Okay, okay I know – why did I have to go and ruin something as perfectly good as pancakes by trying to make them all healthy? It wasn’t intentional I promise! If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the carrot cake pancakes (recipe here) I made the other day. They were delicious, and even included a small serve of vegetables (carrot, obviously) as well – New Years resolution to include more veggies in my diet whilst still eating yummy food – tick. They tasted just like a mix between carrot cake and pancakes, which is perfect for people would want to indulge but also trying to eat clean at the same time. It got me thinking about other ways to sneak veggies into sweet, healthy breakfasts and I immediately thought of green smoothie pancakes.
I had a quick look around on Google, but I couldn’t really find too much so I set about to see what I could come up with. It took a few attempts to get them just right – so please read the notes in the recipe before starting to cook them – but the final product is pretty damn good. No, they aren’t exactly the same as the pancakes you ate when you were growing up, so if thats what you’ve really got a hankering for then best to stick with that option. But if you want to be able to enjoy pancakes while still eating clean, whole foods and getting a serve of veggies at the same time (and you want a change from actually drinking your green smoothie) then these, my friend, are for you.
Green smoothie pancakes
Notes: I tried to make the batter a few different ways but making it in a blender (the same way you would a green smoothie) worked the best and resulted in the fluffiest pancake. The pancakes are quite delicate when cooking and will work best if you test them before flipping them by sticking a spatula under one edge and lifting up slightly – if the top if still quite runny then leave for a bit longer until its set and you can easily pick the pancake up to flip it. I had the best luck making smaller pancakes (pikelet sized), however my pancake flipping skills are questionable at the best of times, so see how you go.
Pancake batter
2 Tbsp rolled oats
2 Tbsp dessicated coconut
1 Tbsp almond meal
1/2 ripe banana
1/3 cup milk (almond, coconut, dairy)
1/2 cup washed greens (kale, baby spinach, cos/romaine lettuce)
1 tsp stevia/raw honey
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 tsp maca powder (optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 heaped teaspoon of chia seeds
1 Tbsp water
Topping
1/2 Tbsp shredded coconut
1/2 Tbsp dried berries (goji, cranberries, blueberries etc)
1 tsp each pumpkin, sunflower, sesame seeds
Yogurt (dairy or coconut, or cashewgurt)
Combine the chia seeds with water and leave to sit for 20 minutes or until they have formed a gel-like consistency.
Heat a large frying pan or skillet over a medium to low heat while you make the batter.
To make the pancake batter, add the first three ingredients (oats, coconuts, almond meal) to a blender and process into a powder. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth. Add the chia gel and pulse once or twice to combine.
Use a tablespoon to place a heaped spoonful of batter into the pan, and then use the back of the spoon to spread out the batter slightly (you may need to spray a little cooking oil first depending on what type of pan you are using). Once the pancakes have set and are browned on the bottom, flip and cook a minute or so on the other side, until cooked through.
Serve pancakes topped with yoghurt and the coconut/berry/seed mix.
Makes 6 small pancakes (1 serving) – for more people, increase ingredients accordingly
Wow! These look so healthy and delicious! I will be giving these a try, I also plan on making your cashewgurt! Thanks for the amazing reciepes!
Thanks Laura, hope you like them :)
Delicious, healthy and guilt free! Brilliant breakfast recipe :)
Thanks Jess! x
I actually think these pancakes look really good! They’re such a bright colour and I bet they taste amazing! Such a great sneaky way to sneak in those veggies :) And carrot cake pancakes?!?! I am making those as soon as possible!
Thanks Lillian! :)
I’ve been drooling over the pictures you posted on Instagram and Pinterest of these pancakes. They look so God Damn yummy! And I love the fact that they are healthy – and hey, the colour green makes everything a little bit better and brighter, huh? ;)
Yay! These look absolutely delicious – I love “traditional” foods that have been made green – all the more tasty :D Can’t wait to try these out on the weekend – I’m also terrible at making pancakes and have “given up” many times, but then inevitably see a wonderful recipe and want to try it out. Fingers crossed!
Thankyou! You’ll have to let me know how you go. Just popped over to have a peep at your site – so many delicious sounding recipes, I’ve been pinning like crazy! Love your style of writing too :)
I loooove these! The recipe looks amazing and kudos to you for following up on your NYR!! I’ve been meaning to make a stack of green pancakes and now that I have a tried and true recipe at my disposal, I’ll be on it this weekend!!
These look fab – will have to make them this weekend as my first brunch at my new flat!
The perfect brunch for a new flat :) Hope you like them – and good luck with the move!
I think they look great! I’ll have to give them a try soon!
Glad I stumbled across your site today, it’s great! Can’t wait to try some of your recipes :) Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday – I’m thinking it’s a spending the weekend in the kitchen kind of weekend!
TGIF! I love a weekend in the kitchen – let me know how you go if you make them :) And thanks for dropping by, Im just having a little snoop around your site too – Pecan Pie balls, yum!
Oooh nice recipe and gorgeous photos! I am so making these tomorrow, thanks :-)
Thanks Charlotte – hope you like them!
Just tried this recipe and unfortunately it didn’t work. I guess it was too good to be true! It was just a gooey mess and didn’t set up at all. Did you use electric stove or gas? I know sometimes recipes can be written differently for each…
Hi Meredith, and sorry to hear they didn’t work for you! They are a little more finicky than normal pancakes, and I found the trick was keeping the heat of the fry pan quite low (low-to-medium) and making sure they’d cooked through quite well before flipping. I have an older electric stove so it could be that my low heat is lower (or higher) than yours if you have gas or an induction cooktop. I also made mine fairly small so that they didn’t break. If you’re not vegan, I image they would hold together really well using an egg instead of the chia gel, though haven’t tested this myself. Let me know if you have any luck if you try them again :)
I had the same problem but am determined to fiddle with the recipe as that gooey mess was delicious! Good luck next time Meredith.