Naturally Meghan : pancakes

Wednesday, 14 June 2017

Vegan Chocolate Pancake Recipe (New & Improved!)

In the four or so years since I first went vegan, I can count the number of weeks I've gone without eating a stack of pancakes on one hand. I really wish I was joking when I say this, but I'm not! The pancake life has well and truly ensnared me.

When I first went vegan I admit that I was still in the thralls of an eating disorder, but instead of restricting food in general (i.e. anorexia) I was now restricting my diet to only eating what I deemed to be 'healthy' or 'clean' foods (i.e. orthorexia). Refined sugar was a no-go, flour wasn't on the table unless it was gluten-free and fit into my idea of what was 'nutritious', and cocoa powder was the evil adversary of my beloved cacao powder. Luckily, I've now fully recovered from that disordered way of eating and I happily eat processed food and refined sugar pretty much every day, as well as takeaways a couple of times a month. No one's died, I haven't gained any weight (and who cares if I have, I'm cute either way) and I'm honestly happier than I've ever been. There is a point to all this rambling, I promise.

So, I was looking back through all my old recipes and wondering when I ever had the time/energy to come up with so many (being an adult is hard, guys), and noticed that a lot of my old pancake recipes are full of expensive, hard to find and also slightly pointless ingredients. I've been making my pancakes a bit differently in recent months, and to be honest they're so much better now.

I've learned a few things in my quest to create the perfect vegan pancake:

'real' (refined etc etc, blah blah) flour is way easier to use and cook with than buckwheat or rice flour, and it has a much better texture
cocoa powder is tastier than cacao powder, sorry babes
please use sugar, don't deprive your gorgeous lil' body of the good stuff

Hope you enjoy the recipes, my lovelies! Do let me know what you think of it and if you have any opinions on the whole orthorexia deal. It sucks to have an obsession with food dictate every part of your life, but it's good to get people talking about it so we can all try and help each other!

Vegan Blueberry & Vanilla Pancakes

It's the last day of February and, in my opinion, the best day of the month; Pancake Day! Although pancakes aren't just reserved for one particular day of the year (I don't know what I'd do without my weekly Sunday brunch!), there's something so nostalgic about Shrove Tuesday. Some of my best memories involve my dad making the most amazing pancakes and flipping them with ease. This blueberry and vanilla variation doesn't really resemble the pancakes of my youth - crepe-style, doused with lemon juice and sprinkled with sugar - but they're delicious, regardless!

Vegan & Gluten-Free Vanilla Protein Pancakes

As a vegan, the question "where do you get your protein?" is one of the most common and frustrating things you'll hear. If you're eating a whole foods plant-based diet that's full of abundance in the form of fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds then you'll hit your protein needs with very little effort (as long as you're eating enough food!). However, depending on your goals, you might want to add a bit of extra protein into your diet; a good quality vegan protein powder is a fab way to do this because it's super easy to add to meals you'd be eating anyway such as oatmeal, waffles, smoothies, banana ice cream and pancakes. I love having a scoop of protein powder with my breakfast as I find it keeps me full and satisfied and gives me lots of energy to power through my day. This protein pancake recipe is a Sunday brunch favourite and it's boyfriend-approved too!

Vegan Cinnamon-Raisin Oat Pancakes

Oat pancakes are one of my favourite things at the moment, mainly because they're so cheap to make (especially if you use rolled oats as opposed to shop-bought oat flour). The flavour of oat flour is much more mellow than buckwheat flour so this recipe is a good starting point for someone who is used to traditional pancakes. I've made regular oat pancakes and chocolate oat pancakes (recipe coming soon!) but this cinnamon-raisin version is by far my favourite. The banana in this recipe gives the pancakes plenty of sweetness but I love adding coconut sugar too because I have a huge sweet tooth and adore the extra dimension of flavour it adds! You can substitute the coconut sugar for the same amount of liquid sweetener or other type of sugar; alternatively you can use stevia to taste or just leave out all additional sweeteners completely.

Vegan Christmas Spice Buckwheat Pancakes

Christmas is almost upon us and I'm starting to get super excited about it; I think it's honestly my favourite time of year because it's such a family-orientated occasion and I get to buy lots of presents for people! I absolutely love giving people gifts and making them smile, and Christmas is definitely a perfect excuse to do that. Plus there's so many other little things that make winter an amazing season - the comfort of a steaming mug of hot chocolate, going for chilly walks and then returning to the warmth of your home, the cheesy Christmas specials of television programmes (I'm especially looking forward to Downton Abbey!) and, of course, all the wonderful food! Winter is all about the warming spices so I decided to celebrate the last Sunday before Christmas Day with a delicious stack of Vegan Christmas Spice Buckwheat Pancakes - after all, 'tis the season to eat lots of fab food!

Vegan Cinnamon-Raisin Buckwheat Pancakes

It's October which means that autumn is well and truly upon us! As much as I love the warmth of summer I do have a soft spot for autumn and winter; I absolutely adore snuggling up in cosy oversized jumpers, sipping steaming mugs of (vegan) hot chocolate and using heaps of warming spices in oatmeal and pancakes (think flavours such as apple pie, chai spice and gingerbread). Buckwheat pancakes are an incredibly hearty meal which will definitely be a favourite of mine throughout the coming chilly months - throw in some cinnamon and raisins and you've got one of the best pancake flavours you could possibly imagine!

Vegan Chocolate Bounty Buckwheat Pancakes

I've mentioned my love of the combination of chocolate and coconut in a previous recipe (this one to be precise!) - I've never actually experimented with it in any other recipes though, which is rather surprising because I adore coming up with new flavours for oatmeal, pancakes and my various other staple breakfasts. I've been planning to make a chocolate-coconut smoothie for a while now but I fancied something a little more substantial for breakfast today (well, it was actually my lunch because I woke up at a ridiculously late time!) so I decided to transfer the flavour into pancakes. To put it simply, the result was incredible. The rich flavour of my usual cacao buckwheat pancakes was still present but it was complemented perfectly by the taste and texture of the dessicated coconut. The only thing that would have improved this stack would have been the addition of some chocolate coconut butter drizzled over the top but unfortunately I don't yet possess a jar of this goodness!

Gluten-Free Vegan Protein Pancakes with Cinnamon Poached Apple

One of the first things people ask when they find out you eat a vegan or plant-based diet is "where do you get your protein?". This question gets irritating after a while because people who eat this way are perfectly capable of consuming the recommended amount of protein needed on a daily basis by eating a wide variety of natural and wholesome food. The outdated notion that vegans are malnourished and weak with poor fitness levels because of inadequate protein consumption is completely misguided; there are plenty of vegan athletes with strong, healthy bodies, such as Brendan Brazier (author of the 'Thrive' series of books) - these people are clearly not lacking in the ability to develop and maintain a toned and muscular physique. However, whilst I do think it's entirely possible to get enough protein by eating a diet rich in whole foods, such as legumes, quinoa, nuts, seeds and tofu/tempeh, sometimes people just want the extra boost that protein powder can contribute, whether it's to gain weight healthily without having to eat a large volume of food or simply to aid in the recovery process between workouts. Everyone has their own opinion of protein powder but I personally think that if it's a natural plant-based powder with no added nasties then it's a great addition to a balanced diet.

Vegan Cacao-Maca Buckwheat Pancakes

A huge stack of cacao buckwheat pancakes is one of my favourite Sunday morning breakfasts, but although I adore the taste of them on their own sometimes I like jazzing them up a bit with a superfood powder or two. The combination of cacao and maca is one of the best pairings as they are both powerhouses in terms of nutrition and they're incredibly energising (both singularly and collectively). They also taste amazing together, which is the most important thing! Maca has a slightly malty taste and is sometimes compared to caramel so it compliments the rich chocolatey flavour of cacao perfectly. If you wake up feeling lethargic and a bit under the weather then head to your kitchen, grab your frying pan and whip up a batch of these beauties - cacao has been found to be a natural mood-booster and maca is claimed to be a caffeine-free energiser, so put the two together and you get a feelgood superfood team. Add a sprinkle of cacao nibs, some berries and a drizzle of raw chocolate sauce or natural nut butter to this stack and you'll be in pancake heaven!

Vegan Gingerbread Buckwheat Pancakes

Sometimes I feel as though I post too many pancake recipes on this blog but then I remember that there's no such thing as too many pancakes! I promise I'll start posting more savoury and dessert recipes in the future but at the moment I'm currently following the low FODMAP diet in order to try and rectify the stomach issues I've been suffering from, so it's difficult to come up with new and interesting meals when I haven't got a lot of ingredients to work with! I think these gingerbread buckwheat pancakes more than make up for the lack of variation in my recipes though; thick, fluffy, warming, sweet and spicy are all words I'd use to describe this mouthwatering stack and how could you resist them when they sound this good? I know it's nowhere near Christmas but these gingerbread pancakes would be a perfect festive breakfast on a chilly morning - however, as with all breakfast food these are wonderful when eaten at any time of the year, rain or shine!

Vegan Chai Spice Buckwheat Pancakes

As I've mentioned in a previous post I'm a huge fan of the warming combination of masala chai spices so I thought what better way to experiment with it than to use it in pancakes? I use these spices in my carrot cake buckwheat pancakes but this particular recipe is perfect for when you just can't be bothered messing around with grating carrots, you don't actually have any carrots, or you just want a simple stack of fluffy, filling and comforting pancakes to devour.

Vegan Carob Buckwheat Pancakes

I tried carob powder for the first time the other day and was amazed! I don't know how I've been without it for so long because it's absolutely incredible. I'm awful at describing flavours but I'd say it tastes like a mixture between chocolate and caramel with a slight hint of coffee - sounds delicious, right? It really is. As well as tasting heavenly, carob is also a fabulous replacement for cacao if you want to cut down on your cacao consumption for any reason and you can use them both in exactly the same way. I think I still prefer cacao due to its rich and chocolatey taste but I am definitely a new addition to the carob fan club as it has a wonderful depth to it and there are so many other different flavours going on besides chocolate. I tried it in banana ice cream first and was impressed, then I tried it in buckwheat pancakes and was astounded. These pancakes taste even more divine when they're topped with raw chocolate sauce or raw caramel sauce, cacao nibs and plenty of fruit!

Vegan carob buckwheat pancakes with raw caramel sauce, banana coins, raspberries, cacao nibs, dessicated coconut and goji berries

Vegan Carrot Cake Buckwheat Pancakes with a Raw Chocolate 'Ganache'

I'm a huge fan of carrot cake inspired breakfast food (such as oatmeal, overnight oats and this single-serve raw carrot cake) and these pancakes adopted the flavour wonderfully. I've made carrot cake pancakes in the past and they were delicious but I tweaked the recipe slightly this time and they turned out even better than before! I topped them with a raw chocolate 'ganache' which tasted absolutely incredible (you'd never know it was raw and vegan, seriously) and could also serve as being a raw chocolate mousse if you leave it in the fridge for a few hours to chill and thicken up.

Vegan Lemon & Coconut Buckwheat Pancakes

The flavour combination of lemon and coconut is a classic and one that I've used before when making bliss balls, so I was extremely happy that both flavours came through well. The mashed banana gave just enough sweetness to counteract the tang of the lemon and there was a hint of coconut in every mouthful. Unfortunately these pancakes weren't as thick as the ones I usually make and in hindsight I probably should have reduced the amount of non-dairy milk due to the addition of lemon juice; however, they still held together perfectly and were still fluffy and fairly thick so I think overall it was a successful experiment!

Vegan lemon and coconut buckwheat pancakes with raspberry chia jam, banana and dessicated coconut

Vegan Banoffee Buckwheat Pancakes

The combination of banana and toffee/caramel is an absolute classic, similar to that of cinnamon and apple, chocolate and raspberries or avocado and toast (!). You can easily create a natural toffee-like flavour in your cooking or baking just by using dates (preferably Medjool as they're sweeter and stickier than other types) which is good news for those of you who adore the 'banoffee' flavour but don't want to compromise on nutrition. I've experimented with using banana and dates together in oatmeal, baked oatmeal and pancakes and it's never been a disappointment to my taste buds! I can honestly say that this recipe results in the best tasting pancakes I've ever made and they're definitely ones I'll have again and again.

Vegan banoffee buckwheat pancakes with raw chocolate almond butter, banana coins, dried mulberries, dessicated coconut and cacao nibs

All About Cacao and a Vegan Cacao Buckwheat Pancake Recipe

As someone who is a huge fan of chocolate but who still wants to consume a plant-based diet (for both health and ethical reasons) filled with nutritious and whole foods, cacao is a godsend for me. Raw chocolate bars, raw cacao powder, raw cacao nibs - they're all absolutely delicious and I have something including one (or more) of them almost every day.

Basic Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes

In the past, if someone had told me that pancakes could be healthy I'd have probably thought they were more than a little delusional; after all, how could something as indulgent as pancakes be as good for the body as they are for the soul? In truth, a lot of traditional pancake recipes aren't very nutrient-dense as they're comprised of ingredients such as refined sugar and butter. However, I can assure you that this particular pancake recipe is the opposite. I've scoured recipe blogs aplenty and have undergone a number of culinary experiments (with more than a few less-than-impressive results!) in my search to find the perfect healthy vegan pancakes and I believe I've finally achieved them! They're gluten-free, extremely thick and fluffy, and are filled with nutritious ingredients designed to give you a supply of long-lasting energy to power you through your morning. Not forgetting the most important part, of course - they're absolutely delicious.

Basic vegan buckwheat pancakes topped with banana coins, raspberry compote, dessicated coconut and a sprinkle of Punch Foods' Meet Your Maca superseeds