Baking with the Seasons

These pancakes make a festive breakfast perfect for the holiday season. This recipe is quick and easy, so you can even get the kiddos involved for a fun winter break activity.

I am not personally vegan, but I am curious about different diets and health foods. This recipe is free of eggs, so maybe you’re not vegan, but you’re watching your cholesterol or have an egg-allergic toddler – this recipe is a tasty and festive alternative to conventional pancakes. I’ve used both regular cow milk and oat/almond milk in this recipe and both make a delicious pancake.

To make this recipe, you just mix all of the dry ingredients together and then add the wet ingredients and stir until well combined. I usually briefly mix the batter with an electric mixer to ensure there are not any clumps left.

Then, get your griddle out and turn heat to medium; allow to heat up. Grease the pan so your pancakes don’t stick. (We recently bought a double-burner, ceramic-lined, non-stick griddle by Green Pan that’s amazing – highly recommended.) Once the pan is hot, pour batter to create a circle until it reaches the size pancake you prefer. Repeat this step, without letting the batter circles touch, until you don’t have any more space left on your pan. Once the pancakes edges are starting to look firm/cooked and the batter is getting little bubbles, you can flip it using a flat spatula and cook the other side for a few more minutes until its cooked through. Remove cooked pancakes from griddle and repeat the above steps until you’ve used up all of the batter.

Top with butter (or butter alternative) and maple syrup. My kids also love to add whipped cream and sprinkles on top for a magical Christmas touch.

Vegan Gingerbread Pancakes

• 2 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp molasses (or brown sugar)
• 2 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 cups oat milk (or other plant milk alternative)

Directions:

1. Add all dry ingredients to large mixing bowl (with spout preferably to make it easier to pour batter) and stir together.
2. Add milk 1 cup at a time and stir.
3. Mix batter briefly with electric mixer until there are no clumps left.
4. Heat griddle pan or electric griddle to medium heat and grease it.
5. Once pan is hot, pour batter onto pan forming circles to preferred size of pancake. Space out several circles of batter on pan without letting the pancakes touch each other.
6. Let pancakes cook until edges start to become firm and batter has little bubbles. Then flip using a flat spatula.
7. Cook pancakes on other side for a few more minutes until cooked through. Then remove from pan.
8. Repeat steps 5 – 7 until you’ve used up all of your batter. (You may have to re-grease in between batches.)
9. Serve topped with butter (or butter alternative) and maple syrup. Optionally, add whipped cream  and sprinkles :). (I’ve had some wonderful coconut whipped cream if you’re looking for plant-based). Enjoy!