Pancake Recipe and CSN Results!

First of all, BITT, you are the winner of the CSN $65 gift certificate! Congratulations!

Healthy Pancakes with Raspberry Syrup and Coconut Oil

Pancakes were something I never liked before going vegan. I could taste the eggs and that ruined it for me. It took me a while to even want to try vegan pancakes, but I'm glad I did.

These are super healthy and cheap to make. You could use all whole wheat flour if desired, sub flax meal for the psyllium and use whatever non dairy milk you have on hand. I like making bean milks because they are both cheap and add protein and fiber to my food. My general rule of thumb for a bean milk is 1/2 cup beans : 2 c water. Blend well and there ya go. You could make a big batch and keep it in the fridge. I have flavored mine with stevia, nutmeg and vanilla for drinking but it's not quite right yet on it's own, although is wonderful in smoothies.

Topping pancakes is another story and I'm still working on a healthy solution. Obviously, pure maple syrup is awesome, but not within my budget. We eat honey in this house, so that is an option if you are into that, but I want something that is low in calories with lots of flavor.
I attempted a sugar free syrup of sorts and I think I'm on to something. This did not come out that great, but I'll still tell you what I did. It is a work in progress and for my first try, I'm OK with it. Next time will be better. I used 2 cups of very strong raspberry tea along with stevia and cornstarch. The starch was supposed to mimic a syrup texture. I think if you made a simple syrup using sugar and the strong tea it would have been much better, but with stevia sometimes it's hard to get things sweet enough without that taste overpowering the food... but it's a good first try. I boiled mine along with some orange zest from the freezer. As it cooled, it got a bit gloppy.

I am out of peanut butter, but the next time I go to the store, I am getting some. Next time, I will top these with peanut butter and banana.

Pancakes
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c chickpea flour
2 t baking powder
½ t salt
½ t cinnamon
1 T psyllium husk
½ c white beans
2 c water
2 t vanilla
Very scant 1/8 t kal stevia powder or 3 T sweetener

1. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium heat.
2. Combine flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, psyllium in a bowl. 
3. Blend white beans, water, vanilla and stevia. 
4. Pour bean milk into flour mixture and whisk well.
5. Ladle into cast iron that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook until bubbles appear all over the pancake then flip and cook for another minute. 

These freeze well. Pop them into your toaster and enjoy a healthy pancake breakfast!