This post is sponsored by Doves Farm Organic Flour

How can anyone dislike a holiday that is celebrated with the eating of pancakes? I for one can absolutely get behind this day. Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, the day goes by different names depending on where in the world you live but the one thing that stays the same is we all celebrate the day by eating fatty foods before the fasting of lent begins. Generally this means we enjoy sweeter treats, that might be King Cake, Semla, Malasadas or even…omelettes. Okay I’ll admit that last one doesn’t quite follow the pattern. Here in the UK we generally stick to the classic pancakes. Traditionally this would be in the form of crepes, thin French style pancakes, and quite often the filling would be incredibly simple and, at its most classic, the British version is served with lemon juice and sugar. Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with this classic dish, I love it, it’s nostalgic, it’s what I grew up with. But, when I am making the pancakes myself, I quite often turn to a more American style pancake, thick and fluffy, and topped with all manner of delicious things. For this year’s pancakes I stuck with my favourite fluffy pancakes but I made them with mashed bananas and Khorasan flour giving them a wonderful banana bread flavour and served them with one of my favourite things, a passion fruit spiked butterscotch sauce, a fabulous twist on the classic stack of pancakes. 

What is Khorasan Flour

These pancakes use Doves Farm Organic Stoneground KAMUT® Khorasan Wholemeal Flour to give a boost of flavour. Khorasan (KAMUT® is the registered brand name of the flour) is an ancient grain that is thought to be a distant relative of Durum Wheat (which is maybe why it’s very well suited to making pasta). The flavour is rich and creamy, almost buttery. Like spelt it can produce soft and tender bakes but when used as the sole flour can also make recipes a little crumbly. Khorasan is said to have been found in the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh, giving it the nickname king tut’s grain, it was also said to have been carried on the ark by Noah, giving it a second nickname of the prophets wheat. Whilst these are likely nothing more than fancy storytelling I love a product with a good backstory and have you ever heard of another flour having nicknames? I certainly haven't. Whilst these stories link the flour to having a middle eastern origin these days the flour is only grown in US and Western Canada, cultivated since the 1970’s. The flour is also higher in protein, fibre and many minerals compared to modern wheat.

How to Bake with Khorasan 

I find that Khorasan is similar in application to Spelt, you can use a relatively high proportion of the flour without any negative issues. Using Khorasan for 50% of the flour called for in a given recipe works well without noticeable problems. Used in bread recipes it can make for tender but more dense loaves. Like with some of the other ancient grains I have been using recently, Khorasan is a little more absorbent than modern wheat flour so you may need to up the moisture content a little. When using a new grain for the first time it can be advisable to substitute the wheat flour with smaller percentages of the ancient grain, testing how it behaves in your recipe. I always suggest using 20% of the overall flour called for in a recipe as a good starting point. 

Doves Farm Organic Stoneground KAMUT® Khorasan Wholemeal Flour is available from Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose & Partners, and direct from Doves Farm

Khorasan Banana Pancakes with Passion Fruit Butterscotch Sauce
Makes 8-10 pancakes (serves 4)

Banana Pancakes
150g Doves Farm Organic Stoneground KAMUT® Khorasan Wholemeal Flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
125g bananas, (weighed without the peel)
2 large eggs
40g caster sugar
25g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
150ml whole milk

Passion Fruit Butterscotch Sauce
165g light brown sugar
165g unsalted butter
Pinch of salt
75ml double cream
50g passion fruit pulp

To make the butterscotch sauce, place the sugar and butter into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until the butter has melted and the two ingredients have combined into a caramel like sauce. Once bubbling cook for a couple minutes more before adding the salt and cream and cooking for a further 2-3 minutes until slightly thickened. Take of the heat and stir in the passion fruit pulp. Set aside to cool slightly before using. If you like, you can also add sliced banana to the sauce when adding the cream.

To make the pancake batter place the Doves Farm Wholemeal Khorasan Flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl and whisk together to combine. 

In a separate bowl mash the bananas with a fork until only small lumps remain. Add the eggs, sugar and butter and mix together until smooth. Add the milk and mix until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together briefly just until smooth and combined. 

To cook place a non-stick pan over a low/medium heat. Using piece of kitchen roll lightly coat the pan with a little oil. Add a spoonful of dough to the pan and spread into a thin disc. Cook until bubbles that hold their shape when they pop form around the edges of the pancake, flip and cook for about 30 seconds more. After the first pancake you shouldn’t need to grease the pan again. 

Serve warm with a large spoonful of the caramel