Vegan Green Pancakes.

I have a new recipe to share today (hence the title of this post)! But first, I want to share my thoughts on a new product I tried: Justin’s chocolate hazelnut butter.

My nectarine ended up being bad. Sad day.

I got hungry mid-morning yesterday so I decided to try out this sample packet of Justin’s nut butter I picked up at the store last week.

Justin’s nut butters claim to have less sugar than other flavored nut butters, which I like. The ingredients in this particular package are:

Dry Roasted Hazelnuts, Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Powder, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Palm Fruit Oil, Natural Vanilla, Sea Salt.

And here are the nutritional stats, per their Web site:

Not bad . I smeared half the packet on a couple of Ritz crackers and went to town.

And my thoughts?

OH MAAAAN. This stuff is amazing! It tastes JUST like chocolate frosting, and a bit nuttier and thicker than Nutella, which I like.

I should’ve tried this a long time ago! Perhaps I’ll pay the 8 dollars and splurge on a jar of this stuff next time I’m at the store. It’s that good!

VEGAN GREEN PANCAKES

OK you must be thinking I’ve gone completely crazy (and my dad must think I’m a TOTAL hippie at this point), but hear me out.

I’ve had this idea to add spinach to pancakes for a while now and even did some research to see if anyone else had tried it before. I did find a few recipes online (a couple of which were savory), but nothing was exactly what I had in mind.

So, I kind of made up my own recipe (go me). And here it is! It’s a variation of my Vegan Banana Oat Pancakes (which were featured over at Oh She Glows this week. Thanks again Angela!)

I will say again, as I have before, you by no means have to make these vegan. I just thought I’d give it a shot since I had all of the ingredients on hand.

Yields 6-7 small pancakes

[serves 1 ridiculously hungry person or 2 pretty hungry people]

Ingredients:

1 medium banana

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 handfuls spinach (approx. 2 cups)

1 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. canola oil (or sub coconut oil)

4 Tbsp. almond milk

1/2 Tbsp. chia seeds

1/2 cup old fashioned oats

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

dashes of cinnamon, cardamom and coriander (optional)

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. In a blender, mix the banana, baking soda, salt, spices, milk and spinach together until well blended. Transfer mixture to a medium mixing bowl and add the oil, flax egg, agave syrup (or sugar or honey) and mix. Lastly, add the oats, flour and chia seeds and stir until just combined.

Your batter should look like this.

I let it sit for a few minutes to thicken while my griddle heated up to about 325*.

Coat your griddle (or skillet) with non-stick spray (or oil) and add a 1/4 cup scoop of batter onto the hot surface. These pancakes will get bubbles just like regular pancakes, so you know when to flip them. Cook on both sides for about 3-4 minutes.

My batter yielded about 7 small pancakes.

I put three on a plate and got to topping.

Clockwise from left: Earth balance and light maple syrup, coconut butter and light maple syrup, and crunchy peanut butter with bananas and honey.

I enjoyed these in bed, but you by no means have to…

Of the three topping choices, I would rate them as follows:

1. peanut butter, bananas and honey

2. coconut butter and maple syrup

3. earth balance and maple syrup

Because the spinach in the pancakes is mildly detectable (very mildly), I found that the more complex toppings helped add to the overall flavor. And as for the pancakes themselves, I like them! If given a choice between these and regular pancakes, I’d still choose regular pancakes. But what a great way to get a full serving of veggies before 8 a.m.!

I’m definitely a fan, and I hope you will be too. Let me know if you give them a try. I’d love to know what you think.

Well that’s it for me today. I hope you’re having a great Tuesday so far. I’m off to tidy up the house and go for a run since the weather is so mild and beautiful here today (near 50*).

Questions:

What’s the weirdest food combination you’ve ever tried?

What’s your favorite color? (perhaps a bit ironic, but mine’s green.)

What are you doing tonight?