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    Home » Wild Herbs and Spices

    Cattail Pollen Pancakes with Conifer Syrup and Berries

    Published: Mar 8, 2021 Modified: Feb 8, 2024 Author: Alan Bergo

    Jump to Recipe

    When asking the question "what can you make with pine or cattail pollen?" far and away, the first thing that will come to mind for the majority of people familiar with the product is pancakes. The reason being pancakes made with pollen are fantastic. They take on an almost fudgy taste from the pollen.

    Cattail pollen pancakes with mugolio pine cone syrup and wild blueberries on a plate.

    Unfortunately, most of the recipes available are heavier on the romance than thoughtful preparation. And I get it, kinda.

    It's novel to cook with the pollen of plants-people have been doing it for a long time, but putting 2 tablespoons of pollen into 2 cups of flour doesn't mean it's going to have any difference on how the finished products taste. 

    Cooking cattail pollen pancakes in a cast iron pan.
    Pollen will mostly add a subtle yellow hue to baked goods, you will notice it's texture more than flavor.

    Pollen=more texture than flavor 

    Here's the skinny. Pollen is a mild tasting product, with the exception of a couple commercial varieties of pine pollen (yes it's harvested commercially) that have a strong, bitter pine flavor. All of the pine pollen I've tasted is very mild.

    Cattail pollen, by comparison, has a sort of gentle floral quality to it, a bit like bready flowers, if that makes any sense. It's a delicate taste, and pollen, generally speaking, is more of a textural thing than a seasoning.

    Close up image of cooking cattail pollen pancakes.

    Pollen has a soft, granular texture you'll notice. It's pleasant-not sandy or offensive. In the pancakes, a hint of that texture is what you will notice far more than any sort of flowery, pollen flavor.

    For a true flavor of pollen, you'll want to use it in very simple things where large amounts of it are used, as in traditional Khirret candy. For a recipe that uses a small amount for a great flavor, take a look at my pasta with pollen butter sauce for some inspiration. 

    A jar of foraged cattail pollen.

    To have a strong pollen flavor in a batch of pancakes, quickbread, pasta, or another place people might use it, you would need to use large amounts of it.

    With pollen being a very labor intensive thing to collect, using, say, a cup of it in pancake batter makes for a very expensive pancake.

    Mugolio/Pine Cone Syrup 

    Mugolio syrup made from pine cones and spruce tips recipe
    Finished pine cone mugolio, and pine and spruce mugolios in the works. After you try this on your pancakes, you may never use maple again.

    The other ingredient that you'll taste much more than a couple spoonfuls of pollen in a pancake, is mugolio / pine cone syrup. If you haven't made mugolio yet, stop thinking about cooking with pollen right now, go grab some young green pine cones and put up a batch, then go get some pollen. I guarantee you it's worth the amount of effort to make. 

    Pine pollen pancakes with mugolio pine cone syrup and wild blueberries
    Pine pollen pancakes with mugolio pine cone syrup and wild blueberries
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    5 from 1 vote

    Cattail Pollen Pancakes with Conifer Syrup and Berries

    Pancakes made with 25% pollen flour will actually have a hint of pollen texture. This makes small pancakes, double the recipe if you like larger pancakes.
    Prep Time5 minutes mins
    Cook Time20 minutes mins
    Total Time25 minutes mins
    Course: Breakfast, Brunch
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Pancakes, Pine cone syrup, Pine Pollen
    Servings: 4 Servings
    Calories: 208kcal
    Author: Alan Bergo

    Equipment

    • 1 3 quart mixing bowl

    Ingredients

    Dry ingredients

    • ¾ cup all purpose flour
    • ¼ cup pine or cattail pollen sifted
    • 2 teaspoons baking powder

    Wet ingredients

    • 1 large egg
    • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
    • ¾ cup buttermilk
    • 1 tablespoon mild honey
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • A few scrapes of fresh lemon zest

    Serving

    • Pine cone mugolio or spruce tip syrup as needed
    • Fresh or frozen wild blueberries or regular blueberries
    • Unsalted butter at room temperature, or whipped cream

    Instructions

    • Whisk the wet ingredients.
    • In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients, then fold into the wet.
    • If the mixture looks thick, add a splash of water.
    • Cook two tablespoons of the batter at a time to make small silver dollar sized pancakes.
    • Serve each person 3 pancakes each with warm wild blueberries, soft butter and the pine cone syrup at the table. Sometimes we serve them with a sprinkle of black walnuts.

    Notes

    Variations 

    These are perfect the way they are, but you can add things to them too. Small wild blueberries are good, but the best is dropping a few lightly toasted pine nuts on each pancake as they cook. It makes for a really great breakfast. 

    Nutrition

    Serving: 4oz | Calories: 208kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 53mg | Sodium: 432mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 221IU | Vitamin C: 0.03mg | Calcium: 180mg | Iron: 2mg

    More 

    Foraging and Cooking with Pine Pollen

    « Smoked Oxtails Stew with Tomato and Mushrooms
    Pollen Bread »

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    Chef Alan Bergo

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