Light and super-fluffy, perfectly spiced Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes drizzled in the most delicious Caramel Sauce! Just perfect for fall!
Who doesn't love pancakes? Breakfast, brunch or dbrinner......Whatever the time of day, pancakes are just perfect, and what better way to feed my sweet potato and pancake obsession than to combine the two in these vegan sweet potato pancakes.
Life doesn't get any sweeter than having a great big stack of perfectly spiced, fluffy pancakes drenched in caramel sauce plonked down in front if you on a chilly fall morning!
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What ingredients do you need and why?
To make these vegan sweet potato pancakes you will need:
- Flour - I love these vegan pancakes made with spelt flour but regular all-purpose flour or wholewheat flour are fine too. Use whatever you have or like best.
- Coconut sugar - Coconut sugar is my sweetener of choice in both the Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes and the caramel sauce they are served with. It's my go-to sugar when I want a rich, deep, caramel flavour, and it works incredibly well with the sweet potato and fall spice flavours. You could use dark brown sugar if you want but the flavour won't be as good.
- Baking powder - For the fluff factor!
- Baking soda & apple cider vinegar - When not using eggs it's necessary to add something else to make up for the leavening they would otherwise provide. That something else, in this case, is baking soda and vinegar which react together to form bubbles and provide lift and lightness.
- Salt, vanilla & cinnamon - Flavour!
- Sweet potato - For flavour and colour
- Ground flaxseed - To bind and thicken
Then for the caramel in addition to some of the things already above, you'll be needing some nut butter. I like to use cashew or almond butter because their flavour works best but you can use sunflower seed butter or tahini if you don't eat nuts. The caramel is an optional extra, but highly recommended because it's super delish!
How to make vegan sweet potato pancakes
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
These vegan sweet potato pancakes are really easy to make and so is the caramel sauce which is a modified version of my Five Minute Vegan Caramel Sauce.
Here's how it's done:
Step 1 - Add the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and mix together.
Step 2 - Add the milk, sweet potato, butter, flax, vinegar and vanilla extract to a blender and blend until smooth.
Step 3 - Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and allow to rest for a few minutes.
Step 4 - Add the caramel sauce ingredients to a pan and melt together then set aside.
Step 5 - Cook the pancakes and serve with the caramel sauce.
Success tips
- It's important to cook vegan pancakes slowly for optimum fluff, so don't have the heat too high.
- Weighing the flour will give you the best and most consistent results
- Coconut sugar gives the best flavour in these pancakes and the caramel. I don't recommend switching it for another kind.
- It is really important to mix the pancake batter until just combined. Don't go mad and blend it all together or beat it like mad. When you mix too well, it activates the gluten and you will end up with not so fluffy and light pancakes. The trick is to mix until the flour is just combined and you can't see any dry bits. Then stop, and lay down that spoon. Pancake perfection is imminent!
- Vegan Pancake batter is often thicker than pancake batter with eggs. As long as you've measured the flour and other ingredients correctly you will be fine. Don't add any more liquid or your pancakes won't be as thick and fluffy as they should and you might get soggy insides.
How to serve
Make these vegan sweet potato pancakes even more decadent by topping them with a dollop of vegan yogurt, vanilla ice cream, coconut whipped cream or vegan ricotta. A sprinkle of chopped pecans or walnuts or sliced banana is a great addition too.
You could even omit the caramel sauce and simply serve them with vegan butter and maple syrup, drippy nut butter or date caramel.
Storing leftovers and reheating
Leftovers can be covered well and stored in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. Reheat them for 30 to 40 seconds in the microwave or pop them in a toaster to warm through.
You can also freeze them for up to 2 months. Separate each one with a layer of parchment paper and place in a freezer-safe container or freezer bag. They can be defrosted or simply reheated straight from the freezer in a microwave or toaster.
Variations
- Add chocolate chips, blueberries or chopped nuts to the batter
- Use butternut squash or pumpkin instead of sweet potato
Hungry for more?
For more vegan pancakes recipes, check out these great options:
- Vegan Banana Pancakes
- Chocolate Banana Pancakes
- Gingerbread Pancakes
- Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes
- Vegan Spelt Pancakes
- Healthy Oil-Free Pancakes
📖 Recipe
Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes
Author:
Ingredients
For the pancakes
- 200g / 1½ cups flour , all-purpose (plain in the UK), spelt or wholewheat
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda , (bicarbonate of soda in the UK)
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon , or pumpkin spice or allspice
- 300 mls / 1¼ cup unsweetened non-dairy milk
- 85g / ⅓ packed cup cooked and cooled orange sweet potato , or yam or pumpkin
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon oil or melted vegan butter , plus a bit more for the pan when cooking them
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar , or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the caramel sauce
- 75g / ½ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
- 30 mls / 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons cashew or almond butter , or seed butter for nut-free
- 128g / ½ packed cup cooked orange sweet potato/yam
- 30 - 60 mls / ⅛ - ¼ cup non-dairy milk , adjust depending how thick you want the sauce
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon , or pumpkin spice or allspice (use whatever you put in the pancake batter).
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add the flour, coconut sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon to a bowl and mix together to combine.
- Add the milk, sweet potato, vegan butter, flax, vinegar and vanilla extract to a blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and mix gently together. Just stir until you cannot see any dry flour. Do not over-beat it or use the blender. Let rest while you make the caramel sauce.
- Make the caramel sauce while the batter rests. In a small saucepan add the sugar and water and heat over medium heat until it is liquid and you cannot see any grains of sugar. It will only take a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat.
- Rinse the blender out and add the sweet potato, nut butter, salt, half the milk and the cinnamon. Pour in the melted sugar mixture and blend everything up until completely smooth. Add extra milk to thin to desired drizzling consistency. Return to the pan and warm gently for a few minutes before serving with the pancakes.
- Heat a griddle or skillet/frying pan over medium-low heat. Add a little vegan butter or oil or if it's non-stick you can cook them without oil if you want to.
- Scoop the batter onto the griddle/pan. Leave well alone until the edges are looking firm and the top is starting to bubble. It takes about 5 to 6 minutes. Don't rush them. The trick with vegan pancakes is to let them cook fairly slowly. Flip then cook for another 3 to 4 minutes or until golden.
- Serve drizzled with the warm caramel sauce.
NOTES
- It's important to cook vegan pancakes slowly for optimum fluff, so don't have the heat too high.
- Weighing the flour will give you the best and most consistent results. If you have to use cups do not scoop the flour up into the cup. Fluff it up with a fork then spoon gently into the cup and level the top without shaking or compacting it down. Scooping the flour will give you up to a ⅓ more flour that is intended.
- It is really important to mix the pancake batter until just combined. Don't go mad and blend it all together or beat it like mad. When you mix too well, it activates the gluten and you will end up with not so fluffy and light pancakes. The trick is to mix until the flour is just combined and you can't see any dry bits. Then stop, and lay down that spoon. Pancake perfection is imminent!
- Vegan Pancake batter is often thicker than pancake batter with eggs. As long as you've measured the flour and other ingredients correctly you will be fine. Don't add any more liquid or your pancakes won't be as thick and fluffy as they should and you might get soggy insides.
NUTRITION
Nutritional information is provided for convenience & as a courtesy. The data is a computer generated estimate so should be used as a guide only.
This recipe was originally published on April 18th 2017. I've updated the post and now I am republishing it for you. I hope you enjoy it. Thank you for following A Virtual Vegan!
Kim says
I made the batter as written in the recipe portion. I noticed the batter was super thick (like muffin batter) so I reread thinking I might have missed a liquid ingredient. I didn't see anything I missed but I scrolled up to the content portion and saw in step 2 of the "How to make vegan sweet potato pancakes" section, it says to add water to the blender. No mention of water in the recipe section so I didn't know how much to add. Then I also read in the helpful tips that the batter is thick but don't add more liquid. Super confused.
I didn't end up adding any water and the pancakes were super thick (I had to spread it out in the pan with a spoon) and it took forever to cook through because of how thick/dense it was.
All that said, the flavor was good and I'd make this again but would add more liquid as the batter was just too thick without it.
A Virtual Vegan says
The batter should be thick like muffin batter and it is usually necessary to spread them a bit with the back of the sppon. That's the trick for getting super fluffy vegan pancakes. It should be thicker than pancake batter made with eggs otherwise it won't dry out and get fluffy. They do also take longer to cook than non-vegan pancakes. Low and slow gives the very best results.
Having said that if you didn't weigh the flour and used cups to measure instead then the amount of flour you used could have been a bit too much and made it a little thicker. Cups aren't the most accurate way to measure and you could have inadvertently used too much. A digital scale is the best way to get exactly the right amount.
The mention of water in the post was a mistake. Sorry about that. I've just corrected it. For future reference always go with what it says in the recipe card because that part is what is tested by me and my recipe testers before the recipe is published. That means it will always be accurate.
Hope that helps!
Linda says
I made these pancakes this morning. I am a pancake lover. They are the best vegan pancakes I have had, light and fluffy and oh, so delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe! Truly amazing!
Angela says
Weighed all the ingredients out. The pancakes looked pretty but found the pancake to be dense and the caramel sauce texture and flavor to be overpowering and off putting. Good old maple syrup saved the day. Made for a great picture but would try it again w/o the sauce and with a lighter pancake!! Thanks for the recipe!!
Selena says
I tried this recipe this past weekend after trying to figure out what to do with my sweet potatoes and the pancakes turned out very well. It was a lot more ingredients than I usually use, but worth it for something different. I would make them again.
Elise van Dam says
I had no idea what to expect in terms of flavor, and I gotta admit it took some getting used to these flavors in pancakes, but once I did, it loved it!! Really something else!
Barbara Boldt says
These pancakes are amazing! I didn’t make the sauce because I don’t do nut butter, but the pancakes alone with some ghee and applesauce and fig juice were delicious. These are a keeper!
Ellen says
Is there a gluten free flour I could use?
A Virtual Vegan says
I have never tried them with gluten-free flour. Oat flour would probably work but you would need to adjust the liquid slightly as it's not as absorbent as spelt. Just add enough to make it a really thick batter, almost like cake batter and it should be fine.
Jonna says
Thank you for sharing this recipe!!! It's amazingly yummy!!!! The best pancake so far... vegan or non- vegan!
A Virtual Vegan says
That's so good to hear. Thank you!