These naturally gluten free, vegan and high protein pancakes these are a great start to the day.

Chickpea pancakes?

Not many people would put chickpea and pancakes in the same sentence and think, hmm sounds good! I know I know, I had my reservations too. I’ve only ever used chickpea flour in savoury recipes.

But after being a gluten free mum for the last few years, I have tried every flour on the market. I’ve used every single gluten free flour out there into pancakes but I kept seeing chickpea flour baked into sweet pancakes…and I just wasn’t keen on the idea.

Typically chickpea flour is used for savoury dishes, especially popular in Indian cuisine. It can be used for a whole range of recipes. I’ve used them as tortilla wraps and it works beautifully. Chickpea flour is also an AMAZING binder, think; fritters, fish cakes and vegan omelettes. But the thought of having it in a sweet recipe left a bitter taste in my mouth. So I mixed it up with my favourite and most reliable flour oat flour.

How does it taste?

The oat flour lends us some sweetness and helps hide any bitter tastes and the apple sauce definitely helps add extra sweetness to the pancakes. Vanilla extra works extremely well in this recipe too, optional but not necessary if you don’t have it on hand. The mix of apple sauce, oats and vanilla definitely helped these pancakes actually taste like pancakes and not a bitter mess. I really enjoyed these pancakes and so did the kids. The chickpea flour is extremely faint due to the oats and apple purée.

Can we appreciate the beautiful brown colour on these pancakes? They flipped so easily and the colour is stunning.

Protein pancakes

Chickpeas are filled with protein and so having them in pancakes gives you super nutrient dense pancakes. If you can’t do eggs, nuts or you are vegan then these are definitely the pancakes for you. Vegan and naturally gluten free form of protein in each bite and nut free incase of allergens.

Chickpea flour has approximately 20grams of protein per cup so it’s more protein dense than regular flour which is why I started eating these a lot more the last few days.

I am currently observing the holy month of Ramadan and these pancakes are on rotation in our house. They give me slow releasing energy and the protein I need for the day. I like to mix these pancakes with a filling smoothie to keep me going.

Kid friendly

I tried this recipe on the kids first and they actually didn’t bat an eyelid. That’s when I thought I was on to something. The kids didn’t notice a thing and gobbled these up. Theres many variations that can be made with chickpea flour. I have done this with banana too and with an egg. The pancakes are definitely more fluffy with an egg and even harder to detect the chickpea flour.

This recipe is a great way to add protein in your child’s diet especially first thing in the morning before school. They are also a great midday snack, as these high protein pancakes are nut free they also make a great kids lunch box filler too.

Hope you are not too suspect to try chickpea pancakes anymore. Grab the recipe below and have a try yourself.

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Chickpea and Oat pancakes (gluten fee and vegan)

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 1 cup oats
• 1/3 cup chickpea flour
• 1/4 cup apple sauce (for sugar OR honey change the 1/4 cup to 2 tablespoons)
• 1 cup plant based milk (or regular milk if not dairy free or vegan)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract optional

Instructions

1. In a blender add all the ingredients into and blitz away.

2. Once smooth , heat up a skillet to medium high heat and when hot pour pancakes too the same equal sizes. I like to use a 1/4 cup scoop.

3. Once finished I like to serve with honey, yogurt and fruit. My kids have had these with chocolate and banana many mornings, so delicious!