Nutiva Stuffed Dairy Limited Pancakes

Cooking with kids to pass self isolation time and eating well doing it..

So we have been home for 4 days now... The C2's have been amazing in making their own fun... but the challenge still exists to keep them entertained or my house becomes a giant "fort". At least the dog also enjoys it! I didn't enjoy putting it all back!

My passion for cooking does trickle down to my girls though... especially when it equals a choice in breakfast.... oh... and includes "chocolate". I try my best to buy the least processed or organic products as I can; and make as much as possible from scratch. Matching these values with a fun breakfast my kids request and help out with, is what I consider a mom win!! Here was my starting lineup...

I need to eat a dairy free diet, which can complicate eating out in restaurants. It can also complicate finding recipes or substitutions to still feel like I can enjoy all the food I used to. This came with a lot of trial and error on my part; because honestly, not all non-dairy milk is create equal. I can't do soy, so I naturally started trying out different brands of Almond Mylk. They can be okay, but there is a natural sweetness that I didn't love and I found the consistency quite watery ( I wanted something that works in my coffee in the morning, and didn't add sweetness because I don't take sugar). I came across Pacific Foods brand Cashew Plant-Based Beverage, specifically the unsweetened variety and I knew I had hit something that would make up for my loss of dairy milk. It's organic which I love and cashew "milk" has a thicker more creamy consistency than the almond milks I have tried. The #PacificFoods Original would be perfect for a sweet breakfast like these pancakes, its really up to personal preference, I buy both!

I will also start with a shout out to www.divascancook.com her Nutella pancakes looked amazing, sadly very dairy filled as did www.tiphero.com But I created some reasonable work arounds to enjoy these delightful decadent and delicious pillows of goodness without the dairy.

My youngest C2 started with the dry ingredients. 1 1/2 cups of #pcorganics all purpose flour, 3 tablespoons of organic coconut sugar, 1/4 tsp of himilayan pink salt, 2 Tablespoons of non-GMO baking powder (I always add at least one additional tablespoon of Baking Powder to any baking dish because I live in a higher altitude. Forget where I heard that from as it was years ago... but apparently higher altitudes can cause your baking to fall, and since I started adding more... I've been good!)

My eldest C2 did the wet ingredients, a single egg, 1 cup of cashew milk and a tablespoon of pure vanilla. And they were mixed together. Pancakes are a simple pastry so stirring "too much" actually makes the dough too tough. Training kids to only stir as much as necessary, is a challenge in and of itself!

So I do have a pancake cheat, but if you also own one of these, you will agree with me and say its just an amazing appliance that everyone should own. #cuisinart griddler

I won't spoil all of the things this can do but it does fold completely open with flat griddles to make the perfect pancakes.

Scoop out 1/2 a cup of batter onto a lightly oiled griddle at 350 degrees. If you are using a pan on the stove, do the same on medium heat. Let that cook from the bottom while you place a microwave save container of about 1/2 a cup of Nutiva in the microwave for 30 second bursts until liquidy. About Nutiva... it's organic hazelnut spread much like Nutella but also does not have any primary milk ingredients. It does say may contain milk solid's but so far for me, I have not reacted to anything with a "may contain" warning... I did not call these pancakes dairy free for this reason! If you are extremely sensitive perhaps dairy free chocolate chips instead? Once melted and the lower pancake layer has started to cook, drizzle the Nutiva in the middle.

Add some more pancake mix on top of the existing pancake and Nutiva and flip to seal in the Nutiva. make sure the temp is low and cook for longer because these are dense pancakes and nothing ruins these more than cutting into them...to find raw pancake in the centre.

And then either let your kids eat it... or if you want to take a picture like I do... drizzle it with the remaining Nutiva and stage with fruit.... enjoy!!