Vegan Pancake Recipes for Pancake Tuesday

In honour of one of my favourite traditions tomorrow, Pancake Tuesday, I thought I would share some pancake recipes that I've tried recently with you.

While I love pancakes - especially when they're topped with fruit and have interesting flavour combinations, I don't make them that often because I typically don't like to spend too much time on breakfast. That's why I like Pancake Tuesday - it gives me an excuse to make pancakes for dinner instead!

Whether you celebrate the holiday or not, hopefully you'll get a couple of new ideas for vegan pancake recipes from this post to add to your rotation!

Pancake Recipes I've Tried Recently

Peanut Butter Cookie Pancakes with Bananas

This past weekend I was craving some pancakes in anticipation of Pancake Tuesday, but since I didn't feel like going out to buy ingredients, I wanted a recipe that would make use of ingredients I already had. These peanut butter cookie pancakes from The Pancake Princess (a good source for more pancake recipes!) sounded perfect - vegan, minimal ingredients, and I could use my PB2 powder that I'm always looking for ways to use other than adding it to smoothies!

I wasn't sure how they would turn out by just adding ground flax to the batter instead of making a flax "egg", but they came out so fluffy and soft! I did change the original recipe a bit by using a mix of whole wheat pastry flour and light spelt flour so mine weren't gluten-free, and I also added a dash of cinnamon and increased the baking powder to 1 tsp.

Since I had a ripe banana, I followed the suggestion of topping my pancakes with sliced bananas, along with a quick and easy yogurt sauce that I whipped up instead of serving them with maple syrup (1/4 cup plain yogurt, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 2 tsp icing sugar). Filling and delicious!


Carrot Cake Pancakes

I had a chance to look through Isa Chandra Moscowitz's new cookbook Isa Does It recently, and the first recipe I tried from it were her carrot cake pancakes (recipe can also be found on her blog Post Punk Kitchen). With lots of spices and grated carrot added to the batter, these had a nice flavour and came out super thick and fluffy (as you can see in the photo). I topped mine with some chopped pecans and maple syrup to make them extra sweet!

If you're a fan of puffy pancakes, you could also give these puffy pillow pancakes from her cookbook and blog a try. I haven't made them yet, but they look great!

Other Pancake Recipes on Vanilla & Spice

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Orange Cashew Cream

Blueberry Pancakes with Persimmon Topping

Strawberry Banana Coconut Pancakes (one of the first recipes I posted on the blog!)

For more pancake ideas, including lots of vegan and gluten-free options, feel free to check out my pancakes Pinterest board!

I'll probably be revisiting that board myself so that I can choose another pancake recipe to make for the official day tomorrow...I'm thinking these sweet potato pancakes from Peachy Palate, or these zucchini pancakes from Lindsay Loves Veggies might be good dinner options since they include veggies, or these fluffy whole wheat pancakes from Running on Real Food would make a good plain base for any topping combination! 

Blueberry Pancakes with Persimmon Topping

As I'm sure all of you know, Valentine's Day is coming up in just a couple of days. Perhaps lesser known is the fact that there are actually two special holidays this week, and today is one of my favourite holidays of the year: Pancake Tuesday!

Pancake Tuesday, also known as Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, is a holiday that I've grown up with. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, today is the last day before Lent and was traditionally associated with eating a rich meal to use up ingredients like eggs and milk, which is how pancakes became the customary meal eaten on this day!

For my family and I, we just liked having a reason to eat breakfast for dinner once a year, and we always looked forward to making a big batch of different types of pancakes to enjoy together.

So in honour of that tradition, I have a new pancake recipe to share with you today! I actually made these about a month ago when I picked up my first persimmons ever from the market and needed to come up with ideas for ways to use them.

Persimmons look sort of like tomatoes and taste similar to apricots, with notes of spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. The Fuyu variety (which I bought) has a firm texture that softens up a bit when cooked, so I thought they would make an amazing pancake topping.  All you need to do is chop your persimmons and simmer them on the stove with warm spices and maple syrup until they get nice and soft, warm and gooey. The best way I think to describe the flavour of the topping was that it tasted like Christmas!

Since I also had some blueberries on hand, I decided to make blueberry pancakes as the base for my persimmon topping, which turned out to be the perfect choice! Blueberry pancakes were always my favourite kind of pancake to eat on Pancake Tuesday, and they paired so well with the persimmons.

The pancakes themselves were super thick and fluffy from the addition of coconut flour - a tip I picked up from Peachy Palate (who has tons of other vegan pancake recipes on her blog too!). These were on the denser side though, so if you prefer a lighter pancake, feel free to use your own vegan pancake recipe as the base, but I highly recommend adding the blueberries!

I thought these hearty blueberry spelt pancakes with the warm persimmon topping made for a nice filling winter breakfast, and they could also be a great dinner tonight for those of you planning to celebrate Pancake Tuesday!

Single Serving Vegan Blueberry Pancakes with Persimmon Topping
Note: I used this pancake recipe from Peachy Palate, but feel free to use your own favourite vegan pancake recipe, with blueberries added to the batter (see directions below).

Persimmon Topping
1 ripe Fuyu persimmon, peeled and chopped

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Pinch each of cardamom, nutmeg and cloves

3 tbsp water

1 tbsp maple syrup

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the persimmons are soft. If it starts to look too dry, add another tablespoon of water.

Keep warm on low heat until the pancakes are ready.

Pancakes

1 recipe for coconut flour pancakes (just the pancakes, not the toppings)

Note: I added 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp vanilla to the batter for more flavour

~1/3 cup blueberries

Follow the recipe directions for the pancakes in the link above. When you add the batter to the pan to cook the pancakes, add a handful of blueberries to each pancake, distributing them evenly and pressing them into the batter with your fingers. Flip and cook the other side of the pancake.

Serve warm, topped with persimmon sauce and more maple syrup if desired.

Makes 1 large serving (3 pancakes)

Carrot Cake Pancakes with Orange-Cashew Cream

One of my favourite family traditions is Pancake Tuesday. I always looked forward to it because it was the one day of the year when we would get to eat pancakes for dinner.  My parents would cook up a big platter with three or four different kinds of pancakes, and I would try them all!

Blueberry was always my favourite, but we also had chocolate chip, plain, and sometimes an apple-cinnamon or banana version.  Those traditional flavours will always be special to me, but now I like to come up with new kinds of pancakes to try.

My latest favourite is carrot pancakes, because they're just sweet enough for breakfast and I figure since they have a vegetable, they're also appropriate for dinner!  So to celebrate Pancake Day this year, I made these vegan carrot cake pancakes topped with an orange-cashew cream.

The pancakes themselves turned out nice and thick and fluffy, and to get the carrot cake flavor, I added some warm spices, shredded coconut, chopped walnuts and dates to the batter. I also used coconut milk in both the batter and the cashew topping, and topped them with some orange zest.

I also used this opportunity to try my new NuNaturals stevia products.  Instead of adding sugar and vanilla extract to the batter, I used their alcohol-free vanilla stevia drops.  The amount I used added just the right amount of sweetness for my tastes, but my sister thought the pancakes weren't sweet enough, so you might want to use more drops or add 1-2 tsp of sugar or sweetener to the batter if you prefer a sweeter pancake.

These pancakes would taste great on their own or drizzled with maple syrup, but I really liked eating them with the cashew cream that I made by blending a small amount of soaked raw cashews with a bit of orange juice, coconut milk and stevia drops.

Since I was only making a small amount of cashew cream for a single serving, I had a hard time getting the cashews to blend properly so my "cream" was still a bit chunky.  But I still loved the taste and it made a nice topping for the pancakes as a substitute for cream cheese frosting that is usually found on carrot cake.

So if you're looking for new inspiration for Pancake Tuesday, try these carrot cake pancakes or check out the Pinterest Board I created full of more creative pancake ideas!

Single-Serving Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes with Orange-Cashew Cream

Adapted from The Tie Dye Files and The First Mess

Cashew Cream

2.5 tbsp raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 4-5 hours

1-2 tbsp coconut milk beverage

1 tbsp orange juice

5-10 drops NuNaturals vanilla stevia liquid

Pancakes

1 tsp flax mixed with 2 tsp water

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

2 tbsp rolled oats

2 tbsp sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp each nutmeg and ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk beverage (or another non-dairy milk)

10 drops NuNaturals vanilla stevia liquid (or 2 tsp sugar)

3-4 dates, soaked in hot water for a few minutes then drained and finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped walnuts

For the cashew cream:

Drain the cashews and place in a food processor or blender. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth (I would recommend starting with 1 tbsp of coconut milk and add more to thin out the cream if necessary). Set aside or refrigerate if you are making it ahead of time.

For the pancakes:

First, mix the flax with the water and let sit for at least 5 minutes to thicken.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (flour through to salt).  Add the grated carrot, coconut milk and stevia and stir gently to combine. Fold in the chopped dates and walnuts.

Heat a large skillet on medium-high and spray with low-fat cooking spray. Add the pancake batter to the pan in about 1/3 to 1/2 cup measures (I divided the batter into two large pancakes, but you could easily get three pancakes).

Cook on one side undisturbed for a few minutes, until the bottoms are set and browned. Carefully flip pancakes with a spatula and cook 2-3 more minutes on the other side. 

Serve with cashew cream on top and maple syrup if desired.

Makes 1 serving (2 pancakes)

This was submitted to Wellness Weekend at Diet, Dessert, and Dogs.

Strawberry-Banana-Coconut Pancakes for One

When it comes to breakfast, I don't often take the time to make anything too fancy or special. But on the occasional lazy Sunday morning, I do enjoy a stack of homemade pancakes!

The problem with making pancakes just for myself is that it's hard to make the right amount for a single serving, especially since most recipes are designed with large families in mind. So when it came to finding a recipe for single serving pancakes, I turned to Chocolate Covered Katie, who has lots of pancake and cupcake recipes that make just the right amount for one person! And the best part about these recipes is that they are all vegan, which means you don't have to attempt to measure out a fraction of an egg in order to adapt the recipe for one serving!

Katie's recipe for blueberry pie pancakes have gotten a lot of attention around the web, so I knew that they would be good. But instead of using blueberries, I wanted to include some of my other favourite ingredients - strawberries, bananas and coconut!

For assembling the pancakes, I was inspired by a recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Stacked Pancakes that I saw on one of my other favourite blogs, Oh She Glows. I loved the idea of layering the pancakes with slices of fruit and topping it with a thick, creamy "soft serve" type sauce.

So I decided to combine the two recipes. For the pancakes themselves, I used Katie's recipe:

Vegan Single Serve Pancakes 

I followed the recipe at the link above, but with the following modifications:
I used light spelt for the flour, and coconut milk beverage (from the carton, not the can) for the liquid. I also left out the blueberries, and added 2 tbsp of unsweetened shredded coconut to the batter to bring out the coconut flavour even more.

I have to say, I think these are my favourite pancakes that I've ever had, even just plain! Not only did I love the taste of them, but they were so fluffy!

See how fat these guys were...

But then topping them with the frozen strawberry-banana sauce took them from great to amazing! Even though making that sauce broke my blender (it was getting old anyway, and apparently couldn't handle frozen strawberries), it was worth it! I was a bit worried that topping pancakes with a cold sauce instead of maple syrup might be strange, but I actually really liked them that way!

I also liked the fact that I didn't feel stuffed after eating these pancakes - they were actually pretty light and not too filling, which I prefer when eating breakfast.

Here is the recipe I used for the sauce:

Strawberry Banana Soft Serve
Adapted from Oh She Glows

half a frozen banana, chopped
one and a half frozen strawberries, thawed slightly and chopped
1-2 tbsp yogurt (I used strawberry-banana flavoured yogurt)

Place all ingredients in a powerful blender and process until smooth.

To assemble the pancakes:

Once the pancakes have cooked, place them on a plate and top with sliced fruit and the strawberry banana soft serve. You can make these more fun by stacking the pancakes with layers of sliced bananas and/or strawberries and the soft serve in between each pancake.

Since I only made two pancakes, the stacked effect wasn't as stunning as Angela's pancakes...and when I looked at my photos afterwards, I realized I had inadvertently created a little pancake monster (see his eyes and tongue sticking out):

This is definitely my new go-to recipe for single serving pancakes...and even though I loved the strawberry-banana-coconut combination, I'm looking forward to trying other ways of stacking them - I already have Angela's spiced pumpkin butter pancakes in mind for the fall!