Wheat Free Banana Chia Almond Pancakes - Paleo Friendly

My Chia seed addiction is not getting any better. Since I feel great I guess that's not a bad thing except that you might be getting a lot of Chia recipe's until I move on to the next thing. I'm also struggling a bit with my sugar addiction...........so of course I am craving pancakes for breakfast. Any excuse to pull out the pure maple syrup.

Banana Chia Seed Almond Pancakes topped with some fresh butter and pure maple syrup. These were so good!

But these pancakes were so naturally sweet they didn't need much help from maple syrup. I have tried a few pancake recipes since going clean and grain-free and haven't been too excited about them (except the lemon poppyseed ones from the Wheat Belly Cookbook). So this morning I decided to just mess around with some ingredients and I'm pretty pumped about how these turned out. Even hubby liked them and he's not really too excited about pancakes or Chia seeds.

Just keep in mind that grain-free pancakes don't cook the same as wheat pancakes so you have to cook them at a lower temperature or they will burn before they cook through enough to be flipped. Be patient and don't flip them until they are well cooked on one side. They are worth the extra effort as you get a delicious nutrient dense breakfast packed with fiber and protein. These kept me full till lunch and my blood sugar was fine all morning even after a good work-out!

I made that........you could too!

Wheat-free Banana Chia Seed Almond Pancakes (makes 6-8 pancakes)

Organic Coconut Oil - for cooking pancakes
1/2 cup blanched almond flour (almond meal would work as well)
2 tbsp Chia Seeds
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of fine sea salt

1 egg, well beaten
1 large ripe banana, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup milk (soy, almond or coconut in a carton) plus 1 extra tbsp milk
3 drops liquid Stevia (optional - probably not needed)
1 tbsp Almond Butter

Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well except the extra 1 tbsp of milk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes to let the Chia seeds "gel". My batter was super thick afterwards so I added the extra 1 tbsp of milk and mixed well (adjust for desired thickness). Fry pancakes (don't make them too big) in coconut oil over low/medium heat. Serve with butter and a little bit of pure maple syrup or top with a nut butter, coconut and fresh fruit. Enjoy!