Banana Maple Pancakes with Baklava Crumb

After having pancakes most mornings through Level 4 lockdown, we've finally landed on this life changing recipe and we're so glad to have it ready to share with you just in time for Mother's Day! We wanted to create a simple, plant based recipe using plastic-free ingredients (including the toppings) and of course pancakes that are full of flavour! How many times have you made pancakes where the pancake itself is more like a flat crepe and the only flavour is coming from half the bottle of maple syrup you smothered them in? These pancakes are light, fluffy and have a beautiful orange-scented, banana-infused flavour which pairs perfectly with the baklava crumb and maple syrup. Make sure to read our tips & tricks to get the best version of these - we can't wait to hear what you think!

Tips & tricks:

- You must use fresh baking powder
- Make sure your pan is on medium heat (not too hot or too low)
- It works best mixing in a bowl (not a food processor) or they will end up flat like crepes

Serves 3 (makes roughly 9-10 pancakes)

Ingredients:

1 C spelt flour
1/2 C almond meal or ground blanched almonds
1 tsp fresh baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 ripe banana, peeled & mashed
1 C nut mylk
1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar*
Zest of 1 orange and half the juice
Coconut oil* or butter, to grease the pan

Topping:
1 banana, peeled & sliced
1/2 C of a combination of pistachios (de-shelled), walnuts & almonds
Maple Syrup*

Method:

1. Make your flax egg by mixing 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 Tbsp of water in a bowl and set aside. 

2. In a medium sized bowl, sift together the spelt flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Add almond meal and mix to combine. Set aside. 

3. In a seperate bowl, add your mashed banana, nut mylk, apple cider vinegar, zest of 1 orange and half the juice. Whisk to combine.

4. Add your flax egg and wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix to combine (without over mixing). It should be thick but pourable.

5. Heat a large, non-stick fry pan over medium heat and carefully grease with coconut oil or butter. Keep an eye on the temperature, you may need to reduce it slightly as you start cooking, you don't want it too hot or they will burn.

6. While waiting for your pan to get hot enough, chop your nuts for the topping finely until you have a crumb, set aside.

7. Once your pan is hot, scoop roughly 1/4 C of the pancake batter onto your fry pan. Cook on one side until you start to see bubbles (roughly 2 minutes), and then flip and cook on the other side for another 2 minutes, or until nicely golden brown.

8. Transfer your cooked pancakes to a plate and cover with a tea towel so they stay warm and continue to steam through (no need to turn on the oven).

9. Continue to the cook the rest of the batter until it's all used up.

10. Serve with sliced banana, maple syrup and baklava crumb sprinkled over the top. 

*Not available online, but is available in your local GoodFor store.

Printable recipe PDF here.