Wholesome, healthy pancakes, naturally sweet. I originally found these at Brunch & Cake in Barcelona and then went for a recipe hunt to incorporate them into our brunch regulars. I found a recipe over at Lorraine Elliott's page, which comes pretty close. Apparently her recipe is adapted from this one at Pinch and Swirl…so the recipe has been evolving and you can try different versions and pick which one you like best. 😉 Sadly Brunch & Cake stopped making these, otherwise I would tell you to take the next [flight/train/car/bus/Lime] and go there immediately to try their delicious version. I only made minor adaptations.
Ingredients
- 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 cup milk I use coconut milk. Buttermilk also works like a charm.
- 1/2 cup ricotta You can substitute greek yoghurt or quark.
- 2 medium ripe bananas You can use one, but I enjoy the banana taste.
- 3-5 Medjool dates *see note below
- 2 eggs
- 1 pack vanilla sugar or Vanilla aroma, if you prefer not to add any sugar.
Instructions
- Put all the good stuff in a blender and blend, blend, blend until beautiful and smooth
- Now comes the tricky part. You want the pancakes to be brown but not too brown, cooked, but not too cooked. I have made these on a small pan, large pan, and one with mini pancake holes. The latter one was by far the easiest to not overcook things. I have made them on a regular stove and induction stove and nearly burned them on both. On both I first melted either butter or coconut oil on slightly higher than medium heat, before adding the batter, then covered with a top, reduced the heat to medium, and let it cook for a few minutes until the top is somewhat solid. If you wait too long to flip them, they will be very dark.
- Now, here is the deal: you MUST cover them with tons of fruit and granola. It just makes them extra awesome. The great thing is, even if you didn't manage to flip them before they turn a bit too dark (like me many times), if you cover them with all sorts of toppings, nobody will notice! As long as you didn't let them get charcoil black, they will just taste a bit more toasty. I usually take a big spoon of yoghurt, put it in the middle of the pancake, drizzle with honey, and cover in fruit and granola, leaving just a bit of yoghurt to show in the middle (as you can see in the above picture). If you make many small ones, you can put a bit of yoghurt in between each piece, as below. Mangos, berries, apples all work super well.
Notes
Look at this beauty, so nice and covered in toppings. Do as I say and I do and cover them, too!
I’ve tried making them on these pans, all works. The batter will be pretty thick, so even if you have a big pan, you can put some badder in the middle and ladle on more batter on top, so that it doesn’t cover the full pan. I love the small ones most though.
*Note on Medjool dates
Because I know you might ask: no, it won’t be the same if you subsitute with normal dates. If you want to add a caramelly sweetness to your pancakes, find yourself some medjool dates. Otherwise leave them out (I made them without for years, before I discovered this was the secret ingredient of the pancakes at Brunch & Cake!).
I’ve tried making them on these pans, all works. The batter will be pretty thick, so even if you have a big pan, you can put some badder in the middle and ladle on more batter on top, so that it doesn’t cover the full pan. I love the small ones most though.
*Note on Medjool dates
Because I know you might ask: no, it won’t be the same if you subsitute with normal dates. If you want to add a caramelly sweetness to your pancakes, find yourself some medjool dates. Otherwise leave them out (I made them without for years, before I discovered this was the secret ingredient of the pancakes at Brunch & Cake!). 
