Vanilla Chai Pancakes

If random cravings had faces I’d punch them. I’m usually just walking along minding my own business (unless something really juicy is going on of course) when all of a sudden, I’ll get a crazy craving for something Non-Paleo out of nowhere. Of course it’s Non-Paleo. I couldn’t ever just crave vegetables, that would just be too easy. My craving this week was two fold (somber voice). I desperately wanted pancakes and an iced vanilla chai latte made with some filthy kind of milk like soy. Then my delusional fantasy led me even deeper. I started thinking “Oooh what if there was a combination of the two? What it there were vanilla chai pancakes?!” The world would be a better place. I had to make them. I had to find a way. I had…to save the world!!! Oh wait, no that’s another delusional fantasy for another blog. So here’s what I did.

I had just bought some macadamia nuts at Trader Joe’s on Friday hoping to use them in a recipe this weekend. So I thought, what if I could make a macadamia butter and then add that to the pancake batter to make it even more creamy and delicious?! See where my delusional fantasies take me? So I got to work, mixed up some macadamia nut butter, added it to my pancake batter, cooked up a batch, took a bite, and…spit it out! Gross! It tasted like chalk. Well there goes that idea, it was like a Taylor Swift romance, it started out hot and heavy and fizzled fast. Lucky for you my next attempt came out perfect, so I have typed the recipe out for you below along with my notes! It looks like a lot of work but it’s really not that bad. As Juli from PaleOMG says, “just put on your big kid pants” and get to work!

Paleo Vanilla Chai Pancakes
Ingredients:
2 eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tablespoons canned coconut milk, full fat (refrigerated overnight)
1 tablespoon coconut nectar
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup, grade B
1 tablespoon coconut oil (Melted)
1 tablespoon carbonated water (makes the pancakes fluffy!)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup sifted blanched almond flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:
1. Heat a medium sized pan or skillet on low heat while you prepare the pancake batter and vanilla chai sauce topping.

2. Put the eggs in a food processor or blender and mix. Then add the wet ingredients: almond milk, coconut milk, coconut nectar, maple syrup, coconut oil, carbonated water, vanilla extract and mix again. Now add the remaining dry ingredients: almond flour, baking powder, sea salt, ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix until combined. The batter will have a liquid consistency a little thinner than traditional pancake batter, don’t panic! Set aside pancake batter and start making the vanilla chai topping.

Vanilla Chai Sauce Topping
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tablespoon canned coconut milk, full fat (refrigerated ovrnight)
1 tablespoon grass-fed butter, melted (ghee)
1 tablespoon coconut nectar or raw honey
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon sea salt

*Note if you wanted to make the topping a Vanilla Chai Latte Sauce add 1/4 tsp. of Coffee Extract

Directions:
1. Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and mix with a hand mixer or whisk, whichever you prefer. Set aside and now you can start cooking the pancakes.

2. Coat the pan with your choice of anti-stick coating or spray, I used coconut oil. Turn the stove up to medium heat and pour the amount of batter into the pan according to your desired pancake size. These babies will have little holes that start to bubble on top when the bottom is ready just like regular pancakes do, so you’ll know when to flip them. Make sure the bottom is completely done, otherwise they might crumble when you try to flip them due to their delicate consistency. They are Paleo after all, there is no gluten to “glue” them together. I suggest using an Egg/Pancake Ring which work well to shape and cook your pancakes. Just fill one half-way and let the pancake cook. When it starts to bubble at the top lightly lift the ring, if any batter starts to seep out the bottom, let it cook longer. Then use a spatula to flip it over once it’s ready.

3. When you’re done cooking your pancakes, top with ghee or Kerrygold butter and drizzle the Vanilla Chai Sauce topping over your pancakes along with some pure maple syrup, and enjoy!

Whoa! Holy Vanilla Chai Paleo Pancake heaven Batman! I really enjoyed these pancakes. It can be tricky to find a good Paleo pancake that has the same consistency, texture, and taste as regular pancakes do and I think these were pretty stellar. You could also take out the Vanilla Chai flavorings in the batter (cloves and nutmeg) and use this recipe to make regular pancakes.

My vanilla chai and pancake cravings have been satisfied! When I had Brad try some of these pancakes I prefaced his bite with “Be open minded please”. He took his bite and said “Wow these actually aren’t that bad.” Thanks…I guess??? Who do you think then continued to eat the remainder of the pancakes on the plate. Maybe they were really that good, or maybe he was just really that hungry. The world may never know. I guess you’ll have to make these for yourself and see what you think! Until my next craving attacks, I will be off saving the World one Paleo blog at a time…(Insert picture here of me standing on top of a building overlooking the city skyline at night with my hands on my waist wearing a cape that’s flapping in the wind and has a big slashed out G on the back that stands for Gluten Free…Are you still reading this?… Don’t you want to know what my shoes look like?…)