
After an amazing couple of days learning all about pomegranates and touring some local orchards with a bunch of fantastic food bloggers who traveled to Fresno from around the country for the opportunity to learn about one of my favorite local fruits, I have decided to incorporate pomegranate arils and juice into as many meals and snacks as possible this fall. I am so lucky to be once again living in one of the few places in the country where pomegranate trees grow in backyards, and this tour was just the thing to help re-introduce me to one of my favorite fruits from my childhood.
I’ll write in more detail about the tour soon, but for now I’ll just tell you how I have been enjoying the fresh pomegranate arils (seeds) that were shaken from the fruit I picked yesterday. Mostly I have been eating them straight out of a bowl with a spoon – a delicious, healthy, and addictive snack. Then I discovered (thanks to Paula of Bell’Alimento) the wondrous combination of a spoonful of Nutella topped with fresh pomegranate arils! Last night I sprinkled them all over a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream – again, delicious. And finally, this morning, I sprinkled them all over these beautiful Light and Fluffy Lemon Pancakes. As far as I can tell, pomegranate makes just about everything taste better.
And whether you have access to fresh pomegranate arils or not, I suggest you make these pancakes. This morning was the first time I made them, but I think they will start making a regular appearance on my weekend breakfast plate! They are adapted from Mark Bittman’s Light and Fluffy Pancakes in the book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I enjoyed them with nothing but butter, a light dusting of powdered sugar, and a handful of pomegranate arils. Don’t forget the bacon!
Light and Fluffy Lemon Pancakes
adapted from How To Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, separated
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons honey (or 1 tablespoon sugar)*
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, buttermilk, honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest; set that aside, too. In yet another bowl, whisk the egg whites (by hand or using an electric mixer) until medium to stiff peaks form. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until well combined then very gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter until mostly incorporated but some fluffs of egg white are still visible.
Heat a griddle or pan to medium. Just before pouring the batter, brush the griddle with melted butter. Drop batter into pancakes of the size you prefer (I like mine 3 -4 inches across) and cook until the edges of the pancakes start to look dry. Carefully flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. Serve with butter and powdered sugar and/or syrup of your choice.
*It’s important that your liquid ingredients are at room temperature before whisking in the honey or it will seize and not incorporate. You may substitute one tablespoon sugar for the honey if you don’t want to worry about using room temperature ingredients, but I thought the honey was a nice touch.
Related Recipes:
- Blueberry Orange Cornmeal Pancakes
- Whole Grain Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes
- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
Around the Web:
- Martha’s Best Buttermilk Pancakes from Kitchen Confidante
- Simple Aebleskivers from La Fuji Mama
- Greek Yogurt Pancakes from Peanut Butter Fingers
- Buttermilk Apple Pancakes from Mango & Tomato
- Egg Nog French Toast from Bell’Alimento
- Custardy French Toast (Pain Perdu) from Deep South Dish
- Pumpkin Spiced Crepes with Pumpkin Butter from Skinny Taste






I love eating pomegranate seeds but I have yet to try sprinkling them on other things. I’m sure it would be delicious on anything. Those pancakes also look wonderful and the pom seeds add such a nice splash of color.
1:05 pm Oct 17th, 2010Pomegranate is so flavorful and in Greece we eat it very often in salads and even on its own—seeds sprinkled with a little bit of sugar and eaten with a spoon.
2:51 pm Oct 17th, 2010On pancakes? Sounds brilliant. I will try it!
Magda
How exciting you got to tour the plant! I have some POM juice the I have been loving at home, but I’ve never had the arils. These pancakes sound divine and I should surely try them!
3:00 pm Oct 17th, 2010Thanks for the link! Love buttermilk in pancakes, chicken and cakes. Also am a huge fan of mascarpone pancakes.
3:50 pm Oct 17th, 2010Those pancakes look so pretty with the splash of red. The lemon flavor sounds wonderful.
3:54 pm Oct 17th, 2010I can hardly wait to here about the trip to POM, how fun. Lemony pancakes, sounds delightful.
5:16 pm Oct 17th, 2010~Chef Louise
I love the deep red of pomegranate seeds, I’m sure they would have been delicious in my oatmeal coconut cookies yesterday!
8:28 pm Oct 17th, 2010I love pomegranate arils! I am going to have to try the arils with nutella soon!
10:40 pm Oct 17th, 2010I love anything with lemon so I am giving these a try! Thanks for sharing!!
7:26 am Oct 18th, 2010I love your pancake theme as I have a unit I do with my grade 7′s and this recipe is also going in the bin.

7:38 am Oct 18th, 2010valerie
Nicole those look amazing! Love the lemon & pom combination! I might have to make these for dinner because I don’t think I can wait for breakfast! LOVED meeting you this weekend. Can’t wait to do it again! Mwah!
10:06 am Oct 18th, 2010Those little “rubies” look lovely on pancakes! I’ve used the juice a few times, but really want to try to incorporate some arils into a few recipes too. Thanks for the linky love! Hope you have a wonderful week.
10:22 am Oct 18th, 2010I look forward to your POM tour post! I’ve never seen pomegranates in the wild and I bet the arils are even more delicious fresh from the tree.
6:12 pm Oct 18th, 2010Have never had a lemony pancake. Sounds wonderful! (also really like the Around the Web feature at the end of the post…)
7:13 pm Oct 18th, 2010It was great to meet you this weekend! Thanks for the link – I adore buttermilk pancakes, but sadly, didn’t get to have my usual Sunday fix — I ran out of buttermilk and I won’t have them any other way. Can’t wait to try this recipe, I can just imagine how wonderfully lemony they are
11:18 pm Oct 18th, 2010You are so creative with lemon! I don’t think I’ve ever thought of lemon pancakes! Sounds good too.
10:11 am Oct 19th, 2010The pomegranate seeds look like gems! What a beautifully delicious photo!
8:19 pm Oct 21st, 2010can’t wait to try this. Glad I found your blog I am from the central valley too. Thanks for sharing!
10:57 pm Oct 21st, 2010Just made these pancakes and they are phenomenal!! I have the feeling that they will be a Sunday morning brunch staple.
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9:37 am Oct 29th, 2010Hi! I found your blog from a link on Bloom’s blog. I am so very excited to find out that you live in Fresno! It isn’t very often that I find a blogger that is in my “own backyard”! I live in Exeter. I am loving your blog and recipies. My toddler loves eating pomegranate seeds. I can’t wait to use some of your ideas to incorporate them in our food!
11:48 am Nov 3rd, 2010[...] Light and Fluffy Lemon Pancakes (Pinch My Salt) — Light fluffy pancakes with a hint of lemon, dusted with powdered sugar and sprinkling of pomegranate arils. These look so refreshing and pretty. Perfect for spring! [...]
3:37 pm Feb 18th, 2011[...] Pinch My Salt » Breakfast/Brunch This entry was posted in BreakFast/Brunch Recipes and tagged Breakfast, Brunch, Cooking, [...]
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