Today is the first day of the much awaited Vegan Mofo, are you excited? I am. I didn’t realize it until today but I guess there are some new guidelines this year. Apparently there are daily prompts/suggestions for what to blog about there is one for each day of the month, a lot of people seem to like this idea - it requires less thinking and planning I suppose, but I hate it. There is nothing more boring to me then doing the same thing everyone else is doing. For me part of the fun of Vegan Mofo is to see all the different things people are coming up with. Why do I want to look at twenty posts all talking about the same thing? I also don’t like being limited. I couldn’t be less interested in ‘following’ what everyone else is doing and that goes for every aspect of my life. So, needless to say I’m not following these prompts, I’m doing my own thing, if that means I’m excluded from Vegan Mofo then so be it, but I really want to continue on with my original idea.
The theme I decided on is Veganized Dishes From Countries To Which I’ve Traveled. I do so much traveling and food is a big part of traveling, when away I always tell myself that I’ll experiment at home with the foods of my travels but I rarely do. I figured this year’s Mofo would give me the perfect opportunity and excuse to do just that. I also thought it might be nice to provide you with some new recipes, considering I haven’t been very active lately. Every year I cook other people’s recipes for Mofo, but this year is the first time I’ll be blogging original recipes. Though, just a point of warning, I’m going to be veganizing ‘traditional’ recipes, and so I’m going for authenticity in my creations, not health. Most likely the recipes will not be gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, salt-free or any other kind of healthy. They will not be unhealthy on purpose, but a lot of them are going to be based off of ‘meat and potatoes’ recipes and so I am envisioning a lot of seitan usage in the coming month. So, anyway, I hope you enjoy it!
Coincidently today’s recipe actually goes along with the prompt for September 1st, which is ‘Breakfast” I had planned to start Mofo out simple with a quick and easy recipe, Buttermilk Pancakes!
Now despite my best efforts I can’t find a reliable source on the internet claiming that Buttermilk Pancakes are an original Irish creation. It seems every English speaking country has their own version of this classic breakfast. Though I’ve flipped through a couple of Irish Cook books and they all have a variation on Buttermilk Pancakes. Considering that Buttermilk is quite common, readily available, and widely used in Irish baking it is not unreasonable to think that Buttermilk Pancakes might have originated in Ireland or at least somewhere in the United Kingdom before migrating.
Perhaps it’s a typically Irish practice to serve pancakes drizzled in Honey, but I’m not sure. I myself have always served pancakes - any kind - with maple syrup, so I thought dousing them in honey was a bit weird myself but I decided to give it a try, and really enjoyed it. The honey really melted into these soft fluffy cakes, and it was a really nice compliment to the savory butter. It had a lighter, more mellow sweetness then serving the cakes with maple syrup.
To mimic the buttermilk I used non-dairy milk with a large quantity of apple cider vinegar, but don’t worry you can’t taste the vinegar. Due to the sugar, these pancakes are a little sweeter then what you might be used to, but they are not so sweet as to be unpleasant. They are very simple and easy to make, with few ingredients, and due to their simplicity you can whip up a good batch virtually any day of the week. Enjoy with a nice steaming mug of Irish Breakfast Tea!
Irish Buttermilk Pancakes
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
1 ½ tsp Baking Soda
4 Tbsp Sugar
Ener-G Egg Replacer or Flax Egg to = 1 Egg
1 ½ Cups Non-dairy Milk (Soy or Almond recommended)
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
Non-Dairy Butter, and Bee-Free Honey to Serve
- Heat greased skillet over medium heat.
- Combine Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar in a measuring Cup and let stand for five minutes.
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Make Well in center and add Ener-G Egg or Flax Egg, along with Milk/Vinegar Mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Don’t over mix.
- Using a 1/4 Cup measuring cup scoop the pancake batter onto the hot greased skillet, spreading batter into a circle. Let cook until bubbles form on top, then gently flip the pancake over.
- Repeat until all batter is used and pancakes are cooked.
- Serve drenched in melted vegan butter with a hearty drizzle of Bee-Free Honey over top.
I loved this recipe! I wouldn't have thought to have used bee-free honey on pancakes but they turned out perfect w/ it on them. I wish there had been more. ha They were so soft & probably 1 of my favorite pancakes. I might just have to use the honey instead of syrup from now on.
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