Oil free Spelt Pancakes With Date-Sweetened Caramel Drizzle
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Pancakes. Pancakes. Pancakes.
Who doesn't love a good, fluffy, tasty vegan pancake drizzled with all sorts of sweetness on top?
It's the best kind of breakfast if you ask me, and Saturday mornings are almost always better when there are pancakes served.. no?
Let's talk about these vegan oil free spelt pancakes:
I decided to make these vegan pancakes using spelt flour. It's not a very popular flour - but it is very versatile, and makes GREAT pancakes. These are not gluten free though, but if you are like myself, and don't have an intolerance to gluten, then these pancakes are the ones for you.
Spelt is referred to as an 'ancient grain'. There are only around 10 ancient grains that exist today - and what that term means is that the grain itself has changed very little over long periods of time. It is believed that spelt has actually been around for more than 9,000 years, in the same form that we enjoy it today - super cool right?
The spelt flour that I use, and highly recommend, is Arrowhead Mills Organic Spelt Flour. (affiliate link)
Why spelt and not wheat?
Spelt is by nature a whole food. None of its vital nutrition is striped away during milling - unlike with wheat where the nutritious bran and germ are usually removed. Spelt is also alkaline to the body, unlike wheat which is acid-forming, and like I always mention again and again - we like our bodies to be alkaline because disease thrives in an acidic environment.
Spelt is also a great source of protein - with 5g of protein per 1/4 cup! That means that these pancakes (all 4 of them in total) contain 20g of protein! So, next time someone asks you the infamous 'where do you get your protein' question - let 'em know, pancakes! 😛
If you want to learn more about spelt flour you can check out this website, that is dedicated entirely to information about spelt.
why we're loving these vegan pancakes:
- Did I mention they're oil free? Yes, it's possible to make fluffy tasty pancakes without all the extra oil. I like to use tahini (you don't taste it in the finished pancake) but any nut butter will work.
- Fluffy, Fluffy, Fluffy. How many times can I say fluffy in one blog post? We can thank the amazing spelt flour for their fluffiness.
- Super easy and quick. No food processors involved. Combine everything in a mixing bowl and pancake batter is ready in seconds.
skip the pancake syrup - make your own caramel sauce instead:
Another issue with trying to eat a healthy pancake breakfast is the fact that pancake syrup is not healthy. What is even in there? Probably loads of sugar that's for sure.
So, make your own caramel sauce instead. All you need is dates + nut butter of choice + water + blender. You won't even miss the syrup. Plus if you wanna get extra naughty you can drizzle a tiny bit of agave or maple syrup on top, so yum and so perfect.
I like to finish off my pancakes with blueberries, sliced bananas, and cacao nibs for good measure but feel free to get crazy with it and add your own fun toppings.
Your Saturday mornings will never be the same after this - i promise. 😛
Want to see more healthy vegan breakfast recipes?
Learn how to make your own Acai Smoothie Bowl at home, or start your morning with an energizing Maca Pineapple Mango Smoothie.
with love + gratitude,
Jen ♥
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Watch how to make oil free vegan spelt pancakes:
Oil free Spelt Pancakes With Date-Sweetened Caramel Drizzle
Fluffy oil free spelt pancakes with a date-sweetened caramel sauce drizzled on top. So yum. Vegan | Oil free
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 pancakes 1x
- Category: breakfast
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125g) spelt flour (I use the Arrowhead Mills Brand from Whole Foods – affiliate link)
- 3/4 cup (162g) of oat milk (almond milk works too)
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda (2g)
- 1 tablespoon flax meal* (10g)
- 2 teaspoons agave (14g) or your choice of sweetener
- 1 teaspoon (9g) tahini butter (any nut butter will work)
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract (3g)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (2g)
For optional date-sweetened caramel sauce:
- 4 medjool dates (76g)
- 3 tablespoons of peanut butter* (45g)
- 1/2 cup of water (107g)
- small pinch of salt*
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, baking soda, flax meal, and salt. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the oat milk, agave, tahini butter, and vanilla extract until smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with dry ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Using a nonstick skillet*, heat over low/medium heat. Once skillet is warm, add 1/4 cup of pancake batter. Cook for 2-3 minutes, and once bubbles start to form flip the pancake over and cook for another 2 minutes on other side. Once pancakes are lightly browned, they are usually ready to be removed from heat. Be careful not to burn them! Continue process until batter is used up. Makes 4 pancakes.
- To make date-sweetened caramel drizzle: Add all ingredients listed under ‘caramel drizzle’ to a blender, and blend until smooth. I usually only add 1/2 cup of water, but feel free to add more bits of water as needed to blend everything smoothly. If you want it to be more ‘pour-able’ you can add more water as needed.
- Serve pancakes with caramel drizzle on top, cacao nibs, banana slices, and blueberries if desired.
Notes
- flax meal is ground up flax seeds
- you can also use tahini butter, but use 2 tablespoons instead of 3. Almond butter should work too, but it will taste more like almond. My favorite is with peanut butter.
- just add a tiny bit of salt – too much salt will bring out the taste of peanut butter.. of course if you like that, feel free to add more.
- I use a really good nonstick skillet that doesn’t require any oil, but depending on your skillet you may have to lightly coat it in oil to prevent pancakes from sticking.
Keywords: pancakes, vegan, spelt flour, breakfast, oil free, healthy, plant based,
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Hi there!
I noticed that you do not use baking powder to your recipes and I find this great. I do not either. I like to use simple and natural ingredients as possible.
Thank you for all your recipes I will be trying many of them. At the moment I am making pancakes and as you said they are very fluffy and tasty!
Hi Diana! I agree with you – I like to keep things as simple and natural as possible. Some recipes do use baking powder / baking soda but if it’s not absolutely necessary, I leave it out! I’ll keep that in mind moving forward with my new recipes that I test as well 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed the pancakes – they are my absolute favorite!