My dad has always made the best big and fluffy pancakes, but one thing’s for sure: He probably wouldn’t be down with this healthy green-colored vegan and gluten-free version, even though they taste just as good. (Look away, pops—it’ll be ok!) As a lover of the breakfast staple and matcha, I couldn’t resist combining the two into a mouth-watering treat that also just so happens to be full of benefits.
While regular pancakes don’t exactly do much for your body—they primarily consist of white flour, eggs, butter, and oil, after all—these babies are jam-packed with body-boosting ingredients. In fact, they’re so healthy you can make them any day of the week. The batter is essentially oats, spinach, banana, and soy milk—so like oatmeal, except in a much-tastier form!—which contains a solid amount of iron, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and fiber. As for the matcha, get ready: Full of antioxidants, the powdered green tea has been shown to protect against cancer and heart disease, and it energizes without the crash that comes with coffee. And another bonus I’m particularly fond of? It can also help calm anxiety thanks to L-theanine, the amino acid it contains.
How to get a quality matcha: I made the mistake of buying matcha from my grocery store, and it ended up being about 80% brown rice filler… aka a total health fail. Since labels can be deceiving and sometimes companies try to fool you into thinking you’re getting something pure when you’re not, make sure you’re buying from reputable retailers. I’m a fan of Mizuba Tea Co. [We recommend using our 100g Culinary Organic Matcha!]
What to pair your pancakes with: Make yourself a batch of matcha pancakes topped with a dab of Earth Balance butter and maple syrup. Just make sure your syrup is vegan: I recently wrote about the topic on Well+Good, and surprisingly, not all varieties are animal-byproduct-free.