Magical 3 ingredient sweet potato pancakes

Happy Thanksgiving! Today, I am so thankful to be able to do what I love most… cook some delicious food.

Fluffy, soft, slightly sweet, slightly salty pancakes perfect for any occasion.

These egg-free pancakes are great by themselves or topped with just about anything (cheese, jam, maple syrup, etc.). This recipe is dairy free, however you can swap water with milk in this recipe for richer flavor.

My favorite way to eat these pancakes is as a dessert, topped with chocolate frosting (2 Tbs honey mixed with 2 Tbs cocoa powder). It tastes like doughnuts!

I am using green – not ripe bananas and so the pancakes by themselves are not really sweet at all. But they do taste great with either sweet or savory toppings.

The 3 primary ingredients are: sweet potato, green banana and flour.

Sweet potatoes are a wonderful source of magnesium, potassium, fiber, vitamin A, C, B complex, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and zinc- although nutrient content varies considerably based on the soil. Recently Nathan and I have discovered white and purple sweet potatoes, each with distinctive flavors that would probably be great in this recipe. The richer the color of the potato, the more antioxidants it has. The sweet potato is what provides these pancakes with a unique texture.

Fun fact: Sweet potatoes are the state vegetable of North Carolina. This state is responsible for over half of America’s sweet potato production.

Root vegetables in general are associated with grounding, the root chakra and sacral chakra. In Lessons from a Living Lemuria, Magenta Pixie describes root vegetables as having the power to unveil buried traumas and subconscious belief systems, moving them to the surface where they can be noticed, addressed and potentially transmuted.

From this perspective, we can also get a spiritual benefit from eating sweet potato (and other root veggies) this Thanksgiving. Yum!

Green bananas are a must have in my kitchen. We use them in almost everything… breads, pancakes, soups, stews, salads etc. These are a great source of healthy carbohydrates, potassium, calcium, magnesium, vitamin C and folate. Consuming green bananas can help regulate blood pressure, blood sugar and improve digestion. These act as both an oil and egg replacement in the pancakes.

Any flour you like can be used in this recipe although you may need to adjust the amount. For example, coconut flour is very dry and so the recipe will require less of it. You won’t need to use much flour anyway thanks to the starchy properties of the green bananas. For firmer pancakes, use the full cup of flour. For softer texture, use less.

Ingredients...

2 sweet potatoes

3 green bananas

1 cup rye flour

Pinch of salt

Oil for frying

1 cup or less water

Equipment...

Cast iron pan

High speed blender

small spatula or fork 

cutting board 

knife

large bowl

Here's how...

First, boil the sweet potatoes until soft. This step can be done in advance. The sweet potatoes can also be baked instead.

Meanwhile, peel the green bananas and cut into small chunks. Add the chunks of banana to high speed blender with a little bit of water. Blend the bananas, using the tamper and the least amount of water possible until a smooth slightly runny paste is formed.

Now add the cooked sweet potatoes into the blender and blend until smooth. 

Transfer the batter to a mixing bowl and fold in the flour and salt.

Heat up the cast iron pan over medium heat. Once the pan has fully preheated, add spoonful’s of batter to the pan.

Add more salt on top immediately after frying and enjoy.

Can be saved in the fridge for up to one week.

Today I made these pancakes with white sweet potatoes for the first time and they were great! We didn’t even put anything on them.

I also used raw milk instead of water in the above recipe and cooked on the fire, both of these improve the flavor and texture as well.

I burnt them a little, but they were still so good!

More sweet potato recipes coming soon… including sweet potato ice cream and sweet potato pie :)

Thanks so much for reading and happy Thanksgiving!

~Julia