Normally I go simpler than this for pancakes, but for a special occasion this weekend I wanted to go for something a little more exotically flavored. It was a bit more labor intensive, but was not super-difficult and didn’t require anything not already in our fridge or pantry. Served up with some maple syrup and/or fruit, this was/is mighty tasty stuff!

If you like it REALLY lemony, you could add another lemon’s worth of juice/zest and reduce the milk by ¼ cup.

Serves 5-6

– ½ cup rolled oats
– ½ cup almonds
– 1 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
– ½ cup corn flour (another ½ cup pastry flour can be used here)
– 1 Tbsp baking powder
– ¼ tsp salt
– ½ tsp cinnamon
– 2 cups (dairy or non-dairy) milk
– ¾ cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons) plus zest
– 4 eggs
– ¼ cup honey
– ¼ cup melted butter or neutrally-flavored oil
– 1 tsp almond extract

1) Put almonds and oats in a skillet (ideally cast iron) over low heat, stirring frequently until starting to brown and smell toasty.
2) Put toasted almonds and oats in food processor and chop finely. Add to other dry ingredients (flours in a large bowl and mix.
3) Add milk to dry ingredients and mix until combined.
4) Squeeze the lemon juice, zest the lemon rinds and add the juice, zest and other remaining ingredients (honey, eggs, butter/oil, almond extract) to food processor. Blend for about 2 minutes.
5) Gently fold the egg/lemon mixture into the mixture in the large bowl.
6) Heat and oil/butter a skillet on medium-low heat. Once hot, add the batter in small amounts.
7) Cook until the top side is bubbly and starting to solidify (mostly cooked-through), and then flip. Put cooked pancakes in a warmed oven until ready to serve.