Light Chestnut Pancakes (vegan & gluten-free)

reading time: 3 min




IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!

Say whaaaat? Another year older already? I'm turning 25 today, isn't that crazy!? Okay maybe not as crazy. Either way - to mark this occasion, here's my favourite fancy pancake recipe at the moment!

This is probably the pancake I could eat EVERY time. Chestnut flour is a great alternative to wheat based flour in any recipe. If chestnut flour wasn't so expensive, sigh...

These pancakes come with a super light filling as opposed to cream, chocolate sauce or ice cream, and are much healthier than your chocolate sauce or maple syrup drowned ones. Just spread a little bit of plain soy yogurt between each layer and fill with your favourite fruit - in my case: berries! But this would also work well with more exotic fruit too (I'm thinking banana or mangoes, yum). If that's not sweet enough for your taste, you can top your pancakes with a drizzle of agave syrup or a light dusting of icing sugar! Or go for a savoury topping instead! And obviously you can substitute the soy yogurt for coconut yogurt or what ever you have lurking in the fridge. 

These pancakes taste delicious, nutty and light, and are perfect for breakfast, lunch or dessert!
 

CHESTNUT PANCAKES

Preparation time: 30 mins
Main ingredients: chestnut flour, milk
difficulty level: easy
makes: 15 pancakes
suitable for: vegan, lactose-free, gluten-free, nut-free, soy-free, low-fat

Ingredients

Pancakes
250g chestnut flour
400 - 500ml of your choice of milk (i use rice milk)
1 - 2 tsp baking powder 
1 tsp cinnamon
5 tsp ground flaxseed (ground mine in a blender)
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 ripe banana, mashed
pinch of stevia extract (optional)  

Toppings
fresh strawberries
frozen or fresh raspberries
banana slices
physalis
plain soy yogurt (you can use your own homemade soy yogurt, or coconut yogurt)
...


Instructions

First, combine the ingredients for the pancakes in a mixing bowl and whisk. When you're done, your batter should have the consistency of a thick smoothie. Set aside in the fridge for 15 minutes. 

Grease a pan with coconut oil or any other fat of your choice (a drop of olive oil if you go for savoury pancakes) and heat it over medium heat, then pour a ladle of batter into the centre of the pan. Tilt the pan to spread the batter evenly, then cook until the pancakes is golden and dry on one side. Flip the pancake with a spatula and cook on the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Note: Usually I cook my pancakes oil-free, however with these I found that the chestnut flour makes the pancakes stick to the pan if you don't use any oil!

Once the pancakes are all nice and brown and piled up into an instagram-worthy tower, it's time to decorate! I layered mine with unsweetened soy yogurt and slices of banana and strawberries, and assembled some more yogurt and fruits on top.

Of course you could also eat your pancakes with a slathering of creamy nut butter or chocolate sauce, but I think the taste of these chestnut pancakes is so unique and delicious that I didn't want to drown their taste, and also I've been liking light toppings such as fruit and yogurt for pancakes and waffles, so I don't feel like a poor stuffed turkey after eating them. Other fruits that go perfectly with these pancakes are any rustic goodies like pine nuts and orange zest, with a drizzle of olive oil, or apricots, grated apple and a touch of organic chestnut honey.

In any case - enjoy! :)


Chestnuts grow here in Germany too (don't mistake them for the poisonous horse chestnut - aka conkers though!) but you'll only really find them roasting on the fire on a Christmas market. We sometimes buy our own as soon as they're in season, and bake them in the oven. So yummy!

You can buy ready chestnuts cooked whole or ground into flour. Neither is particularly easy to find until December draws near so check out your local organic store or order online where they'll usually be cheaper.

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One last thing. I'm not sure if you all know how happy it makes me to see my blog, my little seed that I planted three years ago, grow slowly but surely. I just hit 1 million views on my Google+ account, and I'm on the point of reaching 50 followers and 150 thousand blog views. I know these are just numbers, but behind these numbers are people. Every single comment of you, every reader, every follower, every tiny bit of inspiration or interest I can spark in somebody else makes me happy. So, yeah. Thank you :)

I don't know about you, but I think that my birthday is the best day to practice gratitude and give thanks and celebrate my life. I'm so grateful for being happy and healthy, for being supported by loving parents, for having a caring partner by my side, for having a cosy nest of close friends, for being able to act out my creativity, for being able to be me. I hope you all have a vibrant day!

Love, Maisy.  

http://www.lorisculinarycreations.com/2016/09/tickle-tastebuds-tuesday-124-live-featuring-fall-ish-recipes/

Once again I have to give thanks to Lori from Lori's Culinary Creations for featuring me at her linky party! 

https://aprettyfix.com/reader-survey-sweet-inspiration-link-party-74/
 Also thank you to Jelica from A Pretty Fix for including me in the features! :)
 
Other recipes you might also like:

http://be-alice.blogspot.com/2016/05/summery-spelt-banana-waffles-vegan.html
Light Spelt Waffles (vegan)



Maisy

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