By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(229)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Ever since I read Kim Boyce’s recipe for quinoa and beet pancakes, a recipe that inspired her wonderful book “Good to the Grain,” I’ve wanted to add puréed beets to a pancake batter. I finally got around to it. I used two-thirds whole wheat flour and one-third all-purpose flour in this very pink batter. Ms. Boyce uses a mixture of quinoa flour and all-purpose, which shows off the bright color of the beets to a better effect. I think millet flour would be a good choice too. It’s important to purée the roasted beets until they’re really smooth; I found using a powerful hand blender was more effective for this than my food processor.
Featured in: Beets, Raw and Cooked
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Ingredients
Yield:About 15 pancakes
- 1large or 2 medium beets (enough for ½ cup puréed roasted beets)
- 125grams (1 cup) whole wheat flour or teff flour (or a combination)
- 60grams (½ cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 10grams (2 teaspoons) baking powder
- 5grams (1 teaspoon) baking soda
- 2grams (rounded ¼ teaspoon) salt
- 1tablespoon sugar, honey, or agave syrup (optional)
- 2eggs
- 5grams (1 teaspoon) vanilla
- 1½cups buttermilk or 1 cup yogurt + ½ cup milk
- 35grams (3 tablespoons) chia seeds
- 3tablespoons sunflower, grapeseed or canola oil
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (15 servings)
103 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 2 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 13 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 193 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cut the greens away from the beets, leaving about ¼ inch of stems. Scrub the beets and place in a baking dish (or lidded ovenproof casserole). Add ½ inch water to the dish. Cover tightly. Place in the oven and roast medium beets (4 to 6 ounces) for 50 minutes, large beets (8 ounces) 60 minutes, or until very soft and easily penetrated with the tip of a knife. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the covered baking dish. Cut away the ends and slip off the skins. Purée in a food processor fitted with the steel blade until smooth. Measure out ½ cup. Freeze any extra.
Step
2
Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar (if using sugar). In a medium-size bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk or yogurt and milk, oil, vanilla, beet purée and honey or agave nectar (if using). Quickly whisk in the flour mixture and fold in the chia seeds.
Step
3
Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium-high heat and brush with butter or oil. Drop the pancakes by the scant ¼ cup onto the hot pan or griddle. Cook until bubbles break through and turn the pancakes. They will be quite moist so make sure to wait long enough so that they don’t fall apart when you turn them. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on the other side, until lightly browned. Remove to a rack. Serve with maple syrup and butter.
Tip
- Advance preparation: You can make these a day ahead and reheat, or freeze them and thaw in the microwave.
Ratings
4
out of 5
229
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Cooking Notes
My note
b am someone who is always open to cook new and and healthy recipes. I have made this pancake twice so far and both times I reached the same conclusion. I think there are definitely better ways to add beets and chia seeds to your food than this recipe. This is my personal opinion.
jasmine
To the person who said there are better ways to use beets and chia seeds: you're probably right. However, as someone who doesn't love the flavor of beets and is looking for more filling breakfast options, I loved this recipe. Easy to make, used up the beets I got in my CSA last week, tasty, and filling. I'm looking forward to see how they do reheated from the freezer.
LAinLA
Yum! Kid-approved too, even tho kid tried to put up a big stink about not eating beets...relented because I added chocolate chips :). I also made vegan by subbing a ripe banana for the eggs and alt milk vinegar for buttermilk, which seemed to work fine. Used WW flour this time and look forward to trying with millet or quinoa! With the banana, sugar and chocolate chips, I didn’t even need to add syrup.
abby
Used a banana in place of sugars
Leyla
I had an extra roasted beet and this put it to great use! My one year old ate them up. The adults enjoyed them with syrup. I used a very ripe banana as sweetener. I put the banana, beet, and eggs in a blender, so I wasn’t precise in my wet ingredients which didn’t seem to matter. It made a lot of batter so I froze some which worked out great. My batter was thick, which I assume is from the chia seeds so I cooked the pancakes on very low heat for longer than usual. Pink pancakes were fun!
Diane K.
I just came across this by accident, and happened to have some cooked beets and buttermilk on hand so gave it a try. While I wouldn't cook beets just for this, I was impressed.I just mashed the cooked beets with a potato masher to puree them, but otherwise followed the recipe verbatim.They're a colorful and tasty base for syrup and fruit on top.I would readily make these again.
Scott
This is a splendid recipe; I like beets but I'm the only one here who does, but the pancakes were a hit. Small change: I make my own Greek yogurt and so always have loads of whey left over. I subbed this for the buttermilk, using 1-1/4 cups because it's thinner.The recipe should be clarified. The ingredients list the oil last, after the chia seeds, yet it's added along with the eggs, etc. It should be listed before the chia seeds, to make it clear where it's added and not for brushing.
A bit too tart
I added about a tablespoon of lemon zest and it really helped cut through some of the earthy beet flavor that was off-putting to my daughter
abby
Used a banana in place of sugars
Kate
These are surprisingly delicious and easy to make. Great way to use up an abundance of CSA beets. The thick batter makes them easy to flip while cooking--and the beautiful color of the batter makes them fun to cook. I made a big batch and have been heating them up for a quick pre-work breakfast. They reheat well in the microwave and are filling. Because the pancakes themselves aren't very sweet, they are great with some high quality maple syrup for an overall not too sweet breakfast.
jasmine
To the person who said there are better ways to use beets and chia seeds: you're probably right. However, as someone who doesn't love the flavor of beets and is looking for more filling breakfast options, I loved this recipe. Easy to make, used up the beets I got in my CSA last week, tasty, and filling. I'm looking forward to see how they do reheated from the freezer.
LAinLA
Yum! Kid-approved too, even tho kid tried to put up a big stink about not eating beets...relented because I added chocolate chips :). I also made vegan by subbing a ripe banana for the eggs and alt milk vinegar for buttermilk, which seemed to work fine. Used WW flour this time and look forward to trying with millet or quinoa! With the banana, sugar and chocolate chips, I didn’t even need to add syrup.
My note
b am someone who is always open to cook new and and healthy recipes. I have made this pancake twice so far and both times I reached the same conclusion. I think there are definitely better ways to add beets and chia seeds to your food than this recipe. This is my personal opinion.
florida
I'd never worked with millet flour before, so tried it here as suggested in the recipe headnote (I used 1 cup millet flour and 1/2 cup unbleached). Absolutely superb! The best pancakes I've ever had. Light, fluffy, nutty, and red! Recommend making with millet flour.
Susan
Do you think I could make a big batch and freeze then reheat in the toaster?
leah
I doubled it exactly as written; and man, I was sooo pleasantly surprised! Better than regular pancakes. I made them for my one year old’s breakfast this week, and I’m so glad I doubled them so that I can have them too!
me
Delicious as written. Blueberries added to the batter marry beautifully, too.
cookingforfun
I use quinoa flour instead of the whole wheat flour to get the pink color. The batter is brighter than the pancakes are once cooked, but they are still pinkish.
Jessica D.
These were really good! Only had yellow beets, but it worked well. Loved the crunch of the chia seeds, too. Made a batch and ate it all week. Kid loved it too.
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