Anyone can have a blissful weekend with these pumpkin spice pancakes involved, but especially nursing moms can benefit from the abundance of oats and pumpkin, both of which stimulate milk flow.
Sundays are special. On Sundays, you can reset and take a breather before the week begins, as well as set yourself up right by preparing for the week ahead. Making lists and a schedule of tasks and goals helps create small wins and keeps me feeling productive.
Sunday is also a Flow day, perfect for getting into a blissful meditative state around self-care and cooking. Before the week begins, I prioritise a blissfully slow Sunday morning, with a green smoothie, a perfect cup of Herbata tea and these Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes. Hemp seeds offer healthy fats and protein, while Inca berries or Peruvian ground cherries (not really a berry at all but a nightshade and tomatillo relative) are similar to gooseberries, offering a huge antioxidant benefit and an acidic kick when used as a topping.
If you have time or remember, soak the Inca berries in advance in hot water for 15 minutes or overnight. They plump beautifully for bursts of flavour. Plenty of other dried fruits do the trick, like figs or mango. Avoid fruit with added sugar.
RECIPE
Serves 2 heartily or 3 sufficiently
Active Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
INGREDIENTS
2 heaping cups or (260g) steel-cut oats or oat flour
3/4 cup (220g) roasted pumpkin or pumpkin purée (can make ahead* and freeze)
½ a banana or a glug of maple syrup or 1 heaping Tbs coconut sugar
1 large egg or 1 Tbsp flax seeds ground or whole, mixed with 3 Tbsp water
1/4 cup (60ml) plant-based mylk of choice
1 Tbsp (14ml) mild vinegar (coconut or raw apple cider)
1 tsp (4g) baking powder
1 pinch sea salt
3 Tbsp (42g) coconut oil, vegetable oil or ghee for cooking
Spices: 1 fat pinch each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground coriander
(substitute cardamom for nutmeg, or try a dash of cayenne pepper for a twist)
Optional: zest of ½ an orange, kumquat or even lime, first washed well and dried
Topping
1 small handful dried Inca berries
1/2 crisp, sour apple like Santana or Pink Lady
1 Tbsp (14g) of hulled hemp seeds
Maple syrup or honey as desired.
Optional: a squeeze of mandarin or orange on top
*Make ahead: This recipe requires canned pumpkin puree or roasted pumpkin.
For extra digestibility, soak oats overnight and rinse clean and drain in the morning before adding to the batter. Topping: Soaking the dried Inca berries, cranberries, figs or mango as well for that nibble of nature’s candy as a topping, we like them soaked in orange juice.
HOW TO
Process pumpkin, oats, sweetener, (plant) milk in the blender or with a hand mixer. Incorporate the soaked flax seeds or egg and beat slightly. To make your pancakes fluffier, add a splash of vinegar—this acts like buttermilk does in traditional pancakes.
If oats are dry, process your oats separately and quickly in the blender for 30-60 seconds maximum, for a batter with a finer consistency. Combine it with the dry ingredients in a separate bowl: flour, baking powder, spices. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together gently and let sit for a moment. Then, slice the apples and squeeze some lemon over them so they don’t brown.
Set the Inca berries in a bowl with warm water to plump and rehydrate them. Pop the apple slices into the oven under the broiler on medium-high with some coconut oil or ghee, sea salt and cinnamon to broil for a few minutes if desired.
TO COOK
Heat a wide frying pan skillet or pan heat evenly and well before adding the oil of your choice. Ladle or pour the batter for 3 pancakes at a time. These pancakes are dense and hearty, so small rounds are best. You can add more almond milk to thin the batter for thinner or lighter pancakes if desired. Don’t fret over a burned look: the pumpkin and spices make it a bit darker when cooking and you do want to cook these through.
TO FINISH
Top with the plumped berries, hemp seeds, roasted or fresh apples, maple syrup and a pinch of coarse salt.
Bon appétit!
