Courgette cornbread pancakes

By: Izy Hossack
From: Top With Cinnamon
Makes: 10
Photographer: Izy Hossack

Growing up, the pancakes I ate were always made from a box-mix, which had been lovingly hauled back in four-packs from infrequent visits to America. I don’t think I realised I could make pancakes myself, sans-mix, for a good ten years. Since then, I’ve been making pancakes very often for weekend breakfasts, experimenting with different flours and add-ins to change the texture and flavour. These pancakes have a slight crunch from the cornmeal and the courgette keeps them deliciously moist. You can also eliminate the sugar to make a savoury pancake to serve with eggy brunch dishes. These pancakes are gluten free.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
100g	courgette, finely grated
55g	rolled oats
65g	cornmeal
30g	ground almonds
1 teaspoon	baking powder
1/4 teaspoon	bicarbonate of soda
2 tablespoons	granulated sugar, (optional)
1	egg
190ml	milk
	sunflower oil, for frying

Method

Squeeze the grated courgette through a fine sieve to remove as much water as possible.
Place the oats, cornmeal, almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sugar (if using) in a food processor and blitz until the oats are fine. Add the squeezed courgette, egg and milk and blend until well combined.
Heat about 2 teaspoons of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Tilt and swirl the pan until it’s evenly coated with oil. Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into the pan to form each pancake (I usually cook 2 or 3 at a time, but it depends on the size of your pan). Cook the pancakes until bubbles form and burst on top, and the underside is golden. Flip over each pancake using a spatula and cook until golden on the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding more oil to the pan as needed.