Fry

Oatmeal Purple Sweet Potato Pancakes with Blueberries

by:
April  8, 2012
3.5
4 Ratings
Oatmeal Purple Sweet Potato Pancakes with Blueberries
  • Makes 10 quarter cup pancakes
Author Notes

One fall morning, tousled between the sheets, I lay in bed day dreaming about pancakes. I measured out figments of spicy cinnamon and sifted airy oat flour. I imagined scooping the curious, gem colored flesh out of a steaming, hot Okinawan sweet potato. Ingredients coalesced in my half-waking mind, forming a recipe for a healthy, antioxidant rich, purple pancake batter. I could just see the lavender pancake frying in a vision of hot oil, bubbling and lacy around the edges.

This recipe is one of the final results of that morning reverie coupled with a bit of experimentation. These are the holy grail of healthy pancakes, packed with antioxidants from purple sweet potatoes, blueberries, rolled oats, pure cocoa powder, clove & cinnamon. Plus, they're sugar free and gluten free, clocking in at only 365 calories per 5 quarter cup pancake serving. Most importantly, they are fluffy, delicious, and purple! Topped with thick yogurt (orange-ginger flavored skyr is my favorite...) & agave nectar, these don't taste like a compromise. —Bake In Black

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 large purple sweet potato, 1 cup mashed
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 10 packets Truvia
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 pinch ground cloves
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Milliliter juice of half a lemon
  • 138 grams egg whites (3 large eggs or 1/2 cup + 1 T)
  • 190 milliliters unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 3/4 cup fresh blueberries (or frozen, thawed)
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 450°. Prick potato all over with a fork, wrap in foil, and bake for 40-60 minutes, until cooked through and very soft when pierced with a fork. (Alternately, pierce and wrap in a paper towels, microwaving for about 5 minutes, flipping it halfway through cooking until completely soft and cooked through. May take shorter or longer depending on microwave and potato size. This is my preferred weekday method.)
  2. Meanwhile, if using rolled oats, grind in a food processor (my mini works great for this) until powdered. Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Slightly larger bits of oat will remain, add these in after all that can be sifted has been for a slightly more textured pancake; I do.
  3. In a separate bowl mix sweet potato very thoroughly with the rest of the wet ingredients. The lemon juice will turn the mixture a bright pink when added. This is quite alright, a natural chemical reaction.
  4. Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium heat to about 250° or until droplets of water sizzle and evaporate in the pan. Once hot, reduce heat to medium-low (I fry mine on "4 out of 10").
  5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, folding them in with a spatula until just wet and combined. Do not overmix. Lumps are okay. Mix in the berries last or just drop them into the batter as you fry each pancake (the latter produces "prettier" results). Thin batter if needed or desired with additional almond milk. I do not find this necessary.
  6. Spray pan lightly with canola oil, and add batter to the hot pan by the quarter cupful, frying about 3-4 minutes on the first side, until the sides begin to look dry and bubbly, and then fry for about 2-3 minutes on the other side until brown and cooked through. The pancakes will be puffed, crisp and golden on the outside and moist on the inside.
  7. Top as desired and enjoy perhaps the most antioxidant rich pancake ever created--and they're high-fiber and protein and low sugar and fat! These can also be kept warm in a 180° oven on a parchment lined sheet pan while frying in batches if need be.
  8. Topping suggestions: greek yogurt or skyr, agave nectar, fresh berries, toasted walnuts, cinnamon-vanilla butter studded with candied ginger, honey...
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6 Reviews

Foodie352
Foodie352 May 19, 2024
I followed the recipe, except adding date sugar vs. truvia and it just didn't turn out. The pancakes didn't really cook, there was no flavor, even after adding all those spices. Very disappointing since the ingredients were pricey and there were A LOT of them.
 
Maria
Maria May 4, 2017
I loved this recipe so much that I shared it on my blog: http://healthybody.tv/blog/purple-sweet-potato/
Thank you for a great recipe!
 
Laura
Laura April 11, 2016
Hi, what is Truvia - guessing some kind of sweetener?
 
Maria
Maria May 4, 2017
Hey Laura, yes it is. It's a mixture of erythritol (sugar alcohol) and stevia extract. =)
 
Petite F.
Petite F. September 7, 2014
WOW! must try!!!
 
Ghazzzit
Ghazzzit July 14, 2012
Made these for breakfast today with normal (orange) sweet potatos that I had on hand, and really enjoyed them!

I'd run out of milk so I substituted 3/4c Orange Juice for the milk/lemon, and used 4tbsp Splenda instead of the Truvia. I found I wanted to cook them at a lower heat as the oats/potato combo is so moist the exterior was browning faster than they were cooking through. These were almost sweet enough on their own, I served them with a light drizzling of honey. The spice combo and berries are delicious - makes me want to try a blueberry sweet potato muffin. Thanks for the nutritious and yummy recipe!