It’s almost Super Bowl weekend and in addition to thinking about the big game, you should really be thinking about upping your brunch game. How might one do that, you ask? Make this blueberry dutch baby pancake! Right, and ruin ALL my New Year’s resolutions to go grain-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, taste-free & fun-free? Not at all. This baby (pun completely intended) is 100% diet approved yet you’d never know it by the taste and consistency. For the most part I avoid grains & dairy but am really not into substitutes that fall short on taste and texture. As Mark Hyman likes to say, “gluten-free cake & cookies are still cake & cookies.” So if I’m going to go all-in, I go all-in, and I have to admit, I was really skeptical about this recipe. I thought it was going to taste like cardboard and force me to drive 2 hours to Naples where there’s an Original Pancake House that serves Apple Dutch Babies that put you into a food coma for a week.  But I am so glad I got over my hesitation to give this a try – trust me, you won’t be sorry!

Chile has been rocking the blueberry game lately – they’re plump, juicy & really affordable right now. I’m still working through a stash I froze when they were in season here in Florida, and those work just as well as fresh. Play around with swapping other fruit or skip the fruit altogether…

A few tips to get the best results:

• Make sure to let your eggs and whatever milk you’re using come to room temperature for maximum rise in the oven. Making this on the fly? Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes, and gently heat your milk to room temperature.
• Use a non-dairy milk that has a mild flavor – I wouldn’t suggest coconut milk. My favorite non-dairy milk is Temp coconut-hemp milk, in unsweetened vanilla. It contains no xantham gum or carrageenan, has a really pure vanilla flavor and is the closest to homemade nut milk I’ve found. (Yes, you totally can make your own, will post a recipe for that soon!)
• I use blanched almond meal in this recipe. I like the texture that the skins lend to cakes and cookies, but for this pancake the blanched almond meal lets the custardy texture really shine. Trader Joes recently came out with blanched almond meal that’s affordable and delicious!
• A blender makes this quick and easy to whip up, but if you don’t have a blender you can combine the ingredients in a bowl with a wisk, just like our grandmothers did.

Before you get cooking, let’s talk BUTTER! There’s butter in this recipe, so how is it dairy-free? Butter is a dairy product, but it only contains 1% milk solids (dairy protein) so most people who are either lactose intolerant or avoiding dairy for health reasons can still tolerate and enjoy butter. And hallelujah, because butter really does make everything better! But not al butter is created equal. If possible, buy grass-fed butter which is loaded with health properties and doesn’t contain the toxins found in conventional or even organic butter.

Recipe: Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Grain-free, Paleo)

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

4 eggs

3/4 c unsweetened, non-dairy milk 

3/4 c blanched almond meal

2 TBSP tapioca flour (aka cassava flour)

1 TBSP honey or unbleached cane sugar 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBSP unsalted, grass-fed butter

1 c blueberries

Instructions:

Heat oven to 450. In a blender, combine eggs, milk, almond meal, tapioca flour, sugar, salt & vanilla extract and puree until smooth. Heat a 9” oven-proof saute pan over medium heat. Once hot, add the butter – it should quickly melt & sizzle. Swirl to coat the bottom and sides of the pan, then pour in your batter. Sprinkle blueberries over the top and immediately transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for 15 minutes until golden & slightly puffy (it will deflate almost immediately, don’t worry it wasn’t you!) Drizzle with maple syrup. 

*This recipe can easily be doubled in a jumbo-sized saute pan (think 12 inches) or tripled in a 9″x 13″ glass pyrex baking dish. If using a glass dish, put the butter in the dish and transfer to the oven until the butter is melted and the glass is hot. Remove from the oven and immediately add your batter & blueberries, and then return to the oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and slightly puffy.