Light Pancakes with Berry Sauce (Soy, Fish and Nut-Free)

These pancakes are amazingly light and fluffy...and very hard to scorch! Trust me, I know, because, with other types of pancakes, I normally ruin about 1/4 the batch unless I have the pan just the right temperature, and that is so hard for me to do for some reason. LOL

I don't know about you, but when I eat pancakes, I normally feel like "Whoa...I just ate pancakes" because they sit so heavily on my stomach. These don't make you feel that way at all! They are delicious with any topping (i.e. butter and maple syrup, butter and brown sugar, fresh fruit and whipped cream), but my family likes the berry sauce the best with them so I'm listing them together here. :)

The pancake recipe is from my aunt, Lisa Schraw. The berry sauce is my own creation. Please note that they are only soy-free if you use all soy-free ingredients, and they are also fish and nut-free.

Light Pancakes

1 Cup soy-free flour

2 Tablespoons white sugar

2 Tablespoons baking powder

(No, this is not a mistype, it is supposed to be Tablespoons :) )

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

2 Tablespoons olive or canola oil

1 Cup milk

1. In medium bowl, combine dry ingredients.

2. In small bowl, mix egg, oil and milk before adding the mixture to the dry ingredients; stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened. (You can add more milk if the batter doesn't pour easily.)

3. Bake on well greased griddle. (How big you make them is up to you. I use an 1/8 Cup measure for mine, and this recipe makes about 10 to 12 pancakes of that size.)

Berry Sauce

12 oz. frozen mixed berries

2 Cups soy-free strawberry preserves

2 Tablespoons salted, full-fat butter

1 teaspoon lemon juice

(if the berries are extra tart, you can lessen this amount to 1/2 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. In medium sauce pan, mix berries, preserves, butter, lemon juice and cinnamon and bring to a boil.

2. Boil mixture for 2 to 3 minutes, remove from heat and add the vanilla.

3. Serve warm over pancakes, french toast or waffles with a pat of salted butter. (Also makes and excellent ice cream topping. :) )

Variations on the sauce:

• Apple Berry Sauce: Add 2 to 3 cored and sliced (peeled, too, if you like) medium apples of your choice in with the berries or 4 to 6 medium apples of your choice (cored, sliced and peeled (if desired)) in place of the berries. Cook sauce until apples are to desired tenderness (I prefer fork tender) before removing from heat and adding the vanilla.
• Apple Cinnamon Sauce: Substitute 4 to 6 medium apples of your choice (cored, sliced and peeled (if desired) for the berries, substitute 1 Cup apple cider/juice (water may also be used, but note that the apple flavor will be less intense) mixed with 1 Tablespoon cornstarch for the preserves, up the cinnamon to 1 teaspoon (more if you'd like), and add 2 Tablespoons (more or less to taste) of brown sugar. Cook sauce until apples are to desired tenderness (fork tender is my preference) before adding the vanilla.

Feel free to dress up the pancakes as you wish; you don't have to use the sauce. Get creative!  They are very versatile. :)

(This recipe was originally posted on my original site, Natural and Free.)