Spiced Banana Pancakes with Blueberry Coconut Yogurt Sauce

When Steven and I first got married we were incredibly low on funds. We lived in Chicago where Steven was going to college and we were paying $1150 a MONTH on rent and I was the only one working...at Panera Bread. My grocery budget was basically non-existent and we pretty much just ate whatever packaged foods our parents would send us. One of those packaged foods happened to be pancake mix! I can remember many a nights that we would grab two of those boxes (one for each of us of course) and make giant pancakes that filled the entire skillet. It was heavenly, all topped off with margarine and fake maple syrup. In fact...I believe I still have pictures:

  We have come a long way since those days. So I now offer you a whole foods, plant based alternative that is dripping with goodness. It is like banana bread and pancakes in one! The plump blueberries add some sweet texture and flavor that is yummmm.

Pancake Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 2 very ripe bananas
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom 
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

Pancake Directions:

1. Heat a medium skillet on medium-low heat.
2. In a blender combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth (it should come out low a thick sauce or cake batter type texture, so if it is too thick add more milk and if too thin then add more oats. It will really depend on how big and how ripe your bananas are)
3. Pour batter into 4 pancakes and cook until bubbles begin to appear on top and then flip. Cook it for another couple seconds until the second side is golden brown and then remove
4. Repeat until your batter is gone. My batter made 3 big pancakes and two small ones. 

Coconut Yogurt Sauce Ingredients:

• 1 cup of frozen blueberries heated in the microwave (so the juices are flowing)
• 1/2 cup of coconut yogurt
• 2 tbsp maple syrup or coconut sugar

Coconut Yogurt Sauce Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until well combined
2. Additionally you could top your pancakes with some coconut chips or crushed nuts would be good too!