Single Serving Vegan Pancakes

Who doesn't look forward to a long-awaited day off from work?

And, more importantly, let's talk about what you'll do on your coveted day off.

For me, the only way to start an off-from-work day is with a not-so-ordinary breakfast. A bowl of cereal with a banana simply does not make the cut, folks. That's definitely a Work Day Breakfast.

Instead, I turn to my single serving Vegan Pancake recipe. I discovered this recipe for Blueberry Pie Pancakes on Katie's blog a few months ago, and it's rare that I've gone a week without making it since.

This special breakfast is super-fast to pull together, ridiculously delicious (blueberry pie for breakfast anyone?) and oh-so-healthy. Plus, the single serving size ensures that you don't go overboard on the first meal of the day (when faced with unlimited quantities of delicious food, I have no shame).

This morning, I started my day off with a scrumptious plate of pancakes, the latest edition of Vegetarian Times, and a little Today Show action on TV.

Life is good :)

Do you have a day from work coming up? These are some of my favorite "Day Off" breakfasts:

• Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns
• Donut Muffins
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns
• Blueberry-Banana Yogurt Pancakes
• Carrot Cake Pancakes

Single-Serving Blueberry Pie Pancakes (Vegan)

(adapted from Katie's recipe at Chocolate Covered Katie)

These can also serve as a quick work-day breakfast. Just measure and mix the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl the night before. In the morning, add the wet ingredients and blueberries, and you're ready to go!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup flour (I use whole wheat)
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 TBSP rolled oats
• 1 tsp. brown sugar (if you like sweeter pancakes, you may want to add more sugar)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, unsweetened
• 1/2 cup blueberries, coarsely mashed (I mash after I stir them into the batter)
• 2 TBSP toasted chopped walnuts

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well-combined. Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray liberally with cooking spray. Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop 2 pancakes onto the skillet. Cook for about 2 - 4 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom. Flip and repeat on the opposite side. Serve with blueberry sauce.

Pancakes and Fraggle Rock

What more can a gal ask for than to wake up to a steaming stack o' hot-cakes on her birthday?

Not much. Unless, of course, they happen to be Lemon-Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes. That makes for an extremely joyous birthday girl.

It's true, friends. I turned 27 yesterday. I'm inching my way closer to 30 every day, and yet I'm still commonly mistaken for a high school student (Try as I might, even my "grown-up" clothes don't seem to cue people that I was born in the era of Fraggle Rock and Cabbage Patch kids....not the Jonas Brothers and iCarly.).

I wear my age badge with pride, and delight in the fact I typically go to bed before 11:00pm, prefer NPR to pop radio, and enjoy a good Sunday morning crossword puzzle with my husband.

My student intern recently told me that I was born "old." I laughed heartily. And then smugly smiled to myself...I love being an adult, and I have no doubt that I was genetically designed to wake up at 6:00am.

But let's get to the good stuff. You didn't tune in to hear me rave about my aging pride. You're here for those hotcakes. Adam made a steaming good stack of Lemon-Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes for my birthday breakfast, and they certainly got my day off on the right foot. As you know, my pancake preference is loaded up with lots of mix-ins, so these babies were weighty with blueberries, chopped walnuts, and a healthy dose of flaxseed. Adam noted that the batter was a bit too liquidy for him, so he plans on reducing the amount next time around.

So let's raise our glasses to the beauty of aging. And cheers to all those other 1980s babies out there-- Smurfs, splatter paint, and teased bangs define who we are today.

Lemon-Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes

(adapted from a recipe in Veganomicon Cookbook)

I love lemon-blueberry combos. These two fruits were designed to go together, and when you throw in some course-grain cornmeal, you're truly in breakfast paradise.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. flaxseed
• 2 TBSP nonfat vanilla yogurt
• 1 - 1/4 cups milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 TBSP maple syrup
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
• 1 cup of blueberries
• Blueberry Sauce for topping

Directions:

1) Preheat a griddle to 350 degrees and prepare with cooking spray.

2) Mix dry ingredients (first 6 ingredients) together in a large bowl. Gently stir in the remaining ingredients, through the lemon zest. Fold in walnuts and blueberries.

3) Use a 1/4 measuring cup to pour batter onto the griddle. Cook until browned on the bottom and bubbles form on the top, about 4 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until the bottom is browned. Serve with blueberry sauce.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

I love election days.

I'm allowed this one day, each year, to wear my awesome feminist voting T-shirt. I've rocked this shirt for my first 8 years as a voting citizen, and I certainly hope I'm still donning it on election day when I'm 55 years old.

I know: I'm a total nerd. But I'm okay with that.

As an adult, I now have one more reason to love election days: a day off work! Election day is a University holiday here, so Adam and I have the day off to galavant around town and have some work-free fun.

To celebrate our mid-week holiday, Pumpkin-Pecan Pancakes were in order. Holy Moly these puppies were good. I enjoyed mine with a little maple syrup, but I imagine a dollop of pumpkin butter would be equally as tasty if you have some on hand.

Similar to the other P-cakes we make, these guys are dense, filling, and virtually fat free (well, they're completely fat free if you omit the pecans). We don't mess around with the "light n' fluffy" pancake business around here. It's a fiber-licious breakfast world at our kitchen table.

Pumpkin Pecan Pancakes

(adapted from Nava Atlas' recipe in The Vegetarian Family Cookbook)

Good morning, Autumn sunshine! Nothing beats spiced pumpkin-pecan pancakes on a cool November morning. With flax seed, pecans, and pumpkin puree, these hot-cakes are a nutritional powerhouse in the breakfast world.

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (you can sub in part whole wheat flour )desired)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2/3 tsp. baking soda
• 2 TBSP ground flaxseed
• 1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• about 1 TBSP cinnamon (yep, it's a lot! you can add your cinnamon to taste)
• a sprinkling of nutmeg
• 1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans

Directions:

1) Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Gently fold in wet ingredients until just combined. Stir in chopped pecans

2) Heat griddle to 350 degrees and coat well with cooking spray. Pour pancake batter on griddle (each pancake was about 1/3 cup of batter). Cook for approximately 4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.

Saturday Morning Routine

Saturday mornings are insanely predictable around here.

And I love every minute of it.

1) Early morning run? Check.

2) Husband making pancakes? Absolutely.

3) Cookbooks spread out on breakfast table? Ready and waiting.

What can I say? I'm a creature of habit.

We started this little routine when we got married, and it didn't take long for me to realize that Adam's Saturday morning pancakes (or waffles) would be one of the highlights of the weekend. When it comes to breakfast goods, the man knows what I love: heavy on the "fillers," with an inordinate amount of fresh fruit and nuts mixed right into the batter.

While the summer brought several weeks of berry and banana pancake variations, today marked a seasonal turning point for the weekend breakfast menu: Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes with Chunky Apple Walnut Sauce. (Honestly? We're still working on that bushel of apples we inherited 3 weeks ago).

These p-cakes hit the spot, friends. They were the perfect start to a fall weekend, and a wonderful accompaniment to our weekly recipe/menu-planning session. (Menu-planning session? Really? My nerdy qualities are so blatant, there's just no hiding them.)

While we served our flapjacks with some chunky apple n' nut sauce, I could see natural nut butter being an awesome topping as well. I think I see an afternoon snack in my future....

Happy Saturday :)

What's your favorite weekend routine?

Apple Cinnamon Pancakes with Chunky Apple-Walnut Sauce

(Pancake recipe adapted from Nava Atlas' The Vegetarian Family Cookbook)

We add (what some might consider) a ridiculous amount of fruit to our pancakes, making them more heavy and dense than your traditional flapjack. Feel free to adjust the amounts to suit your liking.

Ingredients:

• 1 - 1/3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour (or a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat; we used 1 cup all-purpose and 1/3 cup whole wheat)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2/3 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground flaxseeds
• 1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt
• 3/4 cup skim milk (or sub in soy or almond milk)
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon (approximately)
• Sprinkling of nutmeg
• Small splash of vanilla
• 2 cups chopped apples
• Optional: toasted, chopped walnuts (we left them out today since we loaded chopped walnuts into the sauce).

Directions:

1) Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Gently fold in yogurt and milk. Add in seasonings and stir until just combined. Gently fold in apples (and nuts, if using).

2) Heat a non-stick griddle that has been coated with cooking spray (and/or butter if you prefer) to medium heat. Pour batter onto griddle in 1/3 cup-fuls. Allow to cook until lightly browned, then flip to cook other side until lightly browned (approximately 4 minutes per side).

3) Top with Chunky Apple Walnut Sauce (recipe below), or nut butter, or your own awesome creation.

Chunky Apple-Walnut Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped apple
• 1/2 to 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce (depending on how much "sauce" you want in there)
• 3 - 4 TBSP water
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 - 3 TBSP brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

Directions:

1) In a saucepan, combine apples, applesauce, water, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Heat on medium heat until bubbly (about 4 -5 minutes). Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until apples are tender. Season to taste.

2) Top your p-cakes with this apple-licious sauce :)

Carrot Cake...for Breakfast?

When it comes to cake, there are few flavors I prefer over a dense, moist, and oh-so-tasty slice of carrot cake. I love my carrot cake loaded with the "extras:" walnuts, pineapple, lots of carrot, and a thick layer of homemade cream cheese frosting. Hungry yet?

Although I would never consider having a slice of the aforementioned carroty-goodness for breakfast, I had no problem enjoying Adam's "Carrot Cake Pancakes" for breakfast this morning. We spotted the recipe in Cooking Light this winter, but had not yet experimented with it (banana and berry pancakes have been the theme around here for the past few months). After this morning's test batch though, I can say with great certainty that these pancakes will enter the weekend breakfast rotation.

A few notes on variations:

• I LOVE toasted nuts of all kinds. We added more than the recipe indicates, but you can eliminate them altogether if you're not a nut-head like me :)
• Toppings: We mixed 3 TBSP of butter and 2TBSP of honey (split between us) to top our pancakes. Yum-O! You could also top them with syrup, natural nut butter, bananas, or whipped cinnamon cream cheese.

Carrot Cake Pancakes (adapted from Cooking Light recipe, January 2010 issue)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour

1/4 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Dash of ground ginger

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup skim milk

1 TBSP canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups finely grated carrot

Directions:

1) Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

2) Combine remaining ingredients in a medium-size bowl. Gently add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring until combined.

3) Coat griddle with cooking spray (or, use butter to grease if you prefer), and heat griddle to 350 degrees.

4) Spoon batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto the griddle and spread with a spatula. Cook until top is covered with bubbles (approximately 2 minutes), and then flip. Cook until bottom is lightly browned.

5) Top with your favorite topping (We used honey butter).

6) Revel in the carroty-goodness of your breakfast :)