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*waves hello*
Miracles do happen…I’m posting on a weekend. It takes a lot of motivation for me to post on a Sunday morning, but I simply couldn’t wait another day to share this recipe with you! It’s that good.
Today’s recipe features chickpea flour, an ingredient you haven’t seen much on this blog. Chickpea flour is high in protein (7 grams per 1/4 cup according to Cuisine Soleil) and it’s naturally gluten-free making it friendly to our gluten sensitive friends. It also boasts 3 grams of fibre per 1/4 cup. I soon found out what a filling breakfast it makes!
After having a few bad experiences with chickpea flour recipes in the past, I almost crossed it off my list forever. I find the earthy, beany flavour of chickpea flour can be overwhelming if not balanced by other ingredients and it can take some getting used to, at least it did for me. This weekend, I decided to take another crack at it and I’m so glad I did.
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Meet my newest breakfast love…she’s a beaut.
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In case you can’t tell by the photo, this is a huge pancake about the size of a 10-inch skillet! I had to plate it on my extra-large round plate because it wouldn’t fit on my regular round plates. Who doesn’t want to eat a pancake bigger than their head? Noooooobody! After a few trials of this pancake, I finally nailed the consistency of the batter and flavour I was going for.
Best of all, it takes only 10 minutes to whisk together the ingredients and then another 10 minutes or so to cook. I also expect it’s quite versatile so feel free to change up the mix-ins and toppings. I think a sautéed mushroom, onion, and chive topping would be especially nice, especially with some cashew cream! One large pancake has around 14-15 grams of protein; add some toppings and you can easily hit 20 grams of protein without much effort.
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I topped it with avocado, hummus, salsa, red pepper flakes, and a spicy cashew cream – a tasty change up from my normal breakfasts of smoothies and vegan overnight oats. This would also make a fun lunch or dinner too!
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![Jumbo Chickpea Pancake](https://ohsheglows.com/gs_images/2013/09/chickpeapancakesquare-0338-768x768.jpg)
Jumbo Chickpea Pancake
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Yield
1 large or 2 smaller
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
This dense and filling savoury chickpea pancake is packed with protein and fibre. Feel free to change up the mix-ins and toppings based on what you have in your fridge. To prevent it from sticking to the skillet, be sure to spray the skillet liberally with olive oil before pouring on the batter. Also, I suggest chopping the veggies finely so they cook faster.
Ingredients
- 1 green onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour (also known as garbanzo flour or besan)
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons water
- For serving: salsa, avocado, hummus, cashew cream (optional)
Directions
- Prepare the vegetables and set aside. Preheat a 10-inch skillet over medium heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the chickpea flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper, baking powder, and optional red pepper flakes.
- Add the water and whisk well until no clumps remain. I like to whisk it for a good 15 seconds to create lots of air bubbles in the batter.
- Stir in the chopped vegetables.
- When the skillet is pre-heated (a drop of water should sizzle on the pan), spray it liberally with olive oil or other non stick cooking spray.
- Pour on all of the batter (if making 1 large pancake) and quickly spread it out all over the pan. Cook for about 5-6 minutes on one side (timing will depend on how hot your pan is), until you can easily slide a pancake flipper/spatula under the pancake and it's firm enough not to break when flipping. Flip pancake carefully and cook for another 5 minutes, until lightly golden. Be sure to cook for enough time as this pancake takes much longer to cook compared to regular pancakes.
- Serve on a large plate and top with your desired toppings. Leftovers can be wrapped up and placed in the fridge. Reheat on a skillet until warmed throughout.
Tip:
- For the cashew cream, see this recipe. I added red pepper flakes into the blender to make it spicy.
- You can make this recipe into 2 smaller pancakes if desired.
Nutrition Information
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As you can see from the photo, this isn’t your regular fluffy pancake. Chickpea flour makes this pancake very dense and filling. I find the flavour can take some getting used to, but I really enjoy it prepared this way. On that note, I’m off to make another one! I’d love your feedback on this recipe if you make it.
On another note, Eric thinks he fixed the printing issue that a few of you were having with the new recipe display. It appears that those of you using Internet Explorer 8 web browser were having issues with printing, but it should be fixed now. If anyone has any further issues, please let us know! Everything looks good on our end.
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Just made this for brunch and we loved it, thanks for the recipe.
This recipe is great! It seems very tweakable as well! I halved the recipe and still got a large pancake that I ate with some lentil sloppy joes for dinner. I just threw whatever seasoning I wanted, I added rosemary and some sauteed veggie mix (zucchini, onion, garlic, and celery), and I topped with some tofu vegan sour cream, and it was DIVINE! Thanks for a great basic recipe!
This looks fab, could you make a batch and freeze them to defrost for a lunchtime meal?
Made the chickpea pancakes this morning for breakfast. They were easy, relatively fast (considering it was a hot, savoury breakfast), and my huband and daughter loved them. We had them with a bit of fresh salsa and avocado, and I made up a bit of lime-yogurt to drizzle for my family (they are not vegan). Totally delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
I had an issue making this in my stainless steel pan, but it was awesome anyway! Seriously…awesome!
Oh myyyyyy, this looks absolutely heavenly! Hummus with breakfast? Genius!
Gotta try this asap! Thanks so much for the stunning, detailed photos, too!
I have made this dish twice now, and while, in the end, it ends up tasting good and I enjoy it, I have also had a hard time getting the pancake to cook all the way through. I have tried lowering the temperature and cooking longer… to the point where each pancake was on the stove top for approximately half an hour trying to cook through, flipping and squishing to get the liquid center out.. I even tried, the second time I made them, reducing the water content in the hopes of getting a more solid pancake. The only thing I’ve found that has worked is if I start the pancake on the stove and then transfer it to the oven to cook through. I have checked the recipe several times to make sure I’m not missing anything, and it doesn’t look like I am. Otherwise, great taste!
Amazing…Yum, thanks for the recipe
I grew up eating these for breakfast/mid day snack. Still my favorite comfort food. I love mine with some indian pickles and butter on top. Never tried them with avocados but now I can’t wait to try!!
thank you for your recipes
the timeless art of spiritual cooking makes endless varieties of use for chickpea flour. maybe you can adapt yourself to these ancient vegetarian recipes of india :) http://www.harekrsna.com/practice/prasadam/recipes/recipes.htm
and here is a delicious steamed besan and semolina bread http://totalveg.com/steamed-semolina-breads-dhokla/8265
emily
I love your site, and have made (and really enjoyed) a bunch of your recipes in the past, but I had a hard time with this one. It was absolutely delicious, but I had a very hard time flipping it–it seemed nearly glued to the pan. I made two, doubling the batter, and I eyeballed the quantities of vegetables (using red onion and red pepper), so perhaps that caused the problem. I used plenty of oil but both attempts stuck to the pan. Do you have any advice for next time?
I made this today! For lack of cashews and avocado, I made a spicy gravy. Oil, flour, and almond milk with a bunch of spices.. they were so good together! Being from the south biscuits and gravy is something I miss big time, but this hit the spot!
just to clarify are chickpea flour and gram flour the same thing?
These were FanTAStic!!!!! Thank you………….
I made this for dinner last night and daaamn I was not expecting it to taste so good! I topped it with roasted red pepper hummus, kalamata olives and tahini dressing. Next time I think I will add some falafel flavours like cumin, cilantro for a nice twist.
Keep being amazing Angela
Is this something that can be made ahead or frozen?
Haven’t seen chick pea flour. Can I make if with my Vitamix and dried chick peas?
Hey Jennifer, I’m not sure to be honest, I think the chickpeas might hurt the vitamix blade? I’d worry they would be much too hard (even for the VM beast!) – maybe try googling it or contacting the company?
You can also find this flour in many Indian grocery stores under the name of besan or gram flour.
I’ve done it. I’ve made chick pea flour. I have the dry blender for the vitamix and it did an amazing job. I was surprised how much flour I got out of 1 lb. of chick peas. Made this recipe today for my family. They all ate it up even teenage daughter (who added a few slices of turkey bacon to it before devouring it.) I’m excited to play with the recipe and make a sweet pancake with my new flour. Thank you so much!!! Many blessings.
This looks like a great recipe, thanks! The only recipe I knew for chickpea flour was a typical Eastern Italian focaccia, so it’s exciting to find other ways to use it.
ps, lovely blog:-)
Kiara
I’ve had a bag of chickpea flour (2kg! What was I thinking??) for a looong time, and made these tonight! They were great will sauteed veg, fresh garden tomato and hemp heart/sesame garlic sauce. Very filling. My husband agrees that they are the perfect protein packed starch alternative for Mexican food. THANK YOU!
Oh and I have a 7 month old and still think they were super fast to make!
I’m glad I found this source of yummy vegetarian options! Great work…
One question about the chickpea pancake…Would it work without the garlic powder?
How about skipping the veggies inside and make some plain pancakes to eat with berries and maple? Has anyone tried this?
I am looking for no-wheat options as my hubby and I love pancakes for weekend breakfasts! Both sweet and savory.
:D
Yes I think all of those things would probably work just fine – although keep in mind the chickpea flavour is quite savory and would need to be enhanced with a bit of sweetener for a pancake option. Good luck!