Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes with Vegan Bourbon-Pecan Maple Syrup

Yield: 6 pancakes (this is a fairly thick batter, so it only makes 6 even when using a 1/4 cup measure to scoop it up)

This morning when we woke up, it was cool and overcast--unlike yesterday's 80+ degree temperatures and brilliantly sunny skies--and I had a lone sweet potato in a bowl. There was simply nothing else to do but create sweet potato pancakes.

I grated the potato in the food processor with the grater attachment, leaving the skin on, and was rewarded with a fluffy mound of beautiful shreds. The potato yielded so much that I have saved about 2 cups in water in the fridge to make savory sweet potato cakes tomorrow (stay tuned!).

I stirred a healthy cup of the shreds into my go-to pancake batter, adding fifty percent more soymilk than usual since it was so thick, and a hint of cool weather spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I'm an impatient kind of gal, so I use the premixed variety sold as "Pumpkin Pie Spice."

The only thing my south'ren style breakfast needed was a similarly southern syrup: a little bourbon, I thought, would do the trick, along with a garnish of pecan pieces...indeed!

So, eat up ya'll!

(BTW: if you think my Pumpkin Pancakes sound easier and taste similar enough not to bother with the shredding of sweet potato, please give these a try. I love my pumpkin variety, and they are quicker since you just add canned pumpkin, but these taste enough different to me to warrant having both in my repertoire.)


Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes

1/2 cup self-rising flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
4 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (or your own blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc.)
1 1/2 cups unsweetened soymilk (plain or vanilla soymilk would also be good--regular or lite)
1 generous cup lightly packed grated sweet potato (I grated mine with the grating blade of my food processor, and I left the skin on)
Vegan butter and/or vegetable oil for frying
Vegan Bourbon-Pecan Maple Syrup (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to warm. In a medium mixing bowl, place first 6 ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in soy milk. Stir together with a fork until well combined. Stir in grated sweet potato until completely incorporated. In a large cast iron skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the vegan butter, the oil or a combination. (I like a combination: the oil reduces chances of burning while the butter contributes flavor.) Using a 1/4 cup measure, make pancakes, two at a time. Cook a couple of minutes on the first side until you see a few bubbles, get a nice rise and the edges appear set. Gently flip and cook another couple of minutes on the reverse. These will really lift while cooking the second side. Add butter and/or oil to keep skillet greased as needed. If pancakes are cooking too quickly, lower heat to medium, especially for second side. (While pancakes cook, make syrup.) When cooked through, remove pancakes to plates or a serving platter, keep warm in the preheated oven, and repeat with remaining butter and/or oil and pancake batter. Serve warm with syrup.


Vegan Bourbon-Pecan Maple Syrup

1 tablespoon vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)
1/4-1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 teaspoons bourbon

In a small cast iron skillet over medium-high, melt vegan butter. Add pecan pieces and saute, stirring occasionally, for a couple of minutes. Reduce heat if bubbling too fast. Add maple syrup and cook another couple of minutes. Turn off heat and stir in bourbon. Mine doesn't flame up with the heat off, but be prepared for some flambe action just in case. Alternative method: Heat vegan butter together with syrup in the skillet. Remove from heat, stir in bourbon, pour over pancakes and simply garnish with pecan pieces.