buckwheat-okara pancakes

Years ago, when I first started trying to figure out what to do with okara, pancakes were one of my first projects. I veganized the pancake recipe from The Book of Tofu, with good results. However, recently I was intrigued to learn that buckwheat is actually not a grain but a seed, and apparently contains all eight essential amino acids (a rarity in the plant world). The nutritional properties of buckwheat, along with its distinctive flavor, are enough to convince me to incorporate it more into my cooking. That, and I had some applesauce to use up. Hence, buckwheat pancakes ... with applesauce.

This recipe will yield about 15 pancakes.



Heat a nonstick pan or lightly oiled griddle on medium heat.

In a bowl, combine
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. cardamom
and stir until thoroughly mixed.

In a second bowl, combine
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup okara
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tablespoons canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup water
and whisk thoroughly until all ingredients are incorporated. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. Some lumps are OK.

If desired, add
3/4 cup blueberries
and fold into the batter.

To see if the pan or griddle is hot enough, flick some water droplets on it. If it sizzles, the pan or griddle is ready to go. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter on the surface for each pancake. The batter will start to bubble. When the bubbling starts to subside, that's about when the pancake should be flipped.



After flipping your pancake, you should cook it on the second side for about half as long as you cooked the first side.

Continue to cook your pancakes in this manner until you are out of batter! I stacked these up and ate them with Earth Balance and maple syrup.

Verdict: Fifteen pancakes were way too many for the two members of this household, so the next time I make these I'll be halving the recipe. However, if I halve it, I'll only be getting rid of a paltry 2 Tablespoons of okara. In that case, I might rework this recipe so that the ratio of okara to the rest of the batter is less timid.