Plant Based Banana Pancakes

I love to cook. It’s an outlet that not only uses your creativity and personal taste – but also requires past experience and technical skills. Together, these aspects of cooking allow you to transform ingredients into delicious meals that provide an experience, invoke feelings, give us energy to continue living, and heal our bodies.

Pancakes, although a very simple meal, are a part of some very happy memories in my childhood. I made pancakes with my Grandfather, brother and cousin, every morning after we had a sleepover together. But these weren’t just any pancakes – they were Zig-a-Bowlee pancakes (a special club that only the four of us belonged to). And only Zigs could eat them! (Sorry, Grandma!)

We got to add fun sugary ingredients, like M&M’s, Smarties or Reese’s Pieces (because Grandparents are really good at pumping you full of sugar) and sometimes we tried Grandpa’s “boring” blueberry pancakes. Adding whipped cream or sugar-free syrup on top (because Grandpa was diabetic).

And even though we were very young, we all had a job to do: my brother was the egg cracker (we used his head to crack the eggs), I was the ingredient measurer and my cousin was the mixer. My Grandpa was very good at making us all feel included and always empowered us to do things for ourselves.

We lost my Grandfather last year, so I really cherish these seemingly simple, but very beautiful memories we created together.

Now, our family is creating new pancake memories with my little niece (and future Zig-a-bowlee). She loves sitting on the counter and helping her Dad make pancakes, and it inspired me to come up with a plant based version that I could enjoy guilt-free!

So, I found a few different recipes online, and in typical Amber fashion – tweaked them a bit so that they were simple and delicious. Without further adieu – below is my version of a Vegan Banana Pancake!

MAKE IT SUSTAINABLE! Make sure you are purchasing organic bananas and avoid purchasing ingredients with plastic packaging (soy milk / vegan butter / cinnamon / salt / baking powder / maple syrup). And don’t forget to save your banana peels for later use! We turned them into fly catchers inside the house, but here are 10 Interesting Ways You Can Use Banana Peels.

I’d love to hear what you put on top of your Vegan Banana Pancakes in the comment section below! For the record – I don’t particularly love soy milk, but you could not tell that these pancakes had soy milk in them whatsoever! And if you are not a fan of cinnamon, cocoa powder would be a very delicious alternative – chocolate and bananas? Everyone loves that combo!

These pancakes keep well in the fridge, and although I haven’t frozen them – I Imagine they would keep well in the freezer too! I re-heated them in the pan, and topped with vegan butter and maple syrup.

I also made these pancakes LIVE on Instagram – if you want to watch the video, check out my IGTV here!

Amber Roy is a modern day hippie on a mission to empower others to introduce more eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle practices in their day-to-day lives.

She divides her time between Alberta and southern Italy with her husband, Stefano, and their daughter, Charli, where together as a family they continue to slow down and build a more sustainable life.