Kicking off the New Year with fluffy and delicious sweet potato pancakes.
Because what better way to start off 2018 than with pancake breakfast in bed. And that’s exactly what I’m doing.
There was a time in my life when New Years meant big parties and staying up all night. Now my idea of a party is a good night sleep and a pancake breakfast loaded with all the things.
And I’m OK with that. It’s been a crazy whirlwind of a few years juggling my family, my business, and healing from chronic illness at the same time. There’s nothing like having your health and wellbeing stripped from you to make you appreciate the simple things in life. Now that I’m on the mend and feeling more like myself, I’ve made a promise to slow down and to really appreciate all the wonderful blessings in my life.
I wake up with my sweet family and get to eat clean, healthy food every day. I live in an amazingly beautiful place surrounded by community that supports me. My body is getting healthier and stronger every day. I have the great privilege of working from home and being there for my family when they need me. And as a woman, I feel safe and don’t have to worry about dangers that many woman around the world face every day. It’s all perspective. We can see the cup as half empty or we can see it as half full.
My cup is full, and I just want to celebrate it. And that brings us back to fluffy sweet potato pancakes. In bed. With my family. It’s the little things in life.
These little pancakes are so simple and easy to make. They’re loaded with uber healthy sweet potatoes, naturally sweetened with banana, gluten and grain free, and absolutely delicious. The texture is just right. Fluffy and light. I could eat these EVERY day for breakfast.
I made these fluffy little pancakes with cassava flour, which is a flour that I’ve been experimenting with in my kitchen. I wrote about it in my Guide to Grain Free Flours.
What is cassava flour?
Cassava flour is made from dried and ground cassava (also called yuca), which is a delicious root vegetable. Cassava is a staple crop to millions of inhabitants in South America and parts of Asia and Africa. It is a a starchy, high-carbohydrate tuber – similar to yam, taro, plantains and potato. Cassava is gluten, grain and nut-free, as well as vegan, vegetarian and paleo.
What’s in fluffy sweet potato pancakes?
The ingredient list is short and sweet: sweet potato, banana, eggs, ghee/coconut oil, milk, cassava flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
The secret to getting the pancakes nice and fluffy is to use baking powder instead of baking soda. Baking soda needs an acid to function as a leavening agent, while baking powder does not. It already contains baking soda, along with cream of tartar, an acid, and some sort of starch. If your pancake batter contains no acidic component that would activate plain baking soda, you won’t get the fluffy texture that we all love in pancakes.
Pro Tip: Baking powders traditionally have GMO corn in them. You can find a corn free brand HERE, I prefer to make my own: 1 part baking soda, 2 parts cream of tartar, and 2 parts arrowroot powder.
The best part about these pancakes is the topping options. Blueberries, strawberries, and bananas. Yogurt (I love THIS dairy free brand), almond butter, chia seeds, cacaos nibs, and coconut shreds. The sky really is the limit here.
And yes, they can be meal prepped and frozen for later. Simply cover and reheat in toaster oven or oven at 350’F until warm. My little one loves a big beautiful plate of these before school with all the pretty toppings.
Wishing you are yours a happy and healthy New Year! Hope you get to have pancake breakfast in bed too.
Big love,
Katja
DID YOU MAKE THIS AND LOVE IT? I WANT TO SEE YOUR CREATIONS. SHARE THE LOVE ON INSTAGRAM AND TAG @savorylotus AND USE THE HASHTAG #savorylotus FOR A CHANCE TO BE FEATURED. FOLLOW SAVORY LOTUS ON PINTEREST AND FACEBOOK TO KEEP UP WITH LATEST CONTENT AND UPDATES.
PrintFluffy Sweet Potato Pancakes (gluten free and paleo)
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 four inch pancakes 1x
- Category: breakfast
Description
Healthy and delicious sweet potato pancakes that they whole family will love. Fluffy and light. Gluten free. Paleo.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato **
- 1/2 of a ripe banana, mashed
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp ghee, butter, or coconut oil, melted
- 3 tbsp milk of any kind (or water) (I use THIS)
- 1/2 cup cassava flour (I use THIS brand)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (I like THIS corn free brand)
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- extra fat for cooking
Instructions
- Whisk together sweet potato, banana, and eggs. Add in melted fat and milk and whisk until well incorporated.
- Add in cassava flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk again until smooth. (Batter will be thicker than traditional pancake batter.)
- Heat large skillet or pancake griddle over medium heat and liberally grease with your favorite fat.
- Scoop batter onto a hot skillet, gently smooth out top of pancake and cook until cooked through – about 3 minutes on each side. Lower heat is better for this thick batter as you want to make sure middle gets cooked all the way through.
- Top with all of your favorite things. Enjoy!
Notes
- My favorite way to bake sweet potatoes is inside a dutch oven at 400’F until soft- 45-60 minutes. You can also just poke holes in them and bake right on a baking sheet uncovered at 375’F for about an hour. Peeling and steaming them until soft also works and is a bit faster.
- Baking powders traditionally have GMO corn in them. You can find a corn free brand HERE, I prefer to make my own: 1 part baking soda, 2 parts cream of tartar, and 2 parts arrowroot powder.
- Silicone pancake rings are great for making your pancakes evenly sized and perfectly round.
Keywords: sweet potato pancakes
Click HERE to PIN THIS!
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Amelia says
We made these this morning and they were so good. Thank you for the simple and easy recipe. Your toppings are so cute!
★★★★★
Kerri says
My kids love love these sweet potato pancakes. Their favorite part is all of the fun things we add on top. I am so happy to hear that you are feeling better, Katja. Thank you for always coming up with such family-friendly recipes.
★★★★★
Katja Heino says
Thank you so much, Kerri, for the kind feedback. Kids love these pancakes. I could seriously eat them every day. 🙂
Kate says
Best gluten free pancakes ever. The texture really is so fluffy. Love your photos, BTW.
★★★★★
Katja Heino says
Yay! I’m so glad that you love them. 🙂
Lori says
I just made this recipe with some slight modifications– a full cup of leftover baked sweet potatoes (instead of 1/2 sweet potato + 1/2 banana), a 1/4 cup of walnut milk, and added a 1/2 cup chopped pecans. Instead of pancakes, I used our waffle maker and they turned out fantastic! My four year old just gobbled up an entire generous sized waffle all by herself! 😀 Thanks!
★★★★★
Katja Heino says
Yay! Thanks for sharing your subs. And gotta love it when the littles gobble it up. 🙂
Katie Koenig says
Seriously off the charts good! Thank you so much for bringing your magic to the world ????✨
★★★★★
Katja Heino says
Wow! hanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
Gail Perrotti says
Simply delicious and quite feeling, too.
★★★★★