So here it is - as hinted at the end of my last blog, the recipe I promised! After making those recent eggplant wraps, I had some sweet potato left over, so I decided to make some pancakes from them, and oh my, were they good! I adore pancakes in any case, and I have on occasion in the past used ordinary potatoes to make them, but  the sweet ones are even better, especially with the addition of spices. So these have now become my favourite type of pancakes.

Oddly, these ones use no milk or eggs, which sounds  contradictory for pancakes, doesn’t it? The recipes I found on the Internet all contain eggs, but in my vegan version I have substituted flax-seeds, which work really well. They make pancakes with a dense, fluffy texture, very satisfying, especially for breakfast . I believe that sweet potato is one of those low-GI foods, so if you have these for breakfast, drizzled with agave syrup, which is also low-GI, it should really set you up for the day, and fuel your body for ages! They can also be served with toasted nuts and/or fresh fruit.

Ingredients (Makes around 12 small pancakes)

• 180g plain flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp grated nutmeg(or powdered nutmeg)
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• 300g cooked sweet potato, mashed (about 2-3 large ones)
• 60g vegan margarine e.g. Earth Balance, melted and cooled slightly + margarine or oil for frying
• A dessertspoonful of agave nectar, or other vegan syrup
• 2 teaspoons of ground flax-seeds, mixed with around
• 4 tsp. of water

Method

1.) Peel, boil and mash the sweet potatoes and leave to cool.

2.) Mix 2 teaspoons of flax-seeds with around 4 tsp. of water  in a bowl and leave to “set” for around 15 minutes.

3.) Sift the baking powder, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt into a bowl.

4.) Beat together the sweet potato mash, the flax-seed mix, margarine and syrup in a separate bowl, then fold in the flour + other dry ingredients. Mix it until just combined – the batter should be quite stiff.

5.) Heat a skillet/frying pan over a medium heat and add a small amount of margarine or vegetable oil (such as sunflower).

6.) Scoop up large tablespoons of the batter and drop onto the frying pan, pressing down gently with the back of the spoon, to form rounds.

7.) Fry them for about 4-5 minutes each side, until browned on both sides and puffed up.

8.) Serve immediately spread with vegan margarine, agave syrup, toasted walnuts, etc. (Also great eaten cold, or reheated in the toaster/under the grill the next day. If you can make them last that long – you may well find they all mysteriously vanish quite quickly!!!).

Enjoy!

*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons.