Vegan Pancakes

In the mood for pancake breakfasts, I tried two different recipes over the weekend.

First, an online recipe that I modified slightly.  They actually had a good consistency and a nice flavor, slightly sweet.  If eating them plain, there was a tiny bit of the baking powder flavor but it was fine with toppings/syrup.  Here is the recipe:

Vegan Pancakes
1 cup flour (I used half wheat, half all-purpose)
1/2 TBSP agave nectar
1 TBSP* baking powder 
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup almond milk 
1 TBSP vegetable oil


Mix until batter is smooth and well-blended, pour into small circles on hot pan and cook until golden brown and done all the way through.

*yes, that is a tablespoon; not teaspoon the original recipe called for two tablespoons. Bleh!

All in all, I was impressed with these.  They tasted pretty much like "regular" (non-vegan) pancakes; they were a bit thick, which was perhaps owing to using the almond milk vs. soy milk.

The second recipe is from the new Good Housekeeping Simple Vegan cookbook.  This is the only recipe I actually tried making, despite having the book out from the library for a month, which tells you how (not!) inspired I was by the cookbook.  I think it might be a good option for people who are a bit afraid of going vegan, or think it's all for "hippie" people and are uncomfortable with a title like Vegan with a Vengeance.  It would probably be a great gift for that reluctant mom who is nervous about her grown child embracing a diet with no meat ("but how will you get any protein, my dear!?") as she could see that, oh, yes, the folks at Good Housekeeping tested these recipes and include some helpful little blurbs on vegan nutrition and perhaps her child really will survive and perhaps she might even try one of the recipes herself.  However, I found it just a bit too glossy (as in superficial, not just the photographs) and lacking the depth in both scope and creativity that many other vegan cookbooks (such as those by Isa Chandra Moskowitz) possess.

As for Good Housekeeping "triple-tested" (as they proudly proclaim) pancakes, I was intrigued with the inclusion of quick-cooking oats in the recipe.  I love the oat bread I've been baking but was disappointed with the pancakes.  They simply weren't flavorful enough on their own (perhaps because there is no sugar in the recipe) and they were a bit dense (only 1 tsp of baking soda here and the oats made it heavier, I think).  Still, they were tasty enough when topped with some raspberry jam ;-)