Redbud Flower Pancakes

“The soil under the grass is dreaming of a young forest, 

and under the pavement the soil is dreaming of grass.”- Wendell Berry

Celebrate Spring and her glorious colors with these delectable pancakes! 

Redbud flowers were eaten by the Native Americans; the Redbud, Cercis canadensis, is a native tree that grows wild (and is easy to cultivate if you don't already have them in your yard). It's heart-shaped leaves have graced this land for a long time. It's flowers are a welcome outburst of color when Spring arrives. Redbud flowers have the same antioxidants and flavonoids that red wine has - super nutritious!
You can eat them raw or cooked; try them in salads too.



These are the organic ingredients I used for the pancakes:
1 1/2 c. whole grain pancake mix
1 c. hemp milk
4 eggs (luckily had fresh, local, organic ones from friends :)
as many Redbud flowers as you want/can harvest. I went heavy because I recently trimmed a landscape client's tree and didn't want to waste all these wonderful flowers, but if you are harvesting from living branches, you may not get as many; you don't want to strip all of them from the tree(s).

If you want, you could throw some violet flowers in there too.

I like to use Coconut oil to cook my pancakes in.

For toppings I love to use ground flaxseed and maple syrup. Of course there are many other options like jams, fresh fruit, honey,...

 
The seed pods that the flowers form into are also edible; the Redbud is in the legume family and its seeds look like a pea pod. Pick them fresh (when they're tender) and use them like you would snow peas, or pickle them.

This book includes a recipe in it for Redbud Wine: