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Chickpea Almond Pancakes

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Vegan, gluten, and grain free pancakes with chickpea and almond flour served with sliced banana on a white plate

Today we’re doing chickpeas for breakfast, and not the savory kind! These chickpea almond pancakes are grain-free, full of nutrition (but also some sugar), and perfect with a drizzle of maple syrup. In case you’re joining mid-month, my Vegan MoFo 2014 theme is Legume Appreciation Month. All throughout September I will be sharing recipes that, well, appreciate legumes! Click here for the introduction post.

I absolutely LOVE pancakes. I don’t eat them very often, though. For one thing, I am too ravenously hungry in the mornings to spend time measuring things. I usually go for immediate breakfast gratification in the form of overnight oats. For another, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t take well to large amounts of sugar. A typical stack of pancakes will send me into a food coma for the next few hours.

That said, I will admit that food comas are totally worth it sometimes. We had breakfast-for-dinner in acknowledgement of this possibility, but I did also take some steps to reduce the glycemic index in this recipe, so that it’s easier to enjoy these pancakes at any time of day.

Stack of three fluffy and healthy legume flour pancakes with coconut milk - low glycemic index, healthy, and fast and easy

I know from making savory chickpea pancakes in the past that chickpea flour has a delightfully fluffy texture. I also used part almond flour to add a little bit of sweetness and nutty flavor. Thanks to the coconut milk, there is no danger of the pancakes being gummy – and thanks to the lack of grains in the batter, there is no danger of overmixing! I love that. Seeing lumps in my batter always just feels wrong. Even if they’re supposed to be there.

The legume breakfast recipe I originally had planned was a vegan strata, and that did NOT turn out. Trust me. It was kind of a blessing in disguise, though, because these chickpea almond pancakes were fabulous. Just promise me that you will use real maple syrup. It doesn’t have to be the fancy grade. I usually just buy the store brand, so it’s really not terribly expensive, and it’s so worth it.

 

4 from 1 vote
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Chickpea Almond Pancakes

These vegan chickpea almond pancakes are gluten-free, grain-free, and very fast and easy to make!
Course Breakfast
Cuisine gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, vegan
Keyword chickpea almond pancakes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Total Yield 8 pancakes
Calories Per Serving 250 kcal
Author Yup, it's Vegan

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp coconut milk (the kind that comes in a can, shaken thoroughly), plus more as needed
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
  • 3/4 cup chickpea flour
  • 1/4 cup almond meal (I use homemade)
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • coconut oil (spray or regular), for cooking

Instructions

  1. In a small bowl, stir together the coconut milk and vinegar, and let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Whisk in the maple syrup, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, and almond extract if using.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir together the chickpea flour, almond meal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
  4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir to combine until smooth. If the mixture seems thick (you want it just barely thin enough to be pour-able - like regular pancake batter), add more coconut milk or water, 1 tb. at a time, until the right consistency is reached.
  5. Heat a large skillet and spray with oil, or add a small pat of oil if you don't have a sprayer. Make sure the oil is evenly distributed on the surface of the pan.
  6. Add scoops of batter roughly 1/4 cup in size - or however large you prefer. Don't try to crowd the pan with too many pancakes. I was able to do 3 at a time in my skillet.
  7. Cook the pancakes at just slightly below medium heat, until they are set all the way through and starting to pull away around the sides, about 5 minutes, depending on the size of your pancakes.
  8. Gently flip the pancakes and cook on the other side for another minute or two, until browned.
  9. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Recipe Notes

A previous version of this recipe called for a higher amount of coconut milk. Because I have been made aware that different brands of chickpea flour & almond meal may have different absorption, I have reduced the amount of coconut milk. The instructions now mention to add more as needed.

Nutrition Facts
Chickpea Almond Pancakes
Amount Per Serving (2 pancakes)
Calories 250 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Sodium 174mg8%
Potassium 231mg7%
Carbohydrates 32g11%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 18g20%
Protein 7g14%
Vitamin C 1.7mg2%
Calcium 60mg6%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

To make your own almond meal: you will need a coffee grinder, blender, or food processor – whichever one is smallest. Measure out as many raw almonds as you’d like (you can leave the skins on!). Pulse them for 30 seconds. Transfer to a mesh sieve or flour sifter positioned over a bowl, and shake to let the almond meal pass through. For the bigger pieces that don’t pass through, put them back into the e.g. blender and repeat. Usually after 2-3 rounds enough of my almonds have turned into meal that I end the process. You can throw any extra bits in just about anything (including these pancakes; soups; bread; oatmeal; vegan bolognese sauce??), or just snack on them.

Unused almond meal should be stored in an airtight in the container in the fridge, or preferably, the freezer. Like flax meal, it can go rancid quickly, so it’s best to just make it in small batches as needed. Yes, this is a cheater version. Usually almond meal is made from blanched, dehydrated almonds. Do not use this version for very delicate things like macarons – for that, you’ll want to do the full monty.

Adapted from The Beautiful Balance. Which included, among other things, doubling the recipe. 😉

Sweet and nutty coconut sugar, coconut milk, almond, and chickpea pancakes served on a white plate with 100% natural and real maple syrup - light and delicious

vegan_mofo_2014

Comments

  1. Stacey says

    4 stars
    Hey! I just made these. They taste SO yummy! I added blueberries because I was in the mood for that.

    So, I had done trouble, though. The pancakes stuck horribly in the pan. I ended up with tasty scrambled cakes. Let me reiterate how tasty they were. Wow! Anyway, I used coconut oil to grease the pan. I preheated my cast iron pan. I have used cast iron for ages so I’m no stranger to using cast iron cookware. I’m not sure if it’s the presence of the blueberries, maybe my pan needs to be re-seasoned, maybe coconut oil isn’t really great at making a surface nonstick, or any combination of those, or even something else. I almost feel like the recipe could use a flax or chia binder – not than I’m sure how that would help.

    I’ll keep trying this one. I really think it has a lot of promise. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

    • Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says

      Hi Stacey, I recommend trying these particular pancakes in a nonstick pan rather than cast iron. They’re a little on the delicate side however I’ve never had trouble with them falling apart like that, so it may just be that they don’t work well with cast iron.

      Reply

  2. Kristen says

    Chickpea flour is so smooth! These were so much better than using coconut flour, which is all I’ve ever seen for pancakes. I thought my pancake days were over because I could stand the texture and flavor of the coconut flour. These were de”light”ful! Mine didn’t hold up super well to handling, however, and may have been sweeter than my preference, but oh so good. I am thrilled to have found this to be able to eat pancakes with my family again. I also used Hazelnut flour in place of the almond flour, I have a sensitivity to almond. Still really great. Thanks so much, Shannon!

    Reply

    • Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says

      Hi Christina,
      No problem, I changed the link. Was there something wrong with my original link? If so, I’m really sorry about that. I tested it several times when I posted this. Anyway, it’s updated now! Thanks again for the recipe!

      Reply

  7. Ali says

    Any idea why mine came out paper thin? I followed the exact recipe but was thinking maybe it needed more baking soda/powder?

    Reply

    • Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says

      Shannon (love the name!), thank you for the nomination! I’ve been given the Liebster Award in the past, but I have never managed to get around to posting about it… I will try to remember to do that soon, maybe as part of my Vegan MoFo roundup. 🙂

      Reply

  11. Mandi B says

    Those look incredible. I would not have thought of incorporating chickpeas into pancakes, but now I feel inspired to try this. Yum!

    Reply

  17. Cheryl says

    Ooh, genius! You need to post your process for almond flour too… that stuff’s so dern ‘spensive!

    Yeah, that was supposed to sound really redneck.. Going away now.. doot da dooo

    Reply

    • Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says

      Oh, dear, your comment just reminded me that I am a million years late on an email that I owe you… I will be getting on that today…

      Almond flour is soo easy and you can just grind up the amount you need for a recipe – I’ll add a note about it in the post 🙂

      I played a redneck in my middle school musical. I took it really seriously and even sang the songs in a redneck accent. So reading that sentence came quite naturally to me! Ha.

      Reply

      • Cheryl says

        Uh, please, take your time! I’m at this conference that really seems like a 24 hour/day thing for the next few days. And I admire your commitment to the redneck character. I’m hoping you used the method acting approach on that one.. Pretty impressive! 😀

      • Shannon @ Yup, it's Vegan says

        Oh no! Did you sprout and then blanch them first? I could imagine that would take a long time. I just do a cheater version, usually (you can see my instructions above), which leaves the skins on, so it’s very quick. It wouldn’t work for macarons or anything else very delicate but it’s just fine for pancakes 🙂

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I'm Shannon, the writer and photographer of Yup, it's Vegan! I'm a morning person based in Baltimore, USA. My mission is to create healthy plant-based recipes that anyone would enjoy, using seasonal produce with inspiration from global flavors.
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