Cake for breakfast

How can a dish as old as pancakes still feel like something special, tens of thousands of years later?

For most modern Western cooks, I’d say, pancakes are an indulgence — not something you make day in and day out, but maybe once a week if you have kids, maybe every couple of months or even less frequently if you don’t?

Why is that? They’re not hard to make, nor particularly time-consuming, but they certainly take longer to get from concept to table than, say, a protein bar or a bowl of cereal. (Not that you need a table for a protein bar.) And most people’s mornings are a blur. Even for someone who retired (early!) like me, knowing that this might be one of those days when The Teenager wants a ride to school — or maybe even a homemade breakfast sandwich — makes my a.m. routine tightly scheduled.

In this week's newsletter

• I break for animals: Elvis

• Recipe: Fluffy Pancakes

• More favorite pancake recipes

The issue, I think, is that they seem unhealthy. So many simple carbs, so little protein! And heaven forbid you consume such conspicuous sugar for anything but dessert, right?

None of that, to me, argues that pancakes should be banned from your table. It just means they should be thought of as the treat they are. Make them fun, make them tasty, make them occasionally, and enjoy every bite.

Plant-based pancakes have their pros and cons. Besides all the other reasons you might want to eating this way (the environment, the animals, health concerns), at the top of that “pros” list is the fact that you can make them with all, or almost all, shelf-stable ingredients, which means they can always be within reach.

Getting them as fluffy as those made with eggs is really a cinch: You just add a little vinegar to help goose the baking powder’s leavening. And then it’s just a matter of whatever add-ins you prefer.

And I’ll admit, I always want add-ins. Ever since my childhood, when my mother would lay slices of bananas on the round of batter right in the pan before flipping, I’ve loved doing the same. It’s particularly fun when you’re cooking for a group, because you can have all manner of fruits and nuts ready to mix, match and customize.

As you’ll see in the recipe below, I save the most indulgent variation for last. Rather than layering on apple or cherry slices, or stirring blueberries into the batter, you whisk cocoa into the dry ingredients, fold in chocolate chips, and sprinkle chopped hazelnuts on once the rounds are in the skillet.

How indulgent is that? Not as indulgent as smearing them with Nutella, but, hey, that could be fun, too, don’t you think? Once in a while.

I break for animals:
Elvis

Recipe: Fluffy Pancakes

Makes 4 servings (8 to 10 pancakes, depending on the variation)

Time: Weekday // Storage: Refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

• 1½ cups (188g) all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

• 1¼ cups (300ml) any unsweetened plant-based milk

• 4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted vegan butter, melted and cooled, plus more for serving

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 2 to 3 teaspoons neutral oil

• Maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 200°F (90°C). Set a large sheet pan in the oven while it heats.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the milk, melted butter, vinegar, and vanilla and whisk until just combined, with lumps but no dry spots.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brush the skillet with 2 teaspoons of oil.

Scoop about ⅓ cup (80ml) batter onto one side of the skillet and repeat on the other side. Cook the pancakes until bubbles form and pop along the edges and they are lightly browned on the bottom, 1 to 2 minutes. Use a spatula to flip them over and cook on the other side until puffed and lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to the sheet pan in the oven.

Repeat to make more pancakes, brushing the skillet with a little more oil, as needed. Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

Variations

Some additions taste great merely stirred into the batter, while for others I add them to the uncooked side of the pancakes in the skillet right after pouring in the batter. This way the add-ins brown, toast, and/or soften on the bottom. Make sure to flip those pancakes one more time when you serve them, so the additions are showcased on top.

Blueberry Lemon Cardamom Pancakes
Stir 1 cup (130g) blueberries, 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon ground cardamom into the batter.

Banana Walnut Pancakes
Cut 3 ripe bananas into ¼-inch (6mm) slices and very coarsely chop ½ cup (50g) walnuts. Right after you pour the batter into the skillet, place a layer of bananas on top and sprinkle with walnuts.

Apple Cinnamon Pecan Pancakes
Thinly slice 2 large apples and very coarsely chop ½ cup (50g) pecans. Whisk 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon into the dry ingredients. Right after you pour the batter into the skillet, place a layer of apple slices on top and sprinkle with pecans.

Pumpkin Five-Spice Pancakes
Whisk 1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder into the dry ingredients. Stir ½ cup (122g) unsweetened pumpkin puree into the batter.

Cherry Pistachio Pancakes
Pit and halve 1 pint (210g) sweet cherries and very coarsely chop ½ cup (60g) pistachios. Right after you pour the batter into the skillet, place a layer of cherry halves on top and sprinkle with pistachios.

Matcha Raspberry Pancakes
Sift 1 tablespoon culinary-grade matcha over the dry ingredients, and whisk to combine. Fold 1 pint (250g) raspberries into the batter.

Chocolate Hazelnut Pancakes
Coarsely chop ½ cup (70g) hazelnuts. Whisk ¼ cup (23g) Dutch process cocoa powder into the dry ingredients. Fold ½ cup (120g) vegan chocolate chips into the batter. Right after you pour the batter into the skillet, sprinkle with hazelnuts.

Recipe from “Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking” (Ten Speed Press, 2024), copyright Joe Yonan.

More favorite pancake recipes

These are gift links to the recipes at the Post. Note that they require you to register but not subscribe. Gift links are free to access for 2 weeks, so if you want to come back to any of these recipes but don’t subscribe or want to subscribe, I suggest you find a way to save them!

Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes

Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes

Sheet Pan Pancakes