Orange Almond Buckwheat Pancakes

Ingredients

For Pancakes:

  • 1 cup sliced almonds, divided*
  • 1 whole Florida orange
  • 1 egg
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml)  Florida orange juice**
  • 1 cup 2 percent reduced fat milk
  • 2 tablespoons grapeseed or canola oil
  • 3/4 cup buckwheat flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • Non-stick cooking spray

For Orange-Almond Syrup:

  • 1 cup (240 ml)  Florida orange juice**
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/2 cup light maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup roasted almonds

*While almonds provide a healthy fat, this ingredient may be removed to reduce the recipe’s fat content by 18 grams.
**May substitute Florida Orange Juice from Concentrate

Preparation

Orange Almond Buckwheat Pancakes

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread almonds over a cookie sheet and bake 5 to 7 minutes until nicely browned. Remove and cool at room temperature.

To prepare Orange-Almond Syrup, simmer orange juice and cinnamon stick in small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/2 cup, about 15 minutes. Add maple syrup. Remove cinnamon stick, and stir in almonds.  Keep warm, and refrigerate any leftover syrup.

To prepare pancakes, use grater to grate zest of orange, while careful not to grate into the white pith. Peel remainder of skin and slice between membranes to separate each orange segment. Set aside for garnish.

egg, orange juice, milk and oil in medium bowl and mix well. In large bowl, combine both flours, baking powder and salt with reserved orange zest. Add liquid into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly while being sure to leave some lumps.  Gently mix 3/4 cup almonds into batter until ingredients are combined, but still lumpy. Do not over-beat or stir until smooth, as this will make pancakes tough.

Ladle batter onto hot, non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray and cook until some bubbles begin to appear on top, about 3 minutes. Flip pancake over and cook 2 minutes. Serve immediately with Orange-Almond Syrup, and garnish with orange segments.

Makes 12 (4-inch) pancakes