Dairy-free Pumpkin Smoothie Pancakes (vegan option)
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Dairy-free pumpkin smoothie pancakes (vegan option)

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 12 pancakes
You might wonder why it's important to buy organic vanilla extract? Simply because the cheap stuff we find in the stores is vanillin and doesn't come from vanilla, it is made with by-products of the paper pulp manufacturing. I prefer to stick to real vanilla please ;)

Ingredients

  • 1/4 "pie" pumpkin peeled and seeds removed, cut in small chunks
  • 1 tsp pure organic vanilla extract
  • 2 cups rice milk or nut milk
  • 1 orange freshly juiced (optional - if you use the orange juice, reduce the milk by around the same amount)
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 2 organic free-range eggs (or vegan option: 1 banana + 1 Tbsp chia seeds)
  • 1 cup spelt flour
  • 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • coconut oil for cooking
  • maple syrup to drizzle on top
  • fruits (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a high-powered blender (Vitamix), put the pumpkin chunks, vanilla, rice or nut milk, and fresh orange juice, if using, and blend until it is nice and smooth, then add the olive oil and the eggs (or banana and chia seeds), and blend for another 10-20 seconds or so, just to make sure that there are no chunky bits of pumpkin left and everything is smooth.
  2. In a medium mixing bowl, mix the spelt and buckwheat flours, along with the baking powder and salt.
  3. Using a whisk, mix the pumpkin mixture with the flour mix. You don't need to whip it, but the whisk helps to keep the pancakes free of chunks.
  4. (If the end result is too liquid, just add a bit more flour, and if it's too thick, you can add a bit more milk.)
  5. Warm a large pan on medium heat with about 1 Tbsp of coconut oil, but then lower a bit as the pan gets hotter so that you don't overheat the oil. (I find that mine works well when it's halfway between medium-low and medium.)
  6. To drop the batter into the pan, I use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to keep them all about the same size, but you could use 1/4 cup or 1/2 cup measuring cups if you'd like yours smaller or bigger (you will need to adjust the cooking time to fit, since the larger pancakes will take longer to cook).
  7. Using the measuring cup, drop the batter into the hot pan, one at a time, but feel free to cook a few pancakes at the same time, depending on how large your pan is, just be careful not to overcrowd it.
  8. Keep an eye on the pancakes while cooking to determine how long they take. Mine are about 3-4 minutes on the first side and 45 seconds or so when I flip them to the other side.
  9. Proceed until you have no more batter. Keep the pancakes and plates warm in the oven on a really low temperature setting until you're done and ready to eat!
  10. I drizzled mine with maple syrup, a sprinkle of hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds, and some pomegranate.
  11. Serve and enjoy immediately!
  12. You can also make these ahead, keep them in the fridge (or freezer) and warm them up in the oven at 350F for 5 minutes or so just before eating. Perfect during the week!

Note: I do not believe anyone should worry about counting calories, but here is the nutritional information for one serving
Calories: 151kcal | Fat: 7g | Saturated fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 115mg | Potassium: 210mg | Carbohydrates: 18g | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 6g | Protein: 3g | Vitamin A: 2485% | Vitamin C: 15.4% | Calcium: 89% | Iron: 1%