Strawberry lemon cornmeal pancakes

If you don’t have maple sugar, just take out 3 tablespoons of orange juice or almond milk and replace with maple syrup.

1 cup almond milk, I used home made (unsweetened) and strained out the pulp

3 tablespoons ground golden flax seeds

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

½ cup gluten free oat flour

¼ cup quinoa flour

¼ cup brown rice flour

¼ cup corn meal

¾ teaspoon baking powder, make sure yours is gluten free

1 cup almond meal

2 eggs, separated

½ cup fresh orange juice

3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the skillet

3 tablespoons maple sugar

Zest of one lemon, I used a Meyer lemon

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Pinch sea salt

Sliced fresh strawberries and more for serving

To serve;

Greek yogurt

Strawberry sauce, recipe below

Combine almond milk, flax and lemon juice in a small bowl, whisk and set aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a large bowl sift oat flour, quinoa flour, brown rice flour, corn meal and baking powder. Add in any larger bits of corn meal that don’t get through the sifter into the bowl. Stir in almond meal and set aside.

Whisk egg whites until they form soft peaks and set aside. Whisk egg yolks and combine with orange juice, oil, maple sugar, lemon zest, vanilla and salt. Stir well, add the almond milk mixture and whisk again.

Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until just combined. Fold in egg whites, this is a challenge as the mixture is quite runny, but do your best and stop stirring once everything is combined.

Warm a little olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Pour in ¼ cup batter for each pancake, I found I could cook 3 at a time. Sprinkle sliced strawberries over the top of each pancake and cook until the surface is covered in bubbles. Carefully flip them over and cook for another couple of minutes. Repeat with remaining batter and serve warm. You can keep the pancakes in a low oven until you’re ready to serve or a bowl covered with a towel.

Makes 20 3 inch pancakes.

Quick Strawberry Sauce

This sauce keeps well for about a week and is a great way to prolong the life of a delicate, local strawberry. It will thicken when cold.

2 cups strawberries, hulled

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch sea salt

Cut strawberries into quarters and place in a small pot. Add maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Bring to boil over high heat, stir, lower heat, cover pot and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Makes about 1 cup.