Breakfast week day 5: Vegan sugar-free pomegranate pancakes

Breakfast: Vegan sugar-free pomegranate pancakes 

Lunch: Vegan 3-bean and lentil chili

Dinner: Soba noodle stir fry

It's not often that you'll find me eating American-style pancakes. Living in hostels for 2 weeks when I first moved to Canada and being forced to take advantage of their "free pancake breakfast" everyday means that for me, pancakes are equated with sharing bad rooms with weird strangers and ballooning to an ungodly weight.

I am getting over that, though, and sometimes on a Friday morning, comfort foods are needed.

These pancakes are a far cry from those too-white monstrosities I endured back in 2008. Wholewheat flour and molasses instead of sugar gives these a very hearty, feel-good taste and texture, while the pomegranate arils bring a ton of vitamin C and a fruity flavour. This recipe might just bring my love of pancakes back to life.

You'll need:
(Makes 4 pancakes)

1/2 cup wholewheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup soy milk / almond milk + 2 tbsp
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp canola oil
4 tbsp pomegranate arils

Method:

Sift together the flour and baking powder
In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, molasses, vanilla extract, canola oil and pomegranate arils
Mix the two bowls together, adding more milk to get the right consistency. It should not be too runny
Wipe a frying pan with an oiled piece of kitchen roll and set over a medium heat
Once the pan in hot, ladle 1/4 of the mixture into the centre of the pan
Cook for 2 minutes, then flip
Cook for 2 more minutes, serve, and repeat the process

If you boil down 1/2 cup of pomegranate arils and 1/2 cup blueberries with 1/4 cup water you'll have a gritty, delicious sauce to go on top of these, and you'll go off to work with a spring in your step - and no nasty processed sugars in your system!