Some Sundays I wake up and really want a lazy, quick, breakfast. Pancakes on the weekend are always a good idea to me, but eating stodgy dough made using eggs, milk and refined flour never leaves anyone feeling good.
Pancakes seem impossible at first for a vegan breakfast, how do you replace eggs and milk, (and in my case the gluten in the flour) ?
But I knew soaking chia seeds, plus a combination of banana would replace the eggs, and some gluten free oats and flour, along with dairy free milk would do the job.
Chia seeds are an excellent egg replacer and also a highly nutritious additive to a vegan diet, I’ve often found the first question people ask when they hear ‘vegan’ is where does the protein in a vegan diet come from, ‘everywhere really’, I laugh.
Plant foods are rich in protein, for example, chia seeds, that are packed with antioxidants, calcium, iron, potassium, fibre, viamin C, and omega fatty acids! And chia seeds are available to buy everywhere, I bought a small re-sealable bag of the chia-bia brand for under 5 euro in the supermarket and I use them as an egg replacer, for quick ‘puddings’ and to mix into porridge in the morning.
When I’m cooking at home I just use a good oul Irish mug to roughly measure out my ingredients, so when I say ‘cup’ in a recipe I’m referring to any old (small ) mug to measure out my ingredients, I don’t mean American measurements, just whatever cup you have on hand, it’s all relative once you use the same cup to measure everything 🙂
Having a food processor makes a vegan lifestyle so easy, but of course this recipe can be made by hand as well.
Here’s what I did,
Recipe Serves 2 (or one hungry vegan haha)
2 small ripe bananas
1 heaped tablespoon of chia seeds
1 cup of rice milk (or any dairy free milk of choice)
1 cup of gluten free oats
3 heaped tablespoons of gluten free flour, sifted (I used Dove farm self raising)
‘One Cal’ spray oil to fry (use regular oil if you prefer, I try to avoid oils and fats where I can)
You will also need a food processor or high power blender / a fork, mixing bowl, whisk and energy if mixing by hand, a non stick pan and a spatula to flip the pancakes 🙂
Method
Soak the chia seeds in the rice milk over night in the fridge (or for 15 minutes if you didn’t prep the night before)
Depending on your preference blitz the oats to a fine/ rough grain in the food processor, and set aside
Peel the bananas and blend to a puree in the food processor, when smooth pour in the chia seed and milk mixture blend again
Add the oats and flour to the wet mix, blend until a smooth batter forms, if you want to make thick pancakes you can adjust the consistency by adding some more flour, or for thinner ‘crepes’ add more milk
Heat your pan on a medium to high heat, with your oil of choice
Pour the mixture onto the hot pan, when the edges start to curl and form bubbles the pancake is ready to flip
Cook for another 30-50 seconds on the 2nd side
Make a stack, keep them warm in the oven until ready to serve.
Drizzle with maple syrup, top with fresh fruit of choice and that is a delicious healthy, vegan breakfast 🙂
