Gingerbread pancakes with a Vegan Frosting

We're continuing with the Christmas theme here on the blog and next up is this basic recipe for gingerbread pancakes with a vegan lucuma-vanilla frosting... yum! I usually make my pancakes with a mix of coconut flour and buckwheat flour but I've been suspecting for a while now that it's the coconut flour that make the pancakes go all soft and gooey inside, big no-no if you're not into eating raw batter! So I completely omitted it and these turned out perfectly moist and fluffy, just like they're supposed to be. A perfect start to any winter day.

Gingerbread pancakes with a Vegan Frosting

Pancakes:

1/2 cup (70g) buckwheat flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp gingerbread spice mix (cinnamon, ginger, cloves)

1 chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

1 small banana, mashed (approximately 80 g)

3-4 tbsp almond milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

How to:
1. First, prepare your vegan 'buttermilk' by mixing the almond milk with the apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle.
2. Now prepare your chia egg: Grind one tbsp of whole chia seeds either by hand or in a coffee grinder, then mix the ground seeds with 3 tbsp of water. Stir well and let sit on the side for a few minutes to swell.
3. In a small bowl, mix the buckwheat flour, baking powder and baking soda well until they're evenly divided. 
4. Mash the banana with a fork or blitz it a couple of times with a hand blender if you don't want any clumps whatsoever left.
3. Pour in the chia egg, mashed banana and 'buttermilk' and stir until the batter is completely smooth. Let sit on the countertop for a few minutes (the batter should be THICK)
4. Fry in a spoonful of coconut oil (unless you have a non-stick frying pan) on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.

Vanilla-Lucuma Frosting

4 oz/108 g silken tofu

1 tbsp lucuma powder

1 pinch vanilla powder

2 dates, pitted and (if you want) peeled

1 tsp melted coconut oil (optional)

How to:
1. Blend all ingredients with a hand blender until smooth. Place a spoonful of frosting between each pancake, save a dollop for the top and serve with fresh fruit!

Carob & Zesty Lime Pancakes with a Chocolate Sauce

Carob & Zesty Lime Pancakes

5 tbsp buckwheat flour

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

5 tbsp almond milk

2 tbsp plant-based yoghurt (could sub for more almond milk)

1 chia egg (1 tbsp ground chia seeds mixed with 3 tbsp of water, left to swell for a couple of minutes)

For the lime pancakes:

1/2 tsp wheatgrass (could sub for chlorella/spirulina/matcha)

Zest of one lime

1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (preferably brown rice syrup as it won't spoil the green colour)

For the carob pancakes:

1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (preferably date syrup, as it adds a lovely brown colour to the mix)

1-2 tsp carob powder

How to:
1. Place into a bowl the buckwheat flour, coconut flour and baking powder. Stir well to divide the baking powder evenly throughout the mix.
2. Add in the almond milk, chia egg and yoghurt and mix it all together with a fork.
3. Now, divide the batter into two and place half of it into another bowl.
4. To this bowl, add all of the ingredients for the lime pancakes and stir until smooth. You might have to adjust the amount of wheatgrass to get the green colour you want.
5. To the other bowl, add all of the ingredients for the carob pancakes and once again, stir until smooth.
6. Let the batters rest for a few minutes while preheating a non-stick pan or a regular frying pan with a spoonful of coconut oil to medium heat.
7. Fry spoonfuls of the batter for a few minutes on each side, stack and serve!

Chocolate sauce

2 tbsp peanut flour

1 1/2 tbsp almond milk

1/2 tbsp date  syrup

1 tsp cacao or cocoa powder

How to:
1. Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until smooth. Add more almond milk if needed.
2. Pour on top of your pancake stack and devour immediately!

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Dry ingredients:

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Wet ingredients:

1 chia or flax egg (1 tbsp ground chia/flax seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water)

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/3 cup pumpkin purée 

3 tbsp almond milk

How to:
1. Start by preparing your chia egg. Grind the seeds either using a coffee blender or by hand with a mortar and pestle. Put the ground seeds in a small glass/bowl with 3 tbsp of water and whisk vigorously for 30 seconds or so to prevent clumping if you're using ground chia seeds. let sit and swell while you prepare the rest.
2. In a small bowl, mix all the dry ingredients with a fork until the baking powder is evenly divided.
3. Add the mashed banana, pumpkin puree and almond milk to the dry ingredients and stir until smooth.
4. Lastly, add in the chia/flax egg.
5. Let sit on the countertop for a few minutes (the batter should be THICK) and pre-heat a pan over low to medium heat.
6. Fry in a little coconut oil (unless you have a non-stick frying pan) on medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side.

Chocolate sauce:

2 tbsp plant-based yoghurt
1/2 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp liquid sweetener of your choice (I used date syrup)

How to:
1. Simply mix all of the above with a fork/spoon until smooth. Pour on top of your pancake stack and decorate with a spoonful of plain yoghurt to create the cobweb pattern.

Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Dry:

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 tbsp. coconut flour

1 tsp. baking powder

Wet:

1 chia egg (1 tbsp. ground or whole chia seeds + 3 tbsp. water)

1 small banana, mashed

1/3 cup almond milk

Mint:

1 tsp. matcha green tea powder

½ tsp. wheatgrass powder

A few drops of peppermint oil or extract (adjust amount according to strength and preference)

Chocolate Chip:

½ tbsp. cacao or carob powder

¼ Squarebar (optional) or ½ tbsp. cacao nibs

How to:
1. First, stir all the dry ingredients together with a fork, to make sure the baking powder is evenly incorporated into the batter. 
2. Prepare your chia egg by grinding your chia seeds either by hand or using a coffee grinder. You could leave them whole but then they’ll take longer to thicken so I prefer doing it this way. 
3. Mix the ground seeds with water, stir and leave to thicken.

4. Mash your (ripe!) banana, fold it into the flour mix along with the other wet ingredients and stir until no clumps remain. 
5. Transfer ½ of the mixture to another bowl, set that aside and mix the rest with the carob or cacao powder. If you want chocolate chips in your pancakes, fold in ¼ of a chopped Squarebar/ ½ tbsp. raw cacao nibs/ 1 tbsp. chopped dark chocolate.

6. In the other bowl, mix the other half of the batter with matcha powder, wheatgrass powder and peppermint extract. Now we have both our chocolate chip and our mint pancakes!

7. Fry the pancakes over medium to high heat for a couple of minutes on each side. Stack, drizzle with chocolate sauce (the one I used is just 1 tbsp chocolate peanut butter thinned out with a splash of almond milk) and add whatever toppings you want!

Minty-breath-kisses, Tilda ;)

Vegan Caramel Pancakes (Gluten-free) with Healthy Chocolate Mousse

Vegan Caramel Pancakes 

Serves: 1

Dry

1/3 cup (50g) buckwheat flour

2 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp baking powder

1tsp lucuma powder

Optional: 1 tsp maca powder 

Wet

1 chia or flax egg (1 tbsp ground seeds mixed with 3 tbsp water, whisk until thick)

1 medium-sized ripe banana, mashed

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp unsweetened almond milk

Optional: extra sweetener of choice

How to:

1. First, place all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix with a fork until the baking powder has been mixed in properly. 
2. In a separate bowl, mash the banana and, with the almond milk, fold gently into the dry mixture. Add a little at a time to avoid clumps.

3. Prepare your vegan egg by grinding the chia seeds either with a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder. Mix the ground seeds with 3 tbsp of water and stir well. I prefer to use chia seeds because they swell so much faster than flax does, but if you've chosen to make a flax egg you'll have to let it sit in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to thicken up.

4. Once your 'egg' is done, mix it in with the rest of the batter.

5.Cook on medium to high heat in your oil of choice (if not using a non-stick pan) for a couple minutes on each side.

Healthy Chocolate Mousse

Serves: 1

1/2 avocado

1 tbsp + 1 tsp unsweetened almond milk

2 tsp cacao or carob powder

1 tbsp sweetener of choice (I used date sugar)

How to:

1. Simply mix all ingredients with a hender blender until smooth. Have a taste and add more sweetener if you want to. The secret here is to use a very ripe avocado and you won't be able to pick up any avocado flavor at all! It's like magic ;)

Assemble by stacking the pancakes on top of each other with layers of the chocolate mousse in between. And of coure, finish it all off with some fresh fruit or berries!

Have a lovely Saturday,

Tilda