OMG, You Can Make Caffeinated Pancakes!
There is nothing like waking up to the smell of fresh coffee and pancakes waiting on the kitchen counter. Like a marriage from heaven, you can now combine them both using instant coffee and coffee flour.
Instant coffee doesn’t have to be restricted to making beverages. It can be used in pastries, foods, or even to add some flavor in a salad dressing. Just throw a pinch in to your next dish for an extra taste of coffee. The latest trend that has been scraping the nation is pancake-infused with caffeine. Giving the pancakes the jumpstart that they didn’t know they needed. Make it with a delicious instant coffee!
Why would you want to try it?
Plenty of us like a little caffeine at various times of the day, and the most common time is in the morning as part of our wake-up routine (for our take on the best time of day to drink coffee, check out this post).
Pancakes are the most morning appropriate meal we can think of! By putting caffeine right into your pancakes, you get your coffee flavor and your pancake in one bite. Best combination, isn't it?
In addition, eating your pancakes can get complicated with all the toppings you add, there’s just no room for an extra object like a coffee cup. You have your maple syrup and chocolate syrup, your blueberries and your chocolate chips, your butter and confectioners sugar, there’s just no room on the table for a cup of joe as well!
How to Use Caffeine in Pancakes?
Caffeinated pancakes are made with a special type of flour that allows the pancakes to be infused with the caffeine. The flour is called... Well, coffee flour. The flour gives the pancakes that caffeine kick right there in the middle. The flour also gives the pancakes the coffee taste, combining your cup of joe with your pancake.
It was invented by Professor Daniel Perlman of Boston-area Brandeis University and it is made from par-baked green coffee beans that can be used in baked goods. You can now buy different variations of the flour on Amazon and at Trader Joe's.
Just mix the coffee flour in with the other ingredients to get that coffee taste. Coffee flour should not be used as a substitution for regular flour, but rather as an addition to it.
Why Add Coffee to Pancakes?
Why should you add caffeine? Aren't the syrup and fruit enough to keep you awake? Mostly, it's about flavor: a hint of coffee pairs beautifully with maple syrup, chocolate and berries.
Coffee flour also has an interesting backstory. It's made from green coffee beans that are only partially roasted, so they keep much more of a natural coffee compound called chlorogenic acid (CGA), much of which is lost in a normal roast.
FYI, chocolate contains a little caffeine too, so chocolate chips on top of your pancakes are always a good idea!
Coffee Flour?
As mentioned before, it was invented by a biophysicist at Brandeis University named Daniel Perlman, coffee flour is a flour that is made out of grinded down coffee beans, that are grinded to be very fine. Perlman came across coffee flour when experimenting with ways to limit the amount of CGA that is lost when coffee beans are roasted. Coffee is typically roasted at above 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and that roast drives most of the CGA out of the bean.
Perlman found that par-baking the beans at about 300 degrees Fahrenheit for around ten minutes left their CGA content almost unchanged, according to Brandeis University. He noticed that the beans would've been too weak to make a brew out of, so he came up with an alternative way to savor the beans without having to dispose of them; leading to the invention of coffee flour.
When the coffee beans are still in their natural form, the green raw beans, they are baked half-way before they are milled. Since the coffee beans are only partially roasted, they do not resist long enough to be made into coffee because they would be lacking in flavor. However, the partially baked beans are perfect to be made into wheat, giving the flour a nutty mild flavor with a hint of coffee. Coffee flour is the perfect addition to any baked dish like cakes, breads, pastries, and more.
Caffeinated Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 packet of Waka instant coffee (3 grams)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
- 1 ¼ cups milk
Instructions
- Combine all dry ingredients
- Once combined, add in eggs, butter, and milk to the center to form a smooth mixture
- Heat frying pan with a little oil over a medium heat
- Pour ¼ cup of pancake mixture onto griddle
- When bubbles form flip pancake to top side
- Make sure both sides are brown
- Enjoy!
Coffee flour is not solely restricted to making caffeinated pancakes. It can be used to make other foods as well. Make homemade pastries such as cakes, cookies, and doughnuts using coffee flour. Or try incorporating coffee flour into dishes that require flour such as pizza dough and bread.
If you try avoiding flour as much as possible but still want that coffee kick, use instant coffee instead of the coffee flour. To make caffeinated products at home without using coffee flour add 1 - 2 teaspoons of instant coffee. Cooking with instant coffee is one of the easiest ways to fill your coffee cravings all day long!
