Vegan Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

Forbes and I had a bit of extra time together yesterday morning.  We took advantage in the best way we know how...pancakes!

Since we have been together, pancakes have been a staple in our life.  We have made all sorts of different pancake concoctions, challenging each other to find the better pancake-flipper, and experimenting with a wide assortment of toppings.  Pancakes are our thing.  To me, it represents those lazy mornings together when we were first getting to know one another.  When there wasn't a care in the world other than each other.  They are romantic.

We have had many pancake successes, and many pancake failures.  Specifically after going vegan, our pancake experiments have been just that...experiments!  Some never cook in the middle, and I feel like I'm eating straight batter.  Others are too dry and even syrup can't fix them.  We've tried whole grain, whole wheat, made with flax eggs, made with oil, made with chia seeds--all types!  Mostly we use recipes I find online, but when I went searching yesterday for exactly what I wanted, it was nowhere to be found.  Thus a new experiment and one that I was very weary about.

To my surprise, these are the best vegan pancakes we have had to date!  They were perfectly fluffy and cooked on the inside, yet still soft.  The outside was browned and just a little crispy.  I was worried about the flavor when we sampled the dough, but after cooking we both discovered these tasty pancakes were just right.  If you like your pancake dough sweeter, you might need to add a bit of sugar to the recipe, but we prefer to get our sweetness in the toppings!

Vegan Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
makes 12-15 pancakes

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
•  2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Measure 1/2 cup almond milk (or other non dairy milk) into small bowl.  Stir in apple cider vinegar and allow to curdle for approximately 5 minutes
2. Meanwhile, whisk together flours, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spice.
3. In separate bowl, stir together pumpkin puree, water and vanilla.  Mix almond milk into this wet mixture.  
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry and mix until just combined.
5. Heat griddle pan to medium heat and spritz with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto pan and cook about 4 or 5 minutes.  The dough will not bubble up as much as typical pancake batter.  You will have to check with a spatula to see if the under side is cooked.
7. Carefully flip the pancake and cook for 4-5 minutes on the other side.  Do not smash down on your pancakes.  If you are concerned about the inside cooking, carefully pierce the middle of the pancake to see if the center is done.
8. Once your pancake is cooked, remove and repeat until you have used all your batter.  Keep pancakes warm in oven or wrapped in foil.
9. Serve with baked apples, syrup, nut butters or jelly.  Or go for the pumpkin overload with Pumpkin Butter!

I "fake-baked" our apples in the microwave for 2 minutes, and topped my pancake with pure maple syrup and cinnamon.  We made about half the batter and stored the remaining batter in the fridge.  Forbes woke up today and quickly cooked a few more pancakes and told me "We should always have pancake batter on tap!"  Well, we definitely should!

 

What pancake experiments have you had?  Any great flavor combos?  Our favorite creation was Peanut Butter and Jelly pancakes!