anunrefinedvegan

Long ago, when Mikey liked Life cereal, when it was okay to wear an orange plaid shirt with brown cords and when, as my mother describes it, “the whole family looked as if it had the flu for a decade,” pancakes came in one flavor.  Pancake (a.k.a. Bisquick) flavor.  Sometimes you got crazy and chopped up some apples to add to the batter, or if you felt really wild you’d sprinkle on a few blueberries as the ‘cakes were cooking.  And then you looked around to make sure the neighbors hadn’t seen you do it.  Now there are all kinds of ways to make pancakes – you can even make them savory and eat them as dinner with yummy things stuffed inside of them.  (Some might be tempted to call these crepes, but I’m not talking about that flimsy cousin of the pancake.)  No one even thinks you’re nuts to do it.  This recipe certainly isn’t the craziest of the crazy, but compared to 1970s-era pancakes, they are downright zappy.  And I think you can dig it.

Pumpkin-Carrot Cake Ginger Pancakes
Makes 12

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup toasted walnuts or pecans, chopped
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
dash of cloves
dash of ground ginger
1 tsp. powdered stevia
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely chopped or microplaned
1 – 1 1/4 cup “buttermilk” (soy milk + apple cider vinegar)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups grated carrot
cooking spray

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, nuts, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger and stevia.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the fresh ginger, “buttermilk,” vanilla extract and pumpkin puree and mix until smooth.  Stir in the grated carrot.  If the batter seems to thick, add a little bit more soy milk.  Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200F and put your plates in there to warm.  Warm your griddle or pan as well.

When the griddle is hot, lightly spray with oil and spoon on about 1/4 cup or so of batter.  You may have to nudge the batter to get an even layer – bits of carrot will stick out – that’s okay.  Flip the cakes when you start to see bubbles on the surface.  Cook for a few more minutes and transfer the cooked cakes onto a plate and put in the oven.  Continue with the remainder of the batter.

Serve with your favorite pancake accompaniments.  You already know that my faves are chunky natural peanut butter, toasted nuts and sliced bananas.