Hello, my chickpeas! If you’ve been following me for a while, you may have noticed that I am a sweet potato fan. However, all of my published sweet potato recipes so far have been savory. I decided that it was time for something on the sweeter side, started experimenting, and these Sweet Potato Pancakes were born!

These Sweet Potato Pancakes would be such a fun addition to a brunch table! Think Valentines Day, Galentines Day, or even Mothers Day! They also reheat GREAT as leftovers. They are somewhat sweet from the sweet potato, but not too overly heavy or decadent. Plus, the topping options are endless!

Let’s get into this recipe!

Inspiration for Sweet Potato Pancakes

When I very first went plant based, one of the first fully vegan recipes I tried was for fluffy pancakes. Making them made me realize how simple it can be to make traditional things, such as pancakes, in a vegan way! I think recipes like this that don’t even really scream “vegan” are a great way to show people how delicious a plant based lifestyle can be.

For this recipe I wanted to put my own twist on the great and glorious pancake. This recipe was super fun to develop since I haven’t published a ton of sweet recipes in the past. It felt a little new and wild since it’s different than my typical savory dishes, but it also still felt like me because of the sweet potato twist!

Ingredients

This recipe may have a longer ingredient lineup than some of my other recipes, but don’t let that scare you away! Most of these ingredients are pretty typical for a plant-based kitchen, so I bet you likely already have some of them waiting to be used.

Oat flour & whole wheat pastry flour: flour is a necessary ingredients for pancakes, and after multiple tests I found that this combination worked the best! Be sure to check out the “Tips & Tricks” section if you want further thoughts on flour options!
Baking powder & baking soda: I tested this recipe multiple times with each of these, and determined that the pancakes come out perfectly fluffy when we use both.
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger: these flavors pair great with our sweet potato. They give our pancakes a bit of spiced flavor, and add to the coziness of the meal!
Flaxseed meal: we combine this with water to make a “flax egg”. Eggs typically act as a binder in recipes like this, so we are accomplishing that through our flax egg today instead!
Apple cider vinegar: this will play with our other ingredients to add to the fluffiness of our pancakes.
Sweet potato: the star of the show! We are going to roast our sweet potato and scoop out the flesh, which makes it creamy and easy to add to our pancake batter.
Plant milk: our main liquid component! This will thin down our batter and make it a nice consistency that is easy to work with.
Vanilla extract and maple syrup: for a bit of flavor and sweetness! These also pair very well with our sweet potato flavor.

How to Make Sweet Potato Pancakes

This recipe is not difficult to make, but it does take some time since we have to wait for our sweet potatoes to roast. For that reason, this is intended as more of a weekend breakfast recipe than a week day recipe! But again, I promise the hands-on steps aren’t that bad. Let’s get into the basics of what you’re going to be doing here:

Pierce your sweet potato with a fork and roast in a preheated oven for 50-55 minutes. Allow to cool and scoop out the flesh.
Make your flax egg.
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.
Blend sweet potato and wet ingredients in a blender.
Combine wet and dry ingredients.
Allow the batter to sit, undisturbed, for 30 minutes.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto a preheated griddle. Allow to cook for a few minutes, give your pancake a flip, and cook for a few more minutes. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
Remove from the griddle, serve with desired toppings, and enjoy!

Tips & Tricks

Recipes like this one that are closer to the baking realm (rather than the cooking realm) require pretty specific measurements and techniques. For that reason, I wouldn’t change this one up a ton. I tested this a bunch of times and already worked out the kinks for you! However, I do have a few thoughts on things you can do here.

I have not tested this recipe with regular all-purpose flour. HOWEVER I have never had an issue substituting whole wheat pastry flour with regular all-purpose flour in other recipes in the past. Therefore, I believe that all-purpose flour would likely work in place of whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe, but I can’t make any official promises! If you do try this out, I would suggest still keeping the oat flour the same and only switching out the whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose.
Get creative with toppings! My personal favorite toppings are maple syrup, blueberries, and my easy candied pecans! I also think almond butter is a fun addition. Have fun with it!
These are best for weekend breakfasts since roasting the sweet potatoes takes some time. However, these Sweet Potato Pancakes heat up very well as leftovers! If you want to eat them throughout the week, just make a batch on Sunday and then store in the fridge to reheat throughout the week!
This one would be a super fun addition to a brunch table. It would be perfect for any upcoming Valentines Day or Galentines Day brunch celebrations!
Want some more breakfast ideas? Check out my Cinnamon Raisin Waffles or my Tex Mex Tofu Scramble next!

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Recipe by Delaney Romero – Joyful BalanceCourse: Breakfast, BrunchCuisine: American

Servings (1 serving = 3 pancakes)

servings

From Start to Finish

hours

minutes

These Sweet Potato Pancakes are perfect for a slightly sweet brunch or breakfast! Consider bringing these to a Valentines Day or Mothers Day brunch gathering, or just make them for a fun breakfast on the weekend! They also reheat great as leftovers throughout the week.

*Note that “From Start to Finish” includes 80 minutes to roast your sweet potatoes (including everything in step 1: preheating the oven, roasting, and cooling), and 30 minutes to let your batter rest (step 6). This leaves us with only 40 minutes of actual hands-on time! However this time will vary a bit depending on how many pancakes you are able to make at once on your griddle.

Ingredients

1 medium sweet potato
1 Tbsp flaxseed meal
1/2 cup oat flour
1.25 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
2 cups plant milk (I typically use almond)
3 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Optional Toppings: maple syrup, Easy Candied Pecans, almond butter, blueberries, etc

Directions

Prepare your sweet potato:
-Preheat oven to 425F
-Use a fork to pierce the sweet potato until it has holes all over it.
-Once oven is preheated, place sweet potato on a baking sheet (lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper), and roast in the oven for 50-55 minutes. You want it to be slightly wrinkly and super easy to pierce with a fork before removing it from the oven.
-Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
-Scoop the flesh out from the skin and discard the skin. A medium sweet potato should yield about 3/4 cup of flesh. If you have more than that, only use 3/4 of a cup for this recipe or your batter won’t be the right consistency.
In a separate small bowl, combine your flaxseed meal with 2.5 Tbsp of water. Mix to evenly incorporate the flaxseed meal. Set aside for at least 5 minutes to form your flax egg.
Add oat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger to a medium/large bowl. Stir to combine.
By now your flax egg should be a thicker egg-like consistency. (If it’s still very thin, wait a few minutes before completing this step.) To a blender, add your 3/4 cup sweet potato, plant milk, maple syrup, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, and flax egg. Blend just until mixture is smooth with no large lumps. (This should only take a few seconds. Over blending can lead to a chewier pancake, so it’s important not to over blend once you have reached a smooth consistency).
Pour your blended sweet potato mixture into the dry flour mixture. Mix until just combined so that there aren’t any pockets of dry flour (some small lump are fine). Please note that this batter is going to be a bit on the thicker side – this is normal! If it is so thick that it is difficult to scoop with a spoon, you can add an extra 1-2 Tbsp of plant milk. (Again, over mixing can lead to a chewier pancake, so try not to over mix!)
Place the batter in the fridge. Let the batter sit in the fridge, undisturbed, for 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.
Heat a griddle over medium heat (300F tends to be perfect for me).
Cook your pancakes:
-The size of your griddle will determine how many pancakes you can cook at once. I usually do batches of 3 pancakes at a time.
-For each pancake, pour 1/4 cup of the pancake batter onto the griddle. If desired, you can use the back of a spoon to slightly smooth out the top of each pancake right after you pour the batter to achieve more of a “perfect circle” (alternatively, you can just let the batter slowly spread out on its own). Repeat this for more pancakes if you have enough room to cook multiple at once. Allow to cook until bubbles start to appear and pop on the top of the pancakes (for me this is around 3 minutes). Using a spatula, flip the pancakes. Allow to cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the griddle once cooked on both sides.
-Repeat this process for another batch of pancakes. Continue until you have used all the pancake batter.
Serve your Sweet Potato Pancakes with whatever toppings you desire! Enjoy!

Notes

*Whole wheat pastry flour: Look for this at your local health food store, or check out Amazon! I like to use Bob’s Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour.

Happy cooking! If you made this recipe don’t forget to tag me (@joyfulbalanceofficial) on facebook or instagram so I can cheer you on for your pancake-making ways.

Stay joyfully balanced!