Whole grain HEALTHY Lemon Cardamom Pancakes are simple but very special breakfast. These pancakes are light and fluffy, loaded with many nutrients and oh so delicious. Packed with zesty lemon flavor and topped with delightfully tangy cream cheese filling, these pancakes are like having cheesecake for breakfast! All natural and refined sugar-free.
I have a confession to make. I'm a HUGE pancake fan. I could eat pancakes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Fluffy, light textured, mildly sweet, topped with cream and fresh fruits. What's there not to love? Pancakes are like ultimate weekend breakfast and a favorite among my family beside of course Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Roll-Ups and these French Toast Vanilla Muffins.
But I wasn't always so keen to make pancakes. I just wasn't good at making them. I had an awful old pancake pan, and my batter wasn't perfect. Pancakes never turned out the way I wanted to be. They were tasty and all... but never in perfect shape, because of the batter. And that drove me mad. Well, my hubby still devoured the scraps while I was always nagging. I had so many failures that I almost give up. ALMOST! But the desire to have pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning was bigger than all my disappointments. So I decided to work on perfecting that pancake batter. I also got myself a new pancake pan. One weekend I whipped out perfect pancakes. Suddenly everything changed. Our Saturday mornings started to be happier and better.
Since lemons are now in season, and we welcomed Spring, I decided to share this delicious, zesty Lemon Cardamom Pancakes with you.
To make these pancakes Lemon Cardamom Pancakes I used ALL NATURAL, healthy and nutritious ingredients - no store-bought pancake mix, no nutrient deprived all-purpose flour, no refined sweeteners. Just beautiful REAL FOOD!
I made these pancakes using whole grain flour - Spelt flour (Dinkel wheat) that is loaded with dietary fibers. You can use any whole grain flour you prefer. To sweeten pancakes I used a bit of pure maple syrup. Pancakes are usually served with fresh fruits, so there's no need to overdo with added sugars in the batter.
What makes this pancakes so special is the lemon. There's no better way to celebrate Spring than with citrus infused sweet treats, right?! Fragrant, zesty and so gorgeous, lemon gave pancakes Spring-like feeling and so much freshness. I used lemon juice - freshly squeezed and organic lemon zest - freshly grated. Strong lemon flavor paired so nicely with mildly sweet and nutty pancakes. It upgraded the taste to beyond delicious.
These pancakes are light, fluffy and loaded with amazing fresh lemon flavor. To add some extra zing, I added a bit of exotic cardamom too. Cardamom is a quite unique spice. It tastes like the mix of mint, lemon, and ginger with a hint of cinnamon. Cardamom enhanced beautiful lemony taste and greatly improved the overall pancake flavor. It added some health benefits too.
You can top these Lemon Cardamom Pancakes with maple syrup and some fresh fruits. OR you can slather them with a delightfully tangy cream cheese filling... like I did. Cream cheese filling wonderfully complemented the pancakes and added an incredibly creamy, rich texture.
Lemon Cardamom Pancakes may seem complicated but quite the opposite. These delicate lemony pancakes are super easy to make and quite simple. Decadent breakfast done in no time. Or quick and easy brunch. But these deliciously palatable pancakes are good for basically any occasion. Trust me, your guest will be surprised when you present them these pancakes. Lemon Cardamom Pancakes will definitely get the compliments streaming in.
You, your family and your guests will love them!
Lemon Cardamom Pancakes are:
- Very filling and healthy meal – loaded with fibers, healthy fats, and proteins.
- All natural and refined sugar-free.
- Ridiculously easy to make.
- Full of refreshing lemon flavor and sooo delicious.
- Perfect weekend breakfast or quick brunch.
- 100% guilt-free and waistline-friendly.
Seriously I can't wait until the weekend to make them again. Do yourself a favor and make these soon. Weekends were made for pancakes! Enjoy!
Lemon Cardamom Pancakes
Ingredients
For pancakes (makes 6):
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup whole grain flour
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cardamon powder
- ¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Coconut oil or cooking spray for coating the pan
For cream cheese filling:
- 1 cup cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- A pinch of lemon zest
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add milk, maple syrup, lemon zest and lemon juice. Mix until well combined. Add flour, baking soda, cardamom and salt. Mix to combine, then set aside.
- Heat a griddle or pancake pan over medium heat. Coat with cooking spray or coconut oil. For each pancake, drop ¼ cup of batter into the pan. Cook 1-2 minutes, until bubbles appear on the surface of pancakes. Flip carefully and cook another 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Make sure to coat the pan before every pancake or batch of pancakes to prevent sticking.
- Make cream cheese filling: Place all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well until smooth.
- Place one pancake, browned-sides down, on a plate. Spread cream cheese filling over the pancake. Place another pancake, browned-sides down, on top of the first pancake. Repeat with the rest of pancakes and spread.
- Serve immediately with fresh fruits. Drizzle with maple syrup if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
These are my recommendation for this recipe:
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Lynda says
I love cardamom so I really wanted to make these pancakes. They will be added to are recipes they are great and easy to make.
Thank you,
Natalie
Nicoletta @sugarlovespices says
Spelt flour is my favorite and lemon/cardamom is such a great combination of flavors! I could eat this kind of pancakes for breakfast every day! They look perfect!
Claire | The Simple, Sweet Life says
I love the combo you have going on here with tangy cream cheese, tart lemons and sweet maple syrup! Sounds absolutely delicious!
Amanda Mason says
Oh my goodness these look amazing and sound amazing!! That lemon zest sold me...but then you started talking about all natural ingredients and then I saw almond milk! YUM! These sound like the perfect breakfast!! I'm definately trying these soon!
Kushi says
This stack of pancakes looks so beautiful and the combination is so delicious. My husband loves cardamom flavor and I am making this for him soon!
Lynette says
These pancakes looks so fluffy! I love the idea of a zesty lemon flavor with the cream cheese to really pack a lot of flavor!
Anne Murphy says
I just love cardamom! We really don't use it enough, in the US in general... And the lemon sounds so good with it!
Savita says
One of my fav combination really - cardamom and lemon! Delicious. Cardamom is such every-day addition to every breakfast or sweet in our home that I can taste these pancakes. Yumm!
Veena Azmanov says
Now there is an interesting flavor I have never tired together. I do use a lot of cardamom in our food but never had it a pancake. Same with lemon - never had it in a pancake. I must try this sometime soon. So intrigued.
lauren says
I am obsessed with all thing lemon lately! These sounds so wonderful and perfect for spring. I haven't cooked with cardamom yet, but this sounds like a perfect way to start the day!
Kiki Johnson says
Lemon and Cardamom is a winning combination! I love that you use the zest to incorporate the lemon flavour! It works so much better than juice! I also really like that they are whole wheat! A keeper
for sure!
Patti @ Patty Cake's Pantry says
I can empathize with your early pancake challenges. I used to be so impatient that I would scrape the batter off of the top of the pancake to see if it was cooked half way yet. LOL. Like you, I've finally mastered the pancake. These pancakes look so good, and I agree that the taste of lemon goes with spring. I've never used cardamom before, so I'm a bit worried, but I really appreciate your detailed description of the flavor. These are amazing.
Ashley - Forking Up says
I always said I was not a pancake fan, but I guess I'm not a BORING pancake fan--because these look pretty dang delicious!
Angela Cardamone @marathonsandmotivation.com says
Yum! This is such a great combo of flavors! I love using cardamom in recipes!!!
Deborah @ Confessions of mother runner says
Wow those are just photographed beautifully! I just want to jump right in with my fork :)
Sarah says
These scream spring! I just made some dairy free yogurt cheese that would be perfect in these in place of cream cheese.
Rachel Frutkin says
That filling sounds amazing. I bet these pancakes are delicious!
Summer Price says
I love just about every lemon anything. Adding the zest especially just gives things like this the extra kick it needs. These look delicious!
Janelle @ Run With No Regrets says
I love pancakes but I've never had any like these! I'd love to try them, especially since I love lemon!
lola says
I seem to have most of the ingredients at home thankfully!!! I have never put lemons in pancakes but would love to try this recipe
Abbey Sharp says
Oooh really into the cardamon in these pancakes. This stack looks super good