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Vegan Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

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I love pumpkin, and I love pancakes. So when I had some pumpkin leftovers from making pumpkin soup, I thought of making pancakes with them. And since I’m trying to bake more gluten-free stuff in general, I thought I’d try to make the pancakes gluten free too. And it worked. I crafted the recipe based on by Vegan 8 Life Changing Pancake recipe which by the way, is on my ‘must try’ list.

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I used almond flour, tapioca and potato starch mix for my gluten-free flour mix and the combination seems to work quite well. You can just use potato starch if you don’t have tapioca starch but I won’t recommend using just tapioca starch on its own as it will make your pancakes a tad tough.

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These pancakes are a bit dense and not as fluffy as wheat pancakes but I kinda like the denser texture. You might be tempted to use a bit more pumpkin puree here (I did) but try not to overdo it as it will make your batter too wet and you won’t get properly cooked pancakes (1 – 2 tablespoon extra should be ok). I also added a heap of spices in my batter because I like spiced pumpkin (who doesn’t). And don’t forget the salt: it brings out the flavour of all the different ingredients and makes them taste just that much better.

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VEGAN GLUTEN FREE PUMPKIN PANCAKES
Recipe Type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Vegan, gluten free
Author: Little Green Habits
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 15
These are tasty, gluten–free, tender vegan pumpkin pancakes which are healthy, simple and easy to make. Perfect for chilly winter mornings.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • ¾ cup non-dairy milk + 1 tbsp of lemon juice
  • 1/3 cup packed pumpkin puree
  • ¼ cup tapioca starch
  • ¼ cup potato starch
  • 4 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil (melted)
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon bicarbonate soda
  • 1 teaspoon allspice/pimento
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Combine 3/4 cup milk and lemon juice and let rest for 5 minutes to curdle. Then add melted coconut oil, maple syrup, pumpkin, vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
  2. Add flour, tapioca and potato starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt and all spices into Cuisine Companion equipped with the mixing blade. Mix using P9 for 5 second.
  3. Add the wet ingredients and mix using P7 for 10 second.
  4. If you don’t have a Cuisine Companion, sift flour, tapioca and potato starch, baking soda, baking powder, salt and all spices together into a large bowl. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir well until smooth.
  5. Let the batter sit for 15-20 minutes before cooking the pancakes. This gives time for the baking powder and starch to soak up the liquid, which in turn produces a fluffy, well cooked pancake.
  6. Heat up a non-stick pan over low heat. Your pan needs to heat up for ten minutes, so there is even cooking with each pancake.
  7. I used a 4.5 inch round cookie cutter to produce perfectly round and evenly cooked pancakes. If you do this, place the cookie cutter on the hot pan and then spray the whole of the inside with non-stick spray. You must use non-stick spray, or the pancakes will stick to the pan. Once ready, add about 1/4 cup of batter to the pan and quickly smooth out the top with the back of a spoon. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the top is looking dry and the edges are dry and firm. Flip over and cook another 2 minutes. Let the pancake to cool down a little before serving to improve the texture.
  8. Serve with maple syrup, additional pureed pumpkin or whatever else you desire. The pancakes reheat well the next day in the microwave.

Roasted pumpkin and lentil salad with shiso leaves

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I’ve only started using purple leaves or shiso leaves (also known as perilla leaves) a few months ago when I discovered this interesting looking plant amongst all the familiar herbs in the vegetables section. It has a very fragrant smell and it has this striking purple colour on one side of the leaf and a deep green colour on the other side. If you’re familiar with Japanese or Korean food, you may have come across this item without realising it (which I did). It is very popular in Korean cuisine in particular and is usually served pickled.

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It tastes somewhat like coriander (has a fragant note to it) but not as strong. At first, I didn’t know what to use it with so I experimented a fair bit. It seems to work on a lot of things. At the very least, it never ruined anything to which I added the shiso leaves. It adds an interesting flavour to Chinese stir-fries and it gives any salad I make a nice herbaceous twist.

It turns out that shiso leaves are rich in dietary fibre, essential minerals such as calcium, iron and potassium, and vitamins A, C and riboflavin, and the leaf components are undergoing research for potential anti-inflammatory properties. Needless to say, there are many reasons to try this delicious herb.

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One night recently I was rushed for time and had to make something quickly for dinner. So I made pumpkin and lentil salad with shiso leaves (among a few other things) and I was really surprised with how well it turned out. There’s not much preparation involved with this. Just roast the pumpkin (you can even leave the skin on if you can’t be bothered peeling it), cook the lentils, chop the shiso leaves, and combine everything in the bowl with olive oil and some seasonings. It is a great salad to have when you need something quick but more substantial than just salad greens.

Roasted pumpkin and lentil salad with shiso leaves
Recipe Type: Salad
Cuisine: Glutenfree, sugarfree, vegan and paleo
Author: Keren
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
A delicious and comforting salad that equally light and satisfying. It’s low in fat, high in fibers, vitamins and minerals and full of fresh flavours and aroma.
Ingredients
  • Half of butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into big chunks
  • 4 sprigs of shiro leaves (about 10 medium size leaves)
  • 1 cup of green lentils, rinse well
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1/3 cup of roasted pinenuts (optional but highly recommended)
  • Sea salt
  • Cracked pepper
Instructions
  1. Place pumpkin onto a nonstick roasting pan. Drizzle with about 1 tablespoon olive oil and generously sprinkle with sea salt. Toss to mix. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 25 minutes or until cooked (if you can pierce it using a fork, it’s done).
  2. Meanwhile, transfer the lentil into a pan and cover with water, add 1/2 tsp of salt. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Turn down the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes until the lentils are tender but not mushy. Drain and rinse in cold water
  3. When the pumpkin is cooked, remove from the oven and let stand for 5-10 minutes until cool enough to handle. Chop into cubes.
  4. Pick shiso leaves from the sprigs. To chop the leaves,stack them on top of each other, roll them into a cigar and then slice thinly.
  5. Transfer all ingredients into a bowl, drizzle with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
  6. Devour!
Notes
To roast pine nuts:[br]You can roast them in the oven for 15 minutes at 170C but the quickest way is on the stove. Heat a dry non-stick pan (no oil, no nothing) over medium heat for a couple minutes and add the pinenuts. Allow the pinenuts to toast for 30 – 45 seconds and then toss them in the pan. Repeat this process every 30 seconds until you start seeing them just turning brown, then remove and let them cool.[br][br]Be careful not to burn them.  They can go from nicely browned to burnt very quickly, so keep an eye on them.

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