling guilty just by tweaking a few things in a recipe, like these pancakes.
Spelt flour isn’t something new. I have been hearing about it for a long time now. It is packed with protein, fiber, and magnesium and with it’s nutty flavor its’ a perfect addition to recipes for breads, pastas and of course pancakes. I combined this ancient grain with whole wheat flour in place of the all purpose flour my normal pancakes are made out of. Agave syrup and coconut oil replaced the sugar and butter and buttermilk helped to create fluffy, hearty and comforting pancakes. Aside from being healthy, these were super delicious and gave you that sense of comfort you expect from classic pancakes and something you wouldn’t mind serving your family on Sunday mornings.
I tend to like my pancakes fluffy and packed with chocolate chips or bananas and smothered in maple syrup. Since stone fruit is in season I opted to leave out the fillings I love in my pancakes and instead top them with golden caramelized peaches. The peaches were also made using a bit of coconut oil and agave syrup in place of butter and sugar. Hesitant but optimistic as to how they would turn out, I was happy to see they were golden and beautiful with a thick caramel syrup covering them. The sweet sticky peaches played off the light nutty spelt pancakes and were such a perfect accompaniment.
| Spelt Pancakes with Caramelized Peaches |
- 1 1/2 cups spelt flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon agave syrup
- Pinch of salt
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1 1/3 cup buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 peaches, cut into slices
- 3 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1/3 cup agave syrup
- In a mixing bowl combine spelt flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, agave syrup and coconut oil, set aside.
- In another mixing bowl whip egg whites until soft peaks form.
- Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until combined, taking care not to overmix.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease with coconut oil.
- In batches, spoon mix onto the pan and spread outwards a bit with a spatula.
- When the edges of the pancakes look a bit dry, gently flip them. About 4-6 minutes per side.
- Continue in batches until all the batter is used.
- Keep warm by tenting with foil or placing in a warm oven.
- To make the caramelized peaches:
- In a mixing bowl toss cut up peaches with agave syrup.
- Heat a frying pan over medium high heat and add coconut oil.
- Add peaches to the frying pan and cook until caramelized and coated with a dark amber syrup, flipping as necessary.
Sugar free
Butter free
I want to take a moment and thank Andrea from The Kitchen Lioness and CJ from Food Stories for nominating me for the Food Stories Award, which is an award given to one blogger every month for excellence in story telling. It is so nice to know that you are all enjoying my posts as they have become more of just recipes but a personal diary as well! In order to be considered for the award I need to share a random fact about myself and nominate 5 other bloggers.
Random fact: Next to cooking my, I have a deep passion for music.
Bloggers (I wish I could nominate all of the wonderful blogs I love and follow!):
Nami at Just One Cookbook
Monet at Anecdotes and Applecores
Maya at Foodiva’s Kitchen
Russell at Chasing Delicious
Maggie at Kitchie Coo
Connect With Me
I am having some serious cravings now, this looks fantastic!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks! These will satisfy any pancake craving!
Geez I may crawl back into bed just so I can get up later and pretend it’s morning to make these. Looks wicked good!
Hahah thanks Kim! Nothing wrong with breakfast for dinner either
Just saying…
These look soooo good! And totally comforting. Can’t wait to try.
They were SO good! Yay for spelt flour and for Eden for carrying it!
I am a bit of a pancake fiend. I freely admit it to friend and foe alike. Take away just about any food, but don’t mess with my pancakes (which more often than not are served for dinner in my house). Your stacks look so fluffy and light. I just love how thick and delicious they look. I am going to have to try the peach topping.
I too love a good stack of pancakes and pancakes for dinner are always amazing! The key to getting these so fluffy is whipping the egg whites and then folding them in!
I am not a breakfast person at all but my first meal starts earlier than lunch time. These lovely pancakes will be my dessert because I enjoy desserts esp after my night meal.
These would be a fabulous dessert too! Especially with the yummy caramelized peaches.
Great acceptance post
Thank you CJ! And, thank you so much for the nomination
This looks so wholesome and fantastic. Loved the recipe and the photographs Beth!!
Thank you so much Nandita!! The pancakes are so wholesome and hearty and you just cant beat healthy and tasty!
the caramel peaches on this pancake sound really Yummy,,,delicious breakfast post !!
Thank you! The peaches are absolutely delicious and bring the pancakes to a whole other level of goodness.
I have yet to try spelt! I can never turn down pancakes either!
This was the first time I have used spelt and I am hooked. It is a bit pricy but certainly worth it for something delicious like these pancakes.
They look fabulous and delish!!
Thanks so much!!
Hi Beth, congratulations on getting in the Foodbuzz top 9. I rarely eat pancakes even though I love them. Think it’s a British think about pancake Tuesday. I love how your version still looks and sounds delicious as well as being healthy too. You can have your cake and eat it.
I was just wondering about the Spelt flour and what it tastes like. I nearly bought a spelt loaf the other day but it was sooo dense. I thought I’d be chewing it all morning.
Dave.
Thanks David! Nothing beats healthy and delicious!!
Spelt flour has a slight nutty taste to it and can be very dense like whole wheat flour which is why I suggest mixing it with other flours instead of just using it alone. I do love it though and am look forward to baking a lot more with it!
Beth, first of all, thank you so much for the award. It means so much to me because I still remember you gave me my very first award. It was very special back then, and now it still is because I’ve been following you and enjoying your posts. Sorry I have been a bit busy, but your update in my inbox always cheer me up.
I can’t imagine cooking for 4 hungry men! LOL. How many pancakes would you need to make? I love caramelized peaches. I’ve never made it before but definitely will try this summer when peaches are so juicy and delicious. My mouth started to water already! 
Aw thanks Nami!! You were one of the first blogs I started following and I still love it!
4 hungry men is a lot to cook for! I made 50 pancakes for them and they were all gone except for 2!!!! The caramelized peaches on these are amazing. So perfect for summer and another yummy way to enjoy the fruit!
Ohmygoodness, these look so good. And I love that they’re good for you! But really, those peaches…I think I could just curl up and live in a bowl full of those quite contentedly for the rest of my life.
Hahah yeah I dont think I would mind living in a bowl of caramelized peaches either! So yummy!
These pancakes sound amazing! And I love that they’re topped with these beautiful peaches! Congrats on the Top 9 =)
Thanks Peggy! The peaches really put them over the top!
That big ol’ fluffy stack of pancakes is tantalizing enough to begin with, but those caramelized peaches make them even better! This is definitely the right way to start the day.
Thanks Colleen. I really can’t think of any other way to being a day. Pancakes for breakfast just make your day better.
Wow! Love the idea of caramelized peaches! Congratulations on making top 9 today!
Thank you!! Its always such a surprise and always so wonderful to make it into the top 9!
I just bought a card that said “Honey comes from bees, apples come from trees, but pancakes come from heaven.” I adore a big stack of pancakes and this looks just about perfect. Thank you sharing with me. I wish I had a plate full right now!
Love that saying! Could not be more true.
I love pancakes and even love to have savory pancakes with fruit. With caramelized fruit I just want to dig in.
I love savory pancakes with fruit too, and now caramelized fruit is a favorite!
I love spelt flour, and I’d love these pancakes, especially with peaches on top!
Spelt flour is a new love of mine! I cant get enough of it.
I love breakfast anytime of day and pancakes are always a favorite. I’m envious of your stone fruit – waiting for ours to ripen here. I have become a fan of spelt flour and am just starting to use coconut oil more. These look beautiful and sound delicious and satisfying! What a treat to come to after a long bike ride.
Stone fruit is the best. I always get so excited when it comes into season. There really is nothing quite like a nice juicy peach in summer!
I haven’t tried spelt flour yet but this, THIS, is making me have to try it. Can’t wait for fresh homegrown peaches to get here!
This is a great recipe to fall in love with spelt flour!!! It was my first time using it and I cannot wait to try it in other recipes!
Beth, I am keeping my fingers crossed for that Food Stories Award!!! Hope you will be the “One”!
Sorry, I am so late in commenting but except for a few hours here and there, I spent a week in hospital with one of my kids…but things are looking up now and we are back home…and I am just grateful…
It is nice to see that you picked up on the coconut oil/agave syrup theme and managed to incorporate them into another delicious looking recipe – I also like the taste of spelt flour and I am quite sure that the pancakes tasted just wonderful – and caramelized peaches with the skins on look wonderful as well, I bought some peaches from Spain this morning and will let them get a bit softer before trying to caramelize them, I think a Greek Yogurt Pound Cake might be good with these caramelized peaches.
Hope all is well with you!
What a great pancake recipe Beth!! I love that you made it so healthy too!! Agave syrup is the way to go! Need to load up on those.. hehe.. and spelt flour ehh?? hmm! Very interesting!
ahhh this is just the perfect bait to get out of bed for!