Prep time: 25-35 minutes

Clean up time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2 - makes 15 small pancakes

Who doesn’t love pancakes? In case you didn’t know, I LOVE them! I searched high and low for a plant-based recipe and this one by The Happy Pear is the best I’ve come across. The recipe is from their amazing first cookbook and they have so generously agreed to let me share it with you. It has only seven ingredients that you add to a blender, and BOOM you have amazing pancake batter ready to go. I’m trying to create a Sunday pancake tradition in our house and every time I make them I get a bit better at the pouring, flipping, and cleaning up as I go. Toddler really enjoys these pancakes too, and the last time I made them he wanted them for lunch and dinner as well!

Happy Heart Pancakes

INGREDIENTS

120g wholewheat flour
½ teaspoon of salt
250ml rice milk
⅓ of ripe banana
4 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon baking powder
1½ teaspoons tahini
oil

INSTRUCTIONS

-Put all the ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until everything is smooth.

-Cover the base of a non-stick frying pan or skillet with the lightest coating of oil imaginable - use a sheet of kitchen paper to mop up any extra (melted coconut oil is a good option). It’s just so that your pancake won’t stick to the pan.

-Put the pan on a high heat and give it a few minutes to heat up. We want a nice hot pan.

-Drop in dollops of your pancake mixture and leave them to cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. You’ll know they’re done when they start to bubble a little and turn golden.

Some tasty serving ideas

-Top with soya yoghurt, fresh fruit or fruit compote and honey, or simply a little lemon and honey. Or try a savoury pancake with hummus, roasted peppers and mixed leaves.

Ingredient Tips:

-The ingredients in the recipe are so simple, which is one of the reasons I love it. I’ve also substituted three of the ingredients for alternatives I have in the pantry and they have still turned out great. I usually use oat milk instead of rice milk, maple syrup instead of honey, and peanut butter instead of tahini. Oat milk and peanut butter are what we usually have in the house and although we do eat honey I find maple syrup easier to use than honey.

-I always double the recipe which makes it much more of a substantial meal, with leftovers for toddler for lunch and dinner! Regardless if I double or not I throw a whole banana in and it doesn’t seem to make a difference to the recipe.

-120g of wholewheat flour is about a cup.

-We top our pancakes with fresh seasonal fruit salad and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Preparation and Clean Up Tips:

-If you are slow in the kitchen (like me!) then allow an hour from start to finish for this recipe. Every time I make them I get a bit quicker, and even managed to clean up as I poured and flipped the last time I made them. This was a huge achievement for me!

-I found it really awkward to pour the pancakes straight out of the blender and a chef friend gave me a great tip about using a sauce bottle. I happened to have a couple that toddler used to drink his smoothies out of when he was younger and they worked a treat. Easy to control the flow and no more drips all over the pan, oven, and bench top, this was life changing information for me!

-This may seem obvious to more experienced cooks out there, but so we can enjoy our pancakes as a family I preheat the oven to 50°C and keep our plates in there as I make the pancakes so they stay warm. I would end up eating alone with cold pancakes before I discovered this trick.

-I’ve also discovered that the hotter the pan is the better. On my stovetop mid way between medium and hot is the best temperature. The first lot of pancakes always stick the most and as the pan settles they get easier to cook and flip. Coconut oil seems to work better than olive oil too.

There you have it, the best plant-based pancake recipe! The Happy Pear are amazing brothers based in Ireland that are taking over the world with their recipes, food products, and seemingly endless energy and positivity. Their cookbook is really great and you can learn more about them on my recommended page. I hope you enjoy some plant-based pancakes this weekend!

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or health professional. I have completed a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and have done in-depth research about plant-based living. The information I trust is mostly sourced from medical professionals that are leading the way in this plant-based revolution. Check out my recommended page for more info.