If you’re looking for a delicious and nutritious dish to make for your mom this Mother’s Day, then these pancakes are for you. Unfortunately I won’t be able to celebrate with my mom or mother-in law in person this year because of the distance. But for my second Mother’s Day as a mom, I hope to spend a lazy day at home making these pancakes with the help of my little kitchen assistant, Sienna.
challenging at times when it comes to food. I’ve done everything the books say- I’ve exposed her to a wide variety of foods from the time she was a baby to try to develop her palate and prevent the dreadful picky eater stage. I make mostly homemade dishes for her but there are days when I opt for store-bought products to save time. When I discovered frozen sweet potato pancakes made with whole wheat flour (thanks to my friend Dr. Laura Lefkowitz), I was ecstatic because Sienna loved them and they’re also quite nutritious. But of course I couldn’t leave well enough alone- I had to try to recreate them myself! There’s just something about seeing her enjoy a dish that I make. It gives me so much maternal pride and joy.
My Sweet Potato Pancakes are packed with whole grains and nutritious sweet potatoes. They’re very lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup and flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. I like to use white whole wheat flour in this dish because it has all of the health benefits of whole grains but has a lighter texture than traditional whole wheat flour. If you can’t find it, I would suggest using a mixture of half whole wheat and half all purpose flour.
To my delight, the first time I made this dish, Sienna ate not just one but three pancakes! That’s why
I’ll be making these again on Mother’s Day. It will be the best gift to watch her devour them! I hope you include these pancakes on your Mother’s Day table. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you wonderful, hardworking moms out there!
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup mashed sweet potato*
- 1 ¼ cups milk (I used 2%)
- 1 ½ tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil or unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Oil or butter for frying
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt together in a bowl.
- Whisk the egg, sweet potato, milk, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla together in a second bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
- Heat a nonstick griddle or skillet over medium heat and lightly coat with oil or butter. Pour the batter into the skillet using about 3 tablespoons of batter for each pancake. Cook about 2 minutes until the pancakes start to bubble at the edges and the bottoms are golden brown. Flip and cook another 1-2 minutes on the second side. Remove from skillet and repeat with the remaining batter.
- Serve pancakes plain or topped with butter and maple syrup.
*To make the mashed sweet potato, place one medium sweet potato (8 oz) on a microwave-safe plate and poke holes in it with a fork. Microwave 6-7 minutes until tender, flipping once halfway through. Cool and then cut in half and scoop out the flesh. Will yield about ¾ cup.
Oh my goodness. I think Sienna and I could be best friends. I could hop on the Sweet Potato Pancake wagon real quick! 🙂 The pictures makes me wish I was on the couch in my sweatpants enjoying these nutritious and delicious pancakes!
Haha, as long as you like these pancakes and Minnie Mouse you could definitely be best friends with Sienna! Lounging on the couch in sweats sounds great 🙂
Sonaly, you promised these gorgeous guys long time ago, and I've been waiting them all this time since I do love sweet potatoes! It's such an amazing idea – I've never seen or thought about incorporating sweet potatoes in pancakes. I've put this recipe on my waiting list 🙂 Great job!
Awww, you remember them! That alone is means so much to me, thanks Ben!
Yum! I have a bag of whole wheat flour in my pantry that's waiting to be broken in – perfect for these!
Totally! Thanks Sarah 🙂
Yum! My favorite brunch go to, will have to try these 🙂
Thanks Lauren, enjoy!
Sweet potato pancakes are the best! What a great way to start off Mother's Day 🙂 Loving your recipe – pinning!
Totally! Thanks so much Alanna!
I think I need to convince Joey and Anthony to make these for me on Mother's Day. Sienna is one great chef— just like Momma 🙂
I hope you can convince them because I think you'll all enjoy them! Thanks Katie 🙂
These look perfectly delicious! I love these photos!
Thanks Kelly!
These look fab!!
Thanks Tawnie!
I absolutely know what you mean about the maternal pride of your children eating your homemade food. I feel the same way – it brings me SO much joy and pleasure! These pancakes look amazing – definitely adding them to our lazy weekend breakfast/brunch roster!! Happy (almost) Mother's Day to a great mother!
Isn't it the best feeling? Thanks, Jessica- same to you!
YUM! I can't say no to anything involving sweet potatoes. I've never baked with them though and these pancakes look like the perfect place t start! If your daughter ate three I'm sure Johnny will eat them up too!
Me too, I love sweet potatoes! Thanks for stopping by!
DELISH!! These look too good!!
Thanks Lindsay!
Sonali – great minds think alike – eh? 🙂
I adore pancakes in all their flavors – this should have been a sweet potato PIE pancake -with all those yummy spices! Sweet potato pancakes were a favorite in our house when my daughter was a toddler – she still loves them and eats them without any syrup!
Great idea Shashi, maybe I should change the name!
I had sweet potato pancakes when I went to the Pancake Pantry in Nashville, and they were delicious! You're look much heartier, and probably a lot healthier than those ones. Can't wait to give them a try!
Thanks, Emily! I hope you like them 🙂
WONDERFUL! You know I love my pancakes!
Thanks, Rebecca!
These sound wonderful! I've never had sweet potato pancakes before. Can't wait to give them a try!
Thanks, Kelley! I hope you try them out!
I love and adore pancakes and sweet potatoes, so this recipe is perfection! <3 (I'm terrible at making pretty pancakes, but at least it'll come out tasting wonderful whether or not it's pretty? 😡 )
These are really easy to make, Farrah! You can't really mess them up 🙂
These will be perfect for me to make for mother's day! I love pancakes but never have tried a sweet potato version before – I'm sure they are a guaranteed hit though.
Thanks, Thalia! I hope you try them out!
just making sure my last comment went through
Oh no, it doesn't look like it 🙁 Thanks for trying!
I love the texture of these pancakes – they look absolutely perfect. And sweet potatoes are such a fun twist – yum!
Thanks, Marissa! The texture is nice and fluffy, just the way I like them!
What a wonderful idea for mother's day. I'll put it on my list – my mom loves sweet potatoes! We've never used potatoes on pancakes so it'll be a new twist!
Thanks, Natalie! I hope you like them!
Hi Sonali! 🙂
I made these pancakes yesterday for breakfast and they were a hit! My whole family enjoyed them especially my toddler. I've always had trouble with the batter not cooking all the way in other sweet potato pancake recipes. There was no problem with your recipe. I'm currently in South Korea and I used Korean sweet potatoes. I think they're a little more sweet than the ones back in the states. Well, thanks for posting the recipe & I look forward to trying more of your recipes. 😀
Have a great day,
Karissa
That's great that your family enjoyed them, especially your toddler! I know how hard it can be to find good toddler-friendly recipe 🙂 I've never tried Korean sweet potatoes- glad they worked well in the dish. Thanks for your comment!
These are such a treat! My family has often made sweet potato pancakes from a premade mix, so being able to make these tasty cakes from scratch when my parents visited was so special. Thanks for sharing the recipe! We loved it!
I found this recipe on Yummly and tried it. The pancakes were so good and I appreciate that they are also good for you! My family and I loved this!! I mean LOOOOOVE!!
These look awesome! Could I make waffles using this recipe?
Thanks;-)
Hi! Thanks so much! I’ve never made waffles with this recipe, but I think it should work 🙂
I’ve been making this recipe for weeks now for my picky toddler. He LOVES them! Since he is allergic to eggs I use an egg replacer in its place. I also add flax seed meal to the dry ingredients.
After making it a few times I started to experiment on how to add more veggies to the mix. So now I make a sweet potato and beet purée and use that instead of just the potato. Makes them pink but now he gets 2 veggies in his breakfast!!
Thank you again for a great recipe (original and my version)
So happy your little one loves the recipe! Adding beets is a great idea, I’m going to have to try it. My daughter would love the pink color and I love the extra boost of nutrients 🙂 Thanks for your comment!