These fluffy silken tofu pancakes pack an extra dose of plant protein and are perfect topped with maple syrup and crunchy cacao nibs!
Silken tofu is one of those ingredients you see on all kinds of vegan egg substitute lists, but which I had previously not been brave enough to try. My trusted ripe bananas and flax seeds have served me well, so I was a bit resistant to trying something new.
When this recipe popped into my brain upon waking one Saturday morning (as most of my breakfast posts do) it kind of seemed like a no-brainer. As much as I love pancakes, my big complaint with them has always been that it just feels so darn wrong to start my day with a plateful of carbs topped with more carbs (in the form of maple syrup). Silken tofu, it seemed, was my perfect solution: an egg substitute with a nice hit of protein and the perfect excuse to mix up my cakes in the blender. It was too darn easy.
These tofu pancakes were dense and highly satisfying. The batter is also easier to work with than that for some other vegan pancakes I've tried out. I do recommend however, as I do with most vegan pancakes, that you keep them on the small side. Nothing binds batter together quite like eggs do, so by keeping your pancakes under six inches in diameter you can avoid them falling apart when flipping.
Cacao antioxidant power...healthy protein...you'd almost think these pancakes were health food ;)
Silken Tofu Cacao Nib Blender Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups spelt flour could sub all purpose
- 1 tbsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 lb. silken tofu
- 1 cup non-dairy milk of choice
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp. maple syrup
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup cacao nibs
Instructions
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In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
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Place tofu in blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add oil, milk, maple and vanilla. Blend until smooth.
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Add dry ingredient mixture in 3 or 4 increments, blending between each addition. Blend just until mixed after the last addition. Batter will be relatively thick.
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Spray griddle or skillet with cooking spray or coat with vegan margarine. Heat over medium and drop in about ¼ cup of batter. Sprinkle a few cacao nibs on top.
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Allow to cook until batter begins to brown around the edges, about five minutes. Test with spatula to see if it's firm enough to flip. Gently flip and cook until the opposite side is lightly browned.
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Top with extra cacao nibs and maple syrup.
wowww I can't believe how good this looks. Definitely trying this weekend. You didn't drain or get rid of the excess tofu liquid? Thanks!
Thank you! With silken tofu you shouldn't find much excess liquid in the package, so there's no need to drain - just scoop everything out of the container and throw it right in the blender. Enjoy!!
Could you use soft tofu in place of silken tofu?
I wouldn't recommend using soft tofu - it has lower moisture content and doesn't blend up as smooth, so your pancakes would probably turn out really dry.
Do you think it would work with gf flour?
I haven't tried this recipe with gluten free flour, so I can't guarantee results, but I'd guess that most gluten-free blends would work as a sub. I'm far from being an expert on gluten-free baking, but my understanding is that these blends can be subbed for conventional flours in most recipes. Please let me know how it works out if you try it. Thanks!
i am attempting to eliminate oils from the diet, how can that be adapted here? also, why so much flour? trying to get away from the bad carbs...
If you're avoiding oils and carbs this might not be the recipe for you. You might be able to get away with a substitution like apple sauce for some of the oil, but I wouldn't attempt to cut back on both the oil and flour.
Hi! Did you use Silke Tofu firm, medium, extra firm, soft? This is going to be my firs recipes with Tofu so i need HELP as much as possible.
The softer the better! I used Nasoya which is pretty soft. Good luck and I hope you enjoy it!!
you could maybe replace some of the flour with flax or hemp meal or a protein powder. That is what I do. Or had a little toasted grain maybe some quinoa.
Why so much oil?
1/4 cup is the amount that got my batch of pancakes to the right texture. This isn't intended to be a low-fat recipe, so I didn't hold back. You could try cutting back, or as I mentioned to one commenter above, subbing apple sauce, but I can't guarantee your pancakes will turn out very good if you do.
The answer to the question is "Because oil makes things taste good."
Hey one more thing lol..what is your opinion on using half the batter and saving the other half? Would you recommend that or make the entire batter then just refrigerate the leftover pancakes? I'm curious as to how long the batter will keep uncooked..thanks again! :)
You're probably better off making the whole batch and storing leftover pancakes in the fridge. I did this and they were still pretty good on day two. Baking powder starts releasing bubbles as soon as it's blended with the wet ingredients, so if you mix it ahead of time the baking powder might no longer be active by the time you cook your pancakes. You're welcome and enjoy!!
If I did use the apple sauce instead of the oil, how much would I use? Sounds great.
A 1:1 ratio usually works when subbing apple sauce for oil (you can use this in lots of baking recipes), so in this case 1/4 cup. Please let me know how it works out with the apple sauce if you try it. Thanks!
Hi, it does work with 1/4 cup apple sauce. The consistency was perfect. I used a little coconut oil to grease the pan. Thank you for this recipe!
Awesome! Thank you for letting me know! This will come in handy with so many oil-free peeps these days. :)
I used the recipe and made it into a savoury version, just didn't add the sweet components.I topped with in season cherry toms, kale, pomegranate and mushrooms.. little drizzle of olive oil and seasoned.
Simple and delicious!
Oh, that sounds delicious! I love savory pancakes, so maybe I'll do something similar next time I make these. Glad you enjoyed them!
Hi, i tried making this. I followed everything but my pancakes are not fluffy. Is that how it is supposed to be? Thanks
They should be pretty dense, but still fluffy. The only thing I can think of is that your baking powder might be dated. You can test it by sprinkling some in water to see if it fizzees.
These are legit the worst pancakes I’ve ever made. Hugely disappointed
I find this recipe a great way to get some tofu into my diet since I don’t like the texture of straight up tofu. Though I find this recipe a bit bland and the cacao nibs taste weird in the pancakes, they taste like bananas after a while which is odd for me so I’ve been using dark chocolate instead. I’ve also been adding more cinnamon to mine to make up for the blandness.
This was so easy to make and was excellent! Highly recommend everyone try this recipe!
I'm so glad you liked them!
Great! Love the batter on its own 🙄
Cooking needs patience, tempting to turn it too soon. I used bicarbonate and lemon juice as the raising agent.
Nu labai nustebino, kai panad=iau, gavosi WOW!!!
Made these this morning and they are delicious! The batter is super thick, which makes for these perfect little dollops of easy-to-flip pancakes. I used all purpose flour and subbed blueberries for the cacao. Thanks for the recipe!
I had those for diner last night , I was hungry for a good protein pancake !! I didn’t use any of the spices and the coca nibs all the rest the same . The taste was super yummy almost like a flan texture . My batter was very thin I just wanted to know if it’s suppose to be thin . I added 1/2 cup more flour they were still so yummy . ! Thanks for a great recipe using tofu for extra protein .