Banana 'Caramel-Date' Pancakes

Some days call for pancakes and snuggling. If we could do that most days, I bet we would be so happy... but...... get tired of it eventually. But because in real life, pancakes usually land on a day on the weekend and it really is a special occurrence- we treasure the time. We can look forward to it. It's one of the simple loves of life that get us through the hard or exhausting moments of life throughout the rest of the week. Pancakes and snuggles are those little gifts that make the world go round. 

These pancakes are made from bananas and dates mostly- but they do not contain eggs because my littlest one is still very sensitive to eggs. So we have discovered a way to make pancakes vegan without the eggs by adding bananas and dates too. These little touches help keep the cakey texture and from being a floppy mess. There are so many pancake recipes out there with lots of protein, easy with just a few ingredients to keep things easy and still full of great nutrients, but I have found all of those to be containing eggs, so this is my contribution to the recipe piles of pancakes.... one without eggs for those of us that are sensitive and still looking for a little fun and cozy-ness over the weekend. 

If you can tolerate nuts, this would be a great pancake recipe to add some crushed walnuts or pecans too- or a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips- if you want to go all crazy about it. These pancakes have that subtle sweetness from the dates that have that caramelly touch with the bananas. Such an amazing combo! You gotta love that bite of the stack of 'cakes all smothered in maple syrup caramel goodness.... is it Sunday yet?!? This is your mid-week motivation to get to the weekend- it's coming folks so let's not loose heart in the hard stuff. Let's keep going and when the 'day-off' comes.... let's really rest and enjoy it. Living fully present in the good and hard and beauty and brutal is what makes this life more worth it. I hope you find ways to do this- and my hope is that this little recipe will only help us all find the simple ways to truly live into that. 

Banana 'Careamel-Date' Pancake Recipe

{gluten, dairy, egg, soy, nut, seed and refined sugar-free}

fruit mixture:

2-3 small medium ripe bananas mashed up
(about 1 cup of mashed banana)

1 cup date puree paste
(1 cup of pitted dates mixed with 1 cup boiling water to sit for 10 minutes and then blend in high-powered blender to make a puree date pudding-like mixture)

'buttermilk' mixture:

2/3 cup of non-dairy milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage)

------mixed with....1/3 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup of avocado or light olive oil

1/4 cup of maple syrup

1 ts. of fresh pure vanilla

flour mixture options:

2 cups of finely ground certified GF oat flour or buckwheat flour or a mix of each

PLUS

1 cup flour mixture options:

1. tapioca, potato starch, rice (1/3 cup of each)

2. millet and quinoa (1/2 cup of each)

So you will need 3 cups of flour total---but depending on what you got in your pantry and if you want more hearty whole grain pancakes, you can mix up your choice of flours in few ways. I grind my own GF oat, buckwheat, millet and quinoa flours from the dry grain/seed.

Then you need to add the baking powder, one of the most important ingredients in vegan pancakes!

4 ts. of corn-free baking powder (I use the Hain brand)

1 ts. of baking soda

1 ts. of sea salt

1 ts. of ground cinnamon or ground ginger

2-3 TB of coconut oil for cooking on electric skillet or pancake pan

In a large mixing bowl, add in the fruit mixture and mix well. Then add in the buttermilk mixture and the rest of the wet ingredients. Then add in the flour and start folding in and then add in the baking powder and rest of the dry ingredients and whisk together well. It will start to bubble and rise right before your eyes. Fold together with hand held whisk or spatula for best results. 

Then use an-oiled-1/3 cup scoop and scoop on the batter on a preheated-coconut oil-greased pan. I pull out my electric skillet and get 8 pancakes on there twice for a total of 16 pancakes with this recipe. Let the pancakes cook on each side for 3-5 minutes and try to keep the heat around 325-350 degrees on the electric skillet to help with not burning. Keep the pancakes warm in the oven or serve right away with vegan butter (or regular or ghee), maple syrup, jam, or fresh fruit or any other favorite pancake toppings.

This meal is not super 'green' with veggies- but it is a special occurrence. If you want to add a veggie or egg scramble to this and omit the turkey/tofurky sausage or if you want to add a squash or potato hash those are also great additions to a breakfast meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner for that matter.

I hope you find the little moments in life- yes this can be found in the simple pleasure of fresh and enjoyable foods- to help you live life in a full and real way. A way that can travel through the hard and exhausting, but also look forward to and treasure the rest and downtime of being with those you love. Much love to you friends, xoxo

Cinnamon Swirl Oat Bread

I'm sure you have heard me say before how I started my baking career at a great company, Great Harvest Bread Co. Back in the day, it was a place where I first started learning about simple ingredients and whole foods and such. But, the obvious problem to still working and eating there is the gluten. I was actually working there in college, while I discovered my Celiacs Disease and tried to keep working there for months before I knew my body just couldn't handle even being in the same room with so much whole wheat. It was hard to leave because I just love the bread making process. The delicate care of each ingredient, the kneading and making something amazing out of a lump of dough, it is truly an art. 

This is where my love for baking began and thankfully my love didn't die with needing (or kneading :)) to eat gluten-free. Baking GF means you may have to go the extra mile with ingredients and substitutions and yada yada yada. Well, you know how hard it is! But if you are determined and have just an ounce of creativity, then with lots of practice you will find a love for baking again. Some have told me that I might have a gift for such gluten-free baking, and I can see that, we all have specialities, but if you take away the intimidation of gluten-free baking then you might find that you can do it as well. The main ingredient in good bread is lots of love and care, wasn't it our grandmothers who said such advice?

This recipe is actually my Soft and Chewy Oat Baguette Bread, swirled with a simple coconut sugar, coconut oil and cinnamon paste. I have recently revised bread recipe that added a touch more flour to the recipe. I found that I was always adding a dusting more to it to make the dough sit up more firm. So I just changed the recipe to mirror that.  

Also, this recipe was completely the idea of a close friend that has started her GF journey over the last year and she has had so many struggles of her own with making this change. But she hasn't given up! She keeps trying new recipes and seeks out the best for their wisdom and inspiration. She has become an inspiration to me and that is how this recipe came into play. She said she has been making my Soft and Chewy Oat Bread and then swirling it with coconut oil, sugar and cinnamon. Genius! What a great idea! And as I was making it myself I was brought back to my Great Harvest days. I used to make a cinnamon swirl bread that always wooed customers. It took many hours to practice the perfect swirl to make sure all the insides would stay in the bread and make it just perfect. When I made this bread all of those skills came instantly back to life and I couldn't believe that I have not tried this before! Michele- this one is all you! Thanks for the inspiration and the love!

Cinnamon Swirl Oat Bread Recipe

Follow the Soft and Chewy Oat Baguette Bread recipe to make the dough. I used the white rice flour option to make this recipe.

Then, roll out the dough on a parchment paper, with a rolling pin and make a 12 x12 or 12x15 inch prices of dough about 1-2 inches thick. 

Then, mix 

1 cup of coconut palm sugar

1/3 cup coconut oil

2 TB of cinnamon (or I have used a pumpkin pie spice blend too :))

Crumble all of the ingredients in a bowl and it turns into a crumbly paste and you can spread it all over the rolled out dough. Keep it 1 inch or so away from the edges. It is hard to write out the best way to roll this up, but I will try. I learned this when making Great Harvest breads, but if you start at one end and roll a tight roll and hold in the edges while you roll you can tuck and pinch the dough in to the whole loaf to keep it nice and tight and together. You want the loaf to be a tight roll to help it slice better and keep all the sugar cinnamon goodness inside. 

Place on a parchment paper baking sheet and dust with more cinnamon or sugar and put in a preheated 350 degree and bake 50-55 minutes. Until the crust looks brown and there is some sugar bubbling at the edges. Let cool for 20-30 minutes before you slice into this goodness for the best results!

I hope you were inspired to try this recipe out. It is one of the best I know for GF bread baking. Not to mention, no yeast, eggs, nuts or seeds. It is very allergy friendly and so nice on the gut.

Enjoy! and lots of baking love to you!