Vegan Pancakes (not just for Shrove Tuesday)

Everyone likes a stash of pancakes, you can go traditional like lemon and sugar pancakes, or make fruity pancakes and serve with vegan ice cream and fresh fruit. Try these crepes (The Veg Space).

Keep fresh dough away from children and pets. 

Before cooking, read up on food safety for people and pets (many foods including citrus, vanilla and chocolate are unsafe near animal friends). Bin allium scraps (onion, leeks, garlic, shallots, chives) and citrus/tomato/rhubarb scraps, as acids could harm compost creatures. It’s okay to put them in food waste bins (made into biogas).

For tinned foods, fully remove lids (put inside) or pop ring-pulls back over holes (and pinch top opening closed) before recycling, to avoid wildlife getting trapped.

Simple Vegan Banana Pancake Recipe

Banana pancakes are a good choice when you want something warm and immediate. They work especially well with one or two ripe bananas that are too soft for slicing but not enough for a loaf. The mashed fruit gives sweetness, moisture, and a little structure all at once. Serve with maple syrup, berries, organic nut butter and a spoonful of dairy-free yoghurt.

Use banana peel as homemade shoe polish!

The inside of a banana peel makes great shoe polish, just buff with a clean cloth to lift dust and give a mild shine. You can also use it over dry elbows and hands (or use a mashed banana as  a face mask, due to potassium). If composting banana peel, remember to remove any plastic stickers.

3-Ingredient Oat Pancakes

These 3-ingredient pancakes (Ela Vegan) just need a few ingredients: bananas, oat flour and plant milk. You can make your own oat flour (cheaper) just by whizzing up regular oats.

These oat pancakes (A Pinch of Parsley) only need six ingredients. oat flour, plant milk, baking powder, salt, vanilla and maple syrup. Top with vegan butter (Lurpak and Flora have no palm oil).

Simple Vegan Banana Pancakes

Banana pancakes are a good choice when you want something warm and immediate. They work especially well with one or two ripe bananas that are too soft for slicing but not enough for a loaf. The mashed fruit gives sweetness, moisture, and a little structure all at once. Serve with maple syrup, berries, organic nut butter and a spoonful of dairy-free yoghurt.

Delicious Vegan ‘Sour Cream’ Pancakes

These simple pancakes (The Vegan 8) are a bit more work as you have to make a vegan sour cream base. But  they’re not that complicated, and the result are pancakes worthy to sell at local breakfast bars.

Flavours, fillings, and toppings

• Lemon and caster sugar: sharp, sweet, and properly nostalgic. Add a little lemon zest for more fragrance.
• Berries, soya yoghurt, and maple syrup: a fresh, creamy stack that still feels light.
• Banana and peanut butter: warm banana slices, a spoon of peanut butter, and a pinch of salt on top.
• Stewed apples with cinnamon: cook chopped apples with a splash of water and cinnamon until soft, then spoon over.
• Chocolate chips and orange zest: stir a small handful of chips into the batter, then finish with fine zest.

Easy fixes for pancake problems

• Batter too thick: Stir in plant milk, 1 tbsp at a time, until it pours like thick cream.
• Batter too thin: Add 1 tbsp flour, mix briefly, then rest for 5 minutes.
• Dense or gummy pancakes: You may have over-mixed. Also check baking powder is fresh.
• Pale pancakes: Turn the heat up slightly, and make sure you used a little sugar. Colour needs heat and time.
• Sticking to the pan: Wipe the pan, add a fresh thin film of oil, and let it heat again. A cold pan grabs batter.
• Flipping disasters: Wait for bubbles and matte edges, then slide a thin spatula right under the centre. Flip with confidence, not speed.
• Bland taste: Add a pinch more salt, or finish with a squeeze of lemon for brightness.

Just Wholefoods organic pancake mix

Just Wholefoods Organic Pancake Mix is made with oat flour (for fibre) and brown rice flour, sweetened with coconut blossom sugar. Also in a matcha (green superfood version), just add oat milk and cook for fluffy pancakes in minutes. 1 pack size makes 8 servings.

Just Wholefoods is a small artisan food company that create lovely plant-based mixes, to create your favourite teatime treats, made with kind ingredients and lots of love, from the Cotswolds.

Find these items in health shops, or buy online in bulk. You can recycle packaging at supermarket bag bins, if your kerbside does not recycle.