I'm gonna be honest. With my crazy travel and work schedule this year until the holidays, I'm not sure how much I'll be able to squeeze holiday baking in. Which makes me sad, because I adore this part of holiday festivities and more importantly, I'll miss out on my favorite gluten-free gingerbread cookies. So my gingerbread granola (below) is a great one to turn to when I want to make a big batch to eat throughout the weeks, BUT, I wanted to whip up something dessert-like that takes less time than baking cookies. 

Enter, these gingerbread pancakes. HELLO. That are gluten-free, vegan, unbeknownst to whoever you feed them to, because it just tastes like straight up fluffy gingerbread heaven in pancake form.

This was super easy to whip up and make, because I've already mastered my favorite base recipe for oat-based pancakes (making them gluten-free), so I just played around with the spice profile and I'm giving you guys the option of using applesauce or a mashed banana as the moistening binder here. I've tried both, and they are both great and do not get in the way of the gingerbread flavor! 

Again, I'm going for ease and quickness here, so the fact that this is a dump-everything-in-the-blender then straight to the pan kinda recipe, this is a true holiday gift from the pancake gods. 

Are ya ready? Please don't say no, because that will make me and your tummy very sad.

Gingerbread Pancakes (Gluten-free, Vegan)

*serves 2 people

Ingredients

1 cup rolled raw Oats (GF-certified if need be)
1 cup no-sugar added applesauce OR 1 very ripe banana, mashed
2 tbsp Coconut oil, melted + more for griddle
1 Large Egg OR flax egg for vegans (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water, refrigerate for 15 min)
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
Pinch of Ground Cloves
Pinch of Ground Nutmeg
Pinch of Salt
Extra maple syrup to top pancakes
 

Recipe

1. Place all ingredients into a blender, and blend until smooth and consistent. 

2. Heat a large non-stick pan over medium-low heat, and lightly grease pan with a dab of coconut oil. Make sure pan is fully heated, then pour a loaded spoonful of batter onto the griddle to make each pancake (should be about 3-4" in diameter). Let pancakes cook for about 2 minutes until the usual pancake sign of bubbles popping up happen (the batter is thicker so it may take a bit longer!) and bottom is golden, then flip and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the other side. 

*TIP: these pancakes cook quicker on the outside than the inside, so to avoid undercooked batter on the inside, take it easy on the heat and be patient with the time it takes to cook each side. Cranking up the heat wont make it go any faster!
 

3. Serve when finished! Drizzle with maple syrup to top, and any toppings you desire.