Fluffy pancakes topped with sweet cashew cream are delicious on their own. However, this is a basic pancake recipe that you can add any of your favorite toppings to. Our favorite way is adding cooked sweet and juicy blueberries, and tangy passion fruit (pictured below).
Because this pancake recipe contains no refined sugars, they can be made for the entire family, and what better way to start the day than everyone sharing a healthy breakfast together. The secret ingredient in these is the banana. It sweetens the pancakes naturally, and makes this a healthier alternative to traditional pancakes.
The cashew cream is also sweetened with dates, which makes it a healthy wholefood alternative.
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What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Bananas - You'll need ripe bananas for this recipe. Ideally that sweet spot where they've got a few brown spots but haven't started to turn completely brown yet. (See ingredients photo above for reference). I used 1 ½ Large Bananas but this recipe is fairly forgiving, so if you only have 2 small, it should work just fine.
- Baking Soda - When you mix the batter together you'll start to see little bubbles popping up at the surface. This is a reaction between the other ingredients and the baking soda. It's also what helps make these the fluffiest pancakes.
- Cashews - Cashews are a vegans best friend. Truly. We use them in place of heavy cream for a dairy free alternative. They have a mild flavour and wonderfully smooth texture when blended.
- Dates - I recommend using Medjool dates if you can get them. They are rich and caramel like in flavour. However, if you can't get hold of Medjool, any other soft date will work.
- Ground Flaxseed - It's important here to use ground flaxseed and not whole. The whole reason for this is the fact they are more nutritionally bioavailable once ground. Our bodies can't break down the outer casing easily. Ground flax is usually another easily accessible product from wholefood or health stores.
- Plant Milk - You can use any plant milk, we choose to use Soy. We often just use whatever we have in the fridge - Almond and coconut have all worked the same. Alternatively, we have a Cashew Milk recipe if you'd rather make your own.
- Self-Raising Flour - Self-raising flour is plain flour with a leavening agent added to it. If you want to make your own, you can mix half a teaspoon of baking powder to 100g of plain/all purpose flour.
See the recipe card for quantities.
Equipment
- 5cm Cookie Scoop for transferring the batter to your pan
- Fork
- Frying Pan / Nonstick Skillet
- High Speed Blender (Vitamix, Ninja or similar)
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Medium Mixing Bowl
How to make Homemade Pancakes
- Firstly, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mash the banana well, and add in the rest of the wet ingredients.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients, and mix until you have a semi-thick batter.
- If you wanted to add in something like berries or chocolate chips, now would be time time to do that.
Cooking the Pancakes
- Put your pan over a medium heat for a few minutes to allow the pan to heat up. Then take a cookie scoop of pancake batter, and pour it into the center of the pan. We don't use any extra fat when frying these pancakes, a non-stick pan is sufficient. However, you can add a little bit of nonstick cooking spray, or melted butter, if you like.
- Turn your heat down to a low heat, and cook for 2-3 minutes before turning over and cooking for another minute. The top of the pancake should be golden brown. See photos above for what your pancakes should look like before flipping (left). and voila, you have the perfect pancake.
How to make the Cashew Cream
- Put the cashew cream ingredients in the blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute.
- When finished, the cream should have a smooth, fairly thick, but pourable consistency, similar to heavy cream.
Storage
If you have any cashew cream or pancakes left over (which is unlikely), both can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Recipe Tip
Cashew cream thickens in the fridge, so you may need to dilute any leftovers before using them by adding in a tablespoon or two of water, or a little milk, to the cream, and stirring well.
Serving Suggestions & Variations
You can get as creative as you like with your toppings, we've got two suggestions for you pictured below. It's easy for children to get involved here as well, by getting them to add their own favorite pancake toppings.
Extra ingredients you can add to your pancake batter:
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- ½ cup fresh fruit such as blueberries, or diced peaches.
- ½ cup chocolate chips.
FAQ's
Yes you can, they can then be reheated in a toaster or under a grill for a couple of minutes. Keep an eye on them though so they don't burn.
When using banana to bind the dry ingredients together you negate the need to use any eggs.
Recipe
The best sweet & fluffy vegan pancakes with cream
Equipment
- 5cm Cookie Scoop for transferring the batter to your pan.
- Fork
- High Speed Blender Vitamix, Ninja or similar.
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Medium Mixing Bowl
- Nonstick Skillet
Ingredients
For the Banana Pancakes
- 1 ½ Large ripe bananas or 2 small ones (preferably ones with brown spots)
- 190 g Self-raising flour Gluten-free if preferred
- 300 ml Plant milk of choice
- 2 tablespoon Ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon Baking soda
For the Cashew Cream
- 100 g Raw cashews
- 200 ml Water
- 2 Medjool dates soft and chewy, not firm
Instructions
Mixing the pancake batter
- Mix: Firstly, mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.190 g Self-raising flour, 2 tablespoon Ground flaxseed, 1 teaspoon Baking soda
- Mash: In a separate bowl, mash the banana well, and add in the rest of the wet ingredients.1 ½ Large ripe bananas, 300 ml Plant milk of choice
- Combine: Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl of dry ingredients, and mix until you have a semi-thick batter.
Cooking the pancakes
- Heat the pan: Put your skillet over a medium heat for a few minutes to allow the it to heat up.
- Pour the batter: Then take a cookie scoop of pancake batter, and pour it into the center of the pan. We don't use any extra fat when frying these pancakes, a non-stick pan is sufficient. However, you can add a little bit of nonstick cooking spray, or melted butter, if you like.
- Cook the pancakes: Turn your heat down to a low heat, and cook for 2-3 minutes. The pancake is ready to flip once the edges begin to firm, and bubbles have formed all over.
- Flip: Flip and cook for another minute. The top of the pancake should be golden brown.
For the cashew cream
- Blend: Put the cashew cream ingredients in the blender and blend on high speed for 1 minute. When finished, the cream should have a smooth, fairly thick, but pourable consistency, similar to heavy cream.100 g Raw cashews, 200 ml Water, 2 Medjool dates
Mike
Just tried these with the cooked blueberries and we all really enjoyed them. We cant wait to try them again with some of the other toppings. I made them for us and our two children and all plates were empty.
Lou
I've made these a couple of times now and found them pretty easy to do. So this morning I decided to let the kids get involved. We made these for together and had a great time! If you haven't tried these yet, ya gotta!