Dates and walnuts make a wonderful combination.  Mix them into pancake batter and you have a nutritious, hearty and delicious breakfast!

I asked my son to provide me with a description of my pancakes and he said “they are life changing!”  Ok, perhaps he was being a bit dramatic.  Life changing – maybe not, but they are flavorful!

Adding the sweet, dark brown dates to pancakes provides a delightful caramel-like flavor and the walnuts are crunchy, delicious and good for you.  Check this link to learn more about the benefits of eating walnuts!

In my house, I like to mix it up and go gluten-free, meat-free….. In fact, morning breakfasts for my son are always gluten-free.  After he began suffering from terrible mid-morning headaches at school, I began recording his breakfast diet.  Low and behold, every time he ate wheat for breakfast, his headaches would occur.  Because I was already using a fabulous gluten-free baking mix, it was easy to convert him to all gluten-free breakfasts with great success!  No more headaches!

The mix I use and have been using for years  is Pamela’s Baking and Pancake Mix.   I use it for pancakes, muffins, crepes, and cookies.  The flavor and texture is fabulous.  With the exception of cookies, I think it would be difficult for most people to tell the difference between wheat flour and this mix.  The cookies I find to be a little gritty, but still delicious!  With the other baked items, there is no grittiness and they are wonderful!

On Pamela’s link you will find a list of great products along with recipes.  Below, I give my recipe for Date & Walnut  Pancakes using this mix.

Date & Walnut Pancakes

2 eggs
2 Tbls melted Coconut Oil
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Mix the first 4 ingredients well, add the baking mix and stir until combined.  Add the dates and walnuts to the batter, mix until combined.  Pour batter onto a greased griddle and cooked until done, flipping once.

Enjoy!

Tips – tossing a small amount of pancake mix over the dates while chopping them will assist in keeping the pieces separate!  Try using the buttermilk!  The batter remains thicker than it would with milk or water, but it is delicious!  Even my kids commented on the enhanced flavor of the pancakes when I began using buttermilk!