Yield:16-18 silver dollar pancakes

Fresh blackberries at my favorite outdoor market and fresh sage flourishing in our garden were the inspiration for this deliciously different take on fruit-topped pancakes.

I love the flavor of sage in cornbread dressing eaten alongside cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. So, when I was trying to think of an herb to infuse the blackberries with another layer of flavor, sage sounded like the way to go, as did pancakes with cornmeal. And they were!

I used both pineapple sage and regular sage, but the flavor of the former is so mild, that it’s not necessary. Saki added still another complementary layer of flavor and gave the sauce a nice texture when thickened with a little cornstarch.

Because the flavor of sage is fairly pronounced, I used half of what I had snipped in the sauce and half in the pancakes themselves, which created a nice harmony between the two.

Enjoy!

Make the sauce first and allow it to simmer while making pancakes:

Vegan Blackberry-Saki-Sage Sauce

approximately 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup saki
16 sage leaves, rinsed, dried, and chiffonade (stack leaves, roll tightly, and cut extremely thinly; then cut cross-sections of rolls in half again to avoid stringy pieces of sage); reserve half for pancakes
optional: 8 pineapple sage leaves, rinsed, dried and chiffonade (prepared as above)
tiny pinch of coarse sea or kosher salt
2 teaspoon cornstarch whisked together with 2 teaspoons water

Gently mix all ingredients except cornstarch and water together in a medium saucepan, bring to a simmer over medium-high, and simmer gently while you make the pancakes. A couple of minutes before serving, stir in cornstarch and water slurry and allow to thicken.

Vegan Whole Wheat-Cornmeal Silver Dollar Pancakes

½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup cornmeal mix or self-rising cornmeal
6 tablespoons natural or brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup unsweetened soymilk (plain or vanilla, lite or regular, would also be good
reserved sage leaf chiffonade
Vegan butter and/or vegetable oil for frying
Vegan Blackberry-Saki-Sage Sauce
Sprigs of fresh sage or pineapple sage

Preheat oven to warm. In a medium mixing bowl, place first 6 dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in soymilk. Whisk together until well combined. Stir in sage leaf chiffonade. In a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the vegan butter, oil or a combination. (I like a combination: the oil reduces chances of burning while the butter contributes flavor.) Using a cookie scoop, make pancakes, six at a time. Cook a minute or so on the first side until lots of bubbles appear and the edges appear set. Gently flip and cook another couple of minutes on the reverse. Add butter and/or oil to keep skillet greased as needed. If pancakes are cooking too quickly, lower heat to medium, especially for second side. When cooked through, remove pancakes to plates or a serving platter, keep warm, and repeat with remaining butter or oil and pancake batter. Serve with Vegan Blackberry-Saki-Sage Sauce spooned over the top and a sprig of fresh sage or pineapple sage.