I’ve been on a pancake kick lately: on those rare and wonderful lazy weekend mornings, nothing beats a leisurely midmorning brunch. This pancake recipe makes all of my family’s brunchers happy, especially served alongside fresh hot cocoa (or mimosas, depending on age and work schedule)!
Ingredients
Dry:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached bread flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Wet:
- 1 cup soy or almond milk (or other nondairy milk)
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 medium-sized ripe banana (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup unrefined coconut oil, melted just enough to be liquid
Optional:
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Directions
Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl, and stir to mix well. Combine all wet ingredients in your blender container, and puree until smooth. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing just until everything’s well moistened.
Preheat an electric griddle to 275 degrees, or heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until a drop of water sizzles and evaporates almost immediately.
Pour 1/4 to 1/3 cup scoops of batter onto the griddle, and cook until the sides of each pancake are bubbly and the top is dry when you touch it — about 3 minutes. Flip once, and cook another 3 minutes or so. When both sides are golden brown, (pour the mimosas and) serve with warm real-maple syrup.
Production Notes
There are many excellent reasons to seek out organic soy milk, bananas, and sugar, as well as fair trade coconut oil and chocolate chips. If you’re new to vegan cooking, read about why ‘vegan sugar’ is a thing; if you’re using chocolate chips, also read those labels carefully to avoid unwanted animal junk.
The hardest thing for me to learn about pancake-making was how not to overcook or overflip them. Don’t set the heat too high, and don’t cook past the point of golden done-ness — otherwise the outsides of your pancakes will be too chewy. Let them cook until bubbly on the first side, and then FLIP THEM ONCE: seriously, this is key to a successful pancake process!
Anytime I’ve got bananas trying to turn brown, I throw ’em in the freezer — they defrost enough to peel in about 2 minutes in a bowl or pitcher of warm water. You can also peel and slice them into chunks first, and freeze in a container until ready to use. I try to avoid kitchen plastic where I can, so this method tends to use up my lidded containers too quickly! I like to just toss them in the freezer peel and all. But, you know, follow your bliss.
Kid-friendly vegan recipes score pretty high on my list of favorite things, and these qualify! If you’re cooking with a kiddo who likes to help, you can do the measuring for these pancakes while they do the stirring, blending, and tasting. To modify this recipe for tasty lunchbox fare, use 1 cup instead of 3/4 cup of water, omit chocolate chips, and use 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake instead of 13 cup. Then the pancakes will be large and thin enough to make really delicious PBJ wraps — fair warning, though: other children will covet your kid’s lunch!
I like unrefined coconut oil for these, since the tropical flavors of coconut and bananas work so well together. The coconut flavor isn’t noticeable to me in the finished product, but I think it adds a nice depth of flavor. If you hate any trace of the taste of coconut, use refined coconut oil or light olive oil. If you don’t want to use oil at all, substitute apple sauce or nondairy yogurt.
Enjoy!
Image by the author, all rights reserved.