Simply Pure Baby's 1st Pancake "Cake"

Good morning and happy Friday!!  Well I am absolutely delighted to see that I have a few more followers and that I am getting some random comments here and there as a new blogger it is so motivating to know that there are people reading things on the other side.  I wanted to comment further on Baby's 1st Muffins I have experimented further with a few batches tonight I am going to revise the recipe removing banana as optional as I tried with and without and the muffins are sturdier with the banana - so I do hope that fixes things for anyone who didn't have luck... allowing your "flax" egg to gel up is also an essential step hope that helps... in vegan baking there are many different tricks to getting things to "stay" together... flax egg is one of my favorites packs a nice punch of "hidden" omega's as well!!

So a few weeks ago my hubby piloted baby's 1st pancakes as you will recall:

They turned out great but I felt that there had to be a better way to make pancakes... so I baked a pancake "cake" (using my pancake batter) and it turned out beautifully... no fuss no mess a healthier alternative to frying pancakes added bonus all the pancakes are ready at the same time so this is a perfect breakfast for your family to all eat together.

Simply Pure Baby's 1st Pancake "Cake"
Wheat Free - Egg Free - Dairy Free

1 cup Oatmeal flour (you can purchase or grind your oatmeal into flour)
1 1/4 cup Large flake oatmeal (processed into smaller flakes in food processor, optional)
1/2 cup Spelt flour (or flour of your choice)
1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used whole organic soy milk) with 1 tsp lemon juice (to make 'sour' milk)
2 egg replacers (2T of flax + 6T water allow to 'gel' before mixing with other liquids) or you may use eggs
2T maple syrup
1 ripe banana, mashed

1) Preheat oven to 350F, line a 9x13" pan with parchment paper.  In large bowl stir together flour, oat flakes, baking soda and baking powder until blended, in a small separate bowl mix egg replacer and allow to sit for a  few min until it 'gels'.

2) Add milk, egg replacer, banana, milk and syrup to the dry mixture stir until just mixed (avoid over stirring). 

3) Place in oven 15min or until edges are lightly brown, allow to cool for 10min then remove from pan and slice into desired shape (you could even cut them with cookie cutters to make them fun) top with pure maple syrup or your favorite pancake toppings (remember this is a pancake "cake" so they are not meant to be sweet - for extra sweetness add an additional 2 tbsp of maple syrup) OR for traditional pancakes omit baking powder.  Heat frying pan over medium heat, lightly oil pan place 3/4c of batter in pan, cover with a lid let sit for a few min (2-3) until the center begins to bubble, then flip, flatten if desired cover and cook a few more min (photos above). 

4) Serve immediately while warm or store in refrigerator for up to 3 days, or simply freeze in an air tight container (you have probably realized that I freeze everything it's a fantastic way to always have healthy food choices at your finger tips - we'll talk about my frozen homemade vegan cookie stash at another time haha).

Makes the perfect breakfast for babies and toddlers that want to feed themselves chop into sticks or cubes serve +/- banana, place on their tray also makes a quick healthy breakfast for mom or dad.

Variations - you could add 1/2 cup infant cereal instead of spelt flour, you could add 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce instead of banana, you could add blueberries, ground flax, bran, liquids would have to be adjusted accordingly of course... possibilities are endless... let your baby be the guide...

So as you can imagine juggling family, work, exercise and cooking that I am always fitting things in when I can so sometimes I don't get all the pictures that I want (especially) the mixing process and such... my intentions are good and will continue to be... I know the step by step pictures are helpful.  

Yesterday Julia and I were out running a bunch of errands and we stopped at the Stone Store it's this great little health store in town here, they seem to have everything that you could ever need in there we weren't up for browsing we just needed some brown rice syrup and sucanat.  Once we got home Julia was crawling all over holding this bag of sucanat like her favorite doll (wish I had a picture) which got me looking at the bottle of brown rice syrup and started making me think about the difference between all these sweeteners... agave nector, honey, maple sryup, brown rice syrup, corn syrup, brown sugar, sucant and the list goes one... so it became obvious to me that I need to do a post on "sweeteners" what to use when etc... Do you have a favorite sweetener that you use in your baking?

Hope you and your family can enjoy a pancake "cake" this weekend... let me know if you make any variations and how they worked out? I love new ideas I am feeling raspberry pancakes might even sweeten with a splash of our homemade jam... speaking of new things I follow this blog Oh She Glows and she is always talking about "VOO" aka "vegan overnight oats" I was complete skeptic cause you don't actually "cook" the oatmeal but curiosity got the best of me and I have some sitting in the fridge for breakfast this am... will keep you posted if they are as good as everyone raves I will be babyizing the recipe this weekend.

Alight time to go... coming up next all about pesto - February has been pesto month in our household and it is time to unleash what has unfolded... I think March is going to be bread month... time for me to face my fear of "making" bread... :-) Have you ever made bread? Any tips or tricks?

Enjoy your weekend take some time for yourself - simply -  pure - wonderful...

Jessica  :-)