These whole wheat vegan pancakes taste delicious and are ready in minutes. You can serve with with your favourite toppings. I like to serve them with some fresh berries, chopped banana and a drizzle of maple syrup.
Healthy Whole Wheat Vegan Pancakes
In Ireland (and around the world I’m sure), we usually make pancakes with white flour and eggs. White flour is a refined grain so the bran and the germ of the wheat kernel are removed, leaving only the starchy endosperm. When you remove the bran and the germ, you also remove a lot of the vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fibre. These whole wheat vegan pancakes use whole grain flour instead of white flour, along with oats, which are also a whole grain.
We should aim to replace refined grains with whole grains in our diet wherever we can. Eating more whole grains is associated with a whole range of health benefits. You can read more about the benefits of eating more whole grains here.
There are many replacements used in place of eggs. One of these is to make a “flax egg”. This involves mixing ground flax seeds with water and leaving it to set for a few minutes. You are left with a gel like end product, as the water is absorbed by the flax seeds.
You must use ground flax seeds for this, as intact flax seeds contain a hard outer shell and are not easy to digest. You can either buy flax seeds already ground or grind them yourself in a coffee grinder, or using a pestle and mortar (although I find the latter method very messy, with flax seeds flying everywhere).
I usually buy pre-ground flax seeds, since its handier than grinding them myself. If you buy them or keep them in a resealable air tight container or bag, they will keep fresh for longer.
Flax seeds are very nutritious but are not absorbed well in their whole form. Since ground flax seeds are used, you get the benefits of the nutrition from the flax seeds including plenty of short chain omega 3 fatty acids. You can learn more about the benefits of flax seeds here
Fluffy pancakes
Once you make the pancake mix, its good to let it rest for about 10 minutes. When you ladle some mixture onto the hot pan, you don’t need to move the pan around and spread it around the pan. For a fluffy pancake, its better to let the mixture settle itself.
For pancakes of a similar size to the pictures, you want to pour enough mixture into the pan so that the mixture settles to be around 4-5 inches (10-12.5cm) in diameter. Its also important the pan doesn’t get too hot because the pancakes will burn too quickly. There is a bit of an art to the process that comes with practice, but you should aim for the pancakes to be golden brown on each side.
Our kids love these pancakes. You can add to the fun by making faces out of the fruits as shown in the picture. You can also call them over to watch the pancake flipping process, which generates great excitement in our house.
For toppings you can use whatever toppings you like. I like to use the opportunity to eat some extra fruits like berries. Berries are a great source of antioxidants, and eating more berries is linked to numerous health benefits.
Whole wheat vegan pancakes
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 pan
Ingredients
- 150 g wholemeal flour
- 50 g oats
- 1 tbsp flaxseeds ground and 2 1/2 tbsp of water
- 400 ml oat milk
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
Toppings:
- Fresh berries
- Chopped banana
- A drizzle of maple syrup
Instructions
- Make a flax egg by combining one tbsp of ground flax seed with three tbsp of water in a cup. Leave for a few minutes to sit while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
- Make an oat flour by placing the oats into a blender, then blitzing until it has reached a flour like texture.
- Combine the oat milk, maple syrup, peanut butter, vanilla extract and the flax egg in a large bowl and whisk together well (I use a hand whisk) until the mixture is well mixed and there are no lumps of peanut butter remaining.
- Add the dry ingredients (the wholegrain flour, oat flour, baking powder and salt) and mix everything together thoroughly into a pancake batter. Leave sit for 10 minutes.
- Put a non stick pan on a medium/high heat. Once the pan is hot, take a ladle and pour in some pancake mix to the centre of the pan. For a fluffy pancake, you don’t need to move the pan around to spread the mixture, you can let it settle itself. You want to pour in enough mixture for the pancake to form about 4 to 5 inches (10 to 12.5cm) in diameter.
- Cook for a few minutes until the edges are cooked and the pancake is formed enough for you to slide a spatula underneath to free it from the bottom of the pan. You should be able to then slide the pancake around the pan.
- Flip the pancake by throwing in the air to turn over.
- Cook for another few minutes on the second side. The aim is for both sides to be golden brown in colour.
- Repeat the process until there is no more pancake mix left.
- Serve with some chopped banana, mixed fresh berries, and a drizzle of maple syrup.
