If you don’t already know this fun fact, chia seeds make for an easy egg substitute in pancakes for individuals who:
have sensitivities or allergies to eggs
prefer the vegan way
realize they have no eggs in the house
Chia seeds are way cooler than they look
Depending on other ingredients you add to your pancake batter, the texture can change to a more “chunky” mouthfeel. Nope, I never thought I would use the word “chunky” to describe a pancake, but it’s honestly the first word that came to mind after tasting this batch I whipped up lately.
Doesn’t it look chunky? The pancake, not my fingers, you silly!
Here’s the recipe…
Ingredients:
medium-sized banana (better to use a fairly ripe banana)
1 c old-fashioned oats (or 1 c oat flour)
2 Tbsp chia seeds
5 Tbsp water
1/2 c organic canned coconut milk (not the diluted milk in the carton; also if your canned coconut milk is partly solid and partly liquid, use about 1/2 cup of the liquid and 1 Tbsp of the solid)
2 Tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
30 grams of protein from your favorite protein powder (by content, not weight; I used Thorne’s chocolate whey isolate which worked out to be about 1.5 scoops)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Preparation steps:
Add chia seeds and water to a small bowl. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes to thicken. In the meantime, get all the other goodies ready.
Make oat flour! Add the raw oats to your blender and turn that baby up to high for 45 to 90 seconds. I used the “dry container” with my Vitamix and it was super quick to yield a fine, powdery texture. You can also use a food processor, but you may need to pause it to stir the mixture a couple times to get the oats evenly processed. If you already have oat flour ready to go, then hey, you’re all set and you’re reading this step just for fun.
In a large bowl, mash the banana with a fork. Mush and mash it!
To the mashed banana, add the oat flour, coconut milk, shredded coconut, protein powder, vanilla extract, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt to the bowl. Stir to mix well.
By this time, the chia seed mixture should be thickened. You can check the clock to be sure it’s been close to 5 minutes (and longer is A-Okay). Add the chia egg to your oat mixture and stir well. If you’re not experienced in the Flapjack Making experience, put on your intuitive hat. If the batter is quite thick, you can add more water (start with 1 Tbsp at a time). If it’s too runny, you can add more oat flour, coconut, or protein powder… or a little of each, but start with a small amount. The batter shouldn’t be runny and super thin, nor should it be thick like a cookie dough.
Lightly coat your griddle pan with oil of choice or use a few oil sprays (I used a coconut oil spray). Heat the griddle pan on medium heat and then add about 1/4 cup amount of batter for each flapjack.
Flip flapjacks when they are starting to feel solid enough to make the jump to the other side. Cook to your desired doneness. You can flatten with a spatula to make sure the flapjack gets cooked through evenly and adequately. Below is the pre-flip and post-flip. And yes, I like my flapjacks well done. Notice the Chunky?
The recipe should make about 10 pancakes. The basic nutritional breakdown per pancake (from the original recipe above):
~100 calories
10.5 grams carbohydrate (2.5 grams fiber)
4.5 grams fat
5 grams protein
a 2:1 carb to protein ratio
The chia seeds add a nice boost of fiber, protein, and omega-3 fats. These have a subtle sweet flavor from the banana and may have a touch more sweet flavor depending on the protein powder you use.
Eat them plain or top with a vanilla yogurt and chopped pecans. Or my fave… make an almond butter sandwich for a happy palate! Put the extras in the freezer for easy reheat later (toast ‘em up and gobble down).
Give me a shout on Insta if you try these and let me know how you like (or don’t). I like to hear from my Flapjack Lovers!
-Dina