Vegan Banana Oat Pancakes.

Breakfast this morning was magnificent. And eating it in the sunlight on my puffy white comforter in bed made it even better.

I woke up early and puttered around the house tidying a few things up, and before long my stomach started to growl. Like clockwork.

I was craving my favorite: pancakes, and remembered a recipe I’d found online a few years ago off a food blog called Gilded Lily that no longer exists (at least to my knowledge. I can’t find it anywhere…).

And in my typical, unorganized way, I’d copied down the recipe on the back of a birthday card from my dad, and that’s exactly how I left it to file away in my recipe binder.

Works for me.

This is still one of my favorite cards so I’m glad I held onto it, even it if was for the sake of pancakes.

I love you too, “Daddio.”

I modified the recipe a bit to make it more to my liking.

I also made it vegan for several reasons.

1) A lot of people are vegan these days and I thought I’d try and cater to that audience, although it can easily be made “non-vegan” if you prefer it that way.

2) Subbing a flax “egg” for a chicken egg is easy, and it saves money. The average cost of a dozen brown eggs at my grocery store is $2.56, while an entire box of flax seed – which can yield approximately 110 “eggs”- only costs $4-5. That’s a lot of savings in the long run.

and 3) I used to be lactose intolerant but am not too much anymore, if that’s even possible. But I do still try and limit my dairy intake because my stomach can get sensitive to it if I consume too much.

So without further ado, here is my new favorite breakfast recipe.

Vegan Banana Oat Pancakes

Yields 5-6 small pancakes

[serves 1 very hungry person or 2 slightly hungry people]

Ingredients:

1 banana

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 Tbsp. agave nectar or raw sugar (or sub honey)

1 flax egg (or sub a chia egg or regular egg)

pinch of salt

1 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 Tbsp. almond milk

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or sub gluten-free flour)

Instructions:

Make a flax egg by combining 1 Tbsp. ground flax seed and 3 Tbsp. water in a small dish and letting it set for 3-5 minutes. Whisk a little bit once it’s set to ensure that it has achieved an “eggy” texture. Set aside.

Melt your coconut oil, if you’re using it.

Mash the banana and baking soda together, then add salt and agave nectar or honey.

Add the oil, egg, vanilla, milk and stir.

Then add the oats and the flour and stir until just combined. I added a splash water at this point to make the batter a little bit thinner. But make it to your liking.

Scoop onto a greased skillet over medium heat (I used a 1/4 c. measuring cup) and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.

They will be a little chewy and dense, but that’s what you’re going for. Just be careful not to overcook them.

Serve with peanut butter, sliced bananas and maple syrup (or honey like I did, even though that technically de-veganized them.), or anything your little heart desires.

They smelled like freshly baked banana bread basking in the sunlight…

It was love at first bite…

They were perfectly dense, chewy, sweet and oat-y. Hearty and delicious. The taste slightly reminded me of banana bread, but the banana flavor wasn’t too overpowering.

And with the peanut butter and honey on top, it was like a trifecta flavor explosion in my mouth.

I swear they kept getting better with every bite.

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

At least I still have my coffee to comfort me in my pancake-absent abyss.

Have a lovely day.

-Dana-