Chai Spiced Coconut Pancakes

When I was in high school, one of my favorite things to do with my girlfriends was to go to Panera, order chai, and sit by the fireplace...oh, and gossip. Yeah, we weren't above that. We felt like such cool kids / pseudo adults sipping from our giant mugs like we had nothing better to do. As the temperatures drop, I find myself craving those same cozy flavors and warming spices (and fireplace chats). I also find ways to mix up my usual cold overnight oats with something a little less chilly.

I took chai spices—cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and cloves—and put them in pancakes, another food that transports me back to when Bisquick pancake mix was our Sunday morning go-to as kids. These pancakes may be a whole lot more wholesome than those Bisquick pancakes, but they are just as comforting. Sweetened with coconut sugar or maple syrup, they have a base of oat flour (I show you how to make homemade), whole wheat flour, and shredded coconut. They are slightly more dense than fluffy buttermilk pancakes or my Lemon Ricotta Pancakes due to the whole wheat flour, but you can lighten them up if you're not a fan of whole wheat flour by subbing more oat flour in its place.

These pancakes are perfect for lazy weekends this winter or perhaps you make a batch and store them in the fridge to enjoy throughout the week as snacks.

Chai Spiced Coconut Pancakes

½ cup rolled oats (or ½ cup + 2 tablespoons oat flour)
⅓ cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
½ cup whole wheat flour (or additional oat flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoons ground cardamom
¾ teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten or flax egg**
1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened nut milk
3 tablespoons coconut sugar or maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted + more for cooking
Maple syrup, for serving
Shredded and flaked coconut, toasted

Make oat flour. Place oats in coffee grinder or mini food processor and process until it resembles flour. Mix oat flour and remaining dry ingredients in small bowl. In a larger bowl, whisk together egg (or flax egg), nut milk, maple syrup, and melted coconut oil. Slowly whisk in dry ingredients until combined.

Preheat flat griddle or cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add thin layer of coconut oil to coat. Add batter by ¼ cupfuls to griddle and allow to cook 2-4 minutes or until you see batter starting to dry out around edges. Flip and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes more. Remove from pan.

Move to a wire rack and keep warm in a 200 degree oven if not serving immediately. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing pan with coconut oil as necessary. Serve with maple syrup, and toasted coconut. Enjoy! Makes 8-9 pancakes.

**To make flax egg: Stir 3 tablespoons water with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and allow to rest for 15 minutes

Maple and Tahini Sweet Potato Pancakes

Happy almost Thanksgiving! Our family is not actually celebrating Thanksgiving on Thanksgiving because too many family members have significant others, work schedules are a bit wonky, etc., etc. It is going to happen, just not on the fourth Thursday of November like Congress decreed decades ago. I hope to take some pictures from our delightful feast, but since I try to put the camera away when there is conversation to be had and good eating to be done, I may not capture all of the fun on camera.

Anyway, on to these pancakes! So if you want to keep up the fall festivities after Thanksgiving, I highly suggest you give these pancakes a try. They are quite a bit more dense than my Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, but they are still wonderfully light on the body due to the mashed sweet potato. I also find them more filling than traditional pancakes which I appreciate. Ever eaten a stack of buttermilk pancakes and still been hungry? These are much more satisfying on so many levels. For example, tahini and maple syrup go IN the batter and ON TOP for a double yum. I also throw on some toasted coconut flakes...and yes, I mean throw because I like to make it rain coconut...

These pancakes are perfect for using up any leftover mashed sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes you have- just remove the flesh from the jacket to get the smoothest batter. Full of nourishing vitamin A, vitamin C, and beta carotene, and a whole host of other micronutrients, sweet potatoes are nutritional powerhouses. I say we find more excuses to eat them. And did you know that the tahini and bit of coconut oil in here are not just for incredible flavor? They also help make beta-carotene more available to our bodies since a little fat is needed for the body absorb it.

A few notes about the recipe. Because these are a bit dense (in a good way!), these will take longer to cook than most traditional pancakes, about 3-4 minutes for the first side. But be patient! The wait is worth it! They will still be moist on the inside so do not worry about drying them out. Also, for most pancakes, you will notice bubbles on the surface to indicate when to flip the pancake, but that is not the case with these. Instead, watch for the outer rim to lose its shine and sets. Flip and continue cooking until golden brown, To keep warm, place them on a wire rack in a 200 degree Fahrenheit oven until ready to serve.

These are delicious made ahead and reheated in the microwave or just to snack on straight from the refrigerator... with a drizzle of tahini, of course.

Maple and Tahini Sweet Potato Pancakes

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and but into 1" pieces (or 1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes)
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted (or other neutral oil), plus extra for cooking
2 eggs
1 cup milk of choice (I used 2%, but other non-dairy options should work)
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste), plus more for serving (I am partial to Soom tahini since it is made here in Philly!)
1 tablespoon maple syrup, plus more for serving
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or a mix of cinnamon and nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Coconut flakes, toasted, for serving

Cook sweet potatoes. To steam, place sweet potatoes in a steamer basket in pot with an inch of water in the bottom. Bring water to boil, cover pot with lid, and allow to cook until sweet potato is easily mashed with a fork, about 10 minutes. Keep checking until sweet potatoes are tender. Alternatively, if you do not have a steamer basket, you can cook sweet potatoes in a thin layer of water for a similar effect. Drain sweet potatoes well if using this method.

Mash cooked sweet potatoes with a fork until mostly smooth. It should equal about 1 1/2 cups. Beat in melted coconut oil, eggs, milk, tahini, and maple syrup until smooth.

In another bowl, mix the dry ingredients until well combined. Add dry into wet and stir just until combined.

Preheat a cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease with additional coconut oil until surface is shiny and stick-proof. When water drops sprinkled on the skillet sizzle but do not smoke, it is ready. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter onto skillet for each pancake. Use a spoon to get an even pancake shape as this batter is a bit dense and does not flow as easily. Cook for 3-4 minutes on the first side or until edges are well set and flip to cook another 2-3 minutes on the other side. Move to a wire rack and keep warm in a 200 degree oven. Repeat with the rest of the batter, greasing pan as necessary. Serve with maple syrup, more tahini, and toasted coconut flakes. Enjoy! Makes about 8-9 pancakes to serve about 3 people. 

Peach and Sour Cream Waffles

I have a habit of reading cookbooks while I eat- especially if I'm eating alone. I always find that I learn something new- no matter how many times I have read the book. Part of this is because I am tuning into certain ingredients depending on the seasons. I have flipped through Deb Perelman's The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook numerous times. Her recipes in the book and on her blog are always honest, and I can trust that they have been well-tested. Her little notes about why she did this and why she did that are so helpful for people like me who like mixing recipes, creating my own concoctions in the kitchen.

The other day, while eating lunch, I stumbled upon her Peach and Sour Cream Pancakes recipe in her cookbook. Armed with fresh peaches from the farmers' market, I had an incredible desire to test out this magical sounding combination. Peaches and cream and peaches and yogurt have been done before, but I knew Deb was on to something with combining the rich, but lightly tangy sour cream with peaches. You could think of sour cream as behaving like buttermilk, which you often see in pancake and waffle batter, but the extra body it gives the batter a silky smoothness and pillowy texture that is unreal.

Instead of making pancakes like Deb did, however, I made waffles. My waffle iron has been staring at me for a while and only getting sadder and sadder with each day of neglect. Plus, I was in the mood for a crispy outside, and little wedges I could eat as a snack. I modified ingredients to reflect my change from pancake to waffle and substituted all-purpose flour for oat flour and spelt flour, but I kept many of the basic pancake/ waffle ingredients the same. I also diced up some peaches to add to the batter so you could get a little bit of summer in every bite. Topped with a drizzle of REAL maple syrup and some sliced peaches, these made for one delicious August breakfast.

Peach and Sour Cream Waffles

1/2 cup oat flour*
1/2 cup spelt flour*
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1 cup whole milk sour cream
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for waffle iron
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ripe peach, halved with pit removed

Preheat your waffle iron.

In one bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours through baking soda). In another bowl, whisk egg, sour cream, maple syrup, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and vanilla extract. Slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined.

Dice half of the peach and stir into the batter. Slice the remaining half in thin slices.

Make sure waffle iron is well-greased and hot. I used a little butter to do this, making sure it sizzled when I rubbed it over the griddle. Add about 1/3- 1/2 cup of batter to the center of the waffle iron, add a few peach slices to the top if you wish, and carefully close. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until done. Remove waffle to cooling rack. Repeat with remaining batter, greasing waffle iron as needed.

Serve waffles warm with maple syrup and fresh peach slices. Alternatively, you can cut into wedges and eat as delicious snacks. Makes about 4 whole waffles.

*You can use unbleached all-purpose, whole wheat, or a mix of unbleached all-purpose and whole wheat flour instead of oat flour and spelt flour.