Trail "Pancakes" with Maple Syrup; Wheat-free, Healthy Trail Comfort Food!

Note: This is my first attempt at this yummy trail breakfast.  I have since come up with a much better recipe for real train pancakes (at least IMHO).  This post is still a great way to enjoy dried bread, whether for croutons or a base for other meals (bread pudding, anyone?).


 Good nutrition is so vital to our well being, and nothing starts the day better than a nutritious breakfast. Car campers tend to take breakfast very seriously;  drive through any established campground around breakfast time and your sense of smell will be positive assaulted by the scent of sizzling sausage and bacon and freshly brewed coffee.  Pancakes with syrup and scrambled eggs round out the feast.

On the trail, however, breakfast tends to be Boring with a capital B.  Oatmeal. Oatmeal with blueberries.  Oatmeal with cinnamon and raisins. Cream of wheat.  Blah, blah, blah. And I am sure that backpackers need waaayyy more nutritious calories than the car camping bunch.



Paleo Bread; Wheat free, made with Nut Flour

Hikers with a little more pack space and money may opt for something like freeze-dried Mountain House meals.  I find them delicious (YMMV!) but they are expensive and loaded with sodium and additives. Now that I am older and more frugal, I dry my own concoctions.

One food I am experimenting with is pancakes and syrup.  A very easy way to have pancakes on the trail is to simply dehydrate some cut up homemade pancakes, rehydrate in a zip lock with some boiling water, and add a pouch of syrup.  Yummy and almost like homemade.  But I liken it to junk food. Empty calories with no nutrition.

Since I am swearing off traditional flour-based foods, I had to find another option.  I found this bread recipe from Elana's Pantry and realized it would form the basis for some great healthier trail meals.  I followed the recipe and made the most delicious nut-flour bread ever.



Paleo Bread Crackers

The bread is a little denser than whole grain bread, and the recipe makes a small loaf.  A little small for anything but finger sandwiches, I thought this would be the perfect size for crackers.  Then I started thinking dried bread things with some kind of topping.  That led to the idea of a pancake-y trail food.  So I sliced up the bread extra thin and dried it on my fabulous Excalibur Dehydrator.  A few hours later I had nice, crunchy, yummy flour-free crackers.

The rest is easy!  Just toss some crackers in a quart-sized freezer zip lock bag and add a Tablespoon or two of real maple sugar.  When in camp, add a very scant amount of boiling water to the bag and cozy.  Within a few minutes you can enjoy something that is very similar to SAD dried pancakes, but without the guilt!

Happy Hiking!