Sweet potato pikelets with cinnamon cream cheese and candied pecans

Every now and then, my husband goes on a pancake making frenzy. Flour, egg, milk. Fry them in oil and served them drenched in butter and pure maple syrup. The Sunday morning before last was one such frenzy. I encouraged him to consider using different toppings, but he was adamant they be served the ‘traditional way’.

As I skewered a wedge of syrup covered pancake on my fork, I tentatively said, ‘I’ve realised, the problem with having maple syrup this way is that we have so much of it, and it’s 40% fructose.’

‘It’s a treat!’ He replied defiantly, and determinedly munched his way through a stack. A few minutes later, he followed up quietly: ‘It is very sweet though. I reckon I’d be happy using rice malt syrup these days…’

Occasionally, I use a small amount of maple syrup in baking and cooking, but usually this means no more than a few tablespoons, in something that is going to be divided into many serves, such as bliss balls. Pouring it over pancakes in that extravagant way that we do, is another matter. But, whatever. I didn’t want to complain because he’d gone to all that effort.

Half an hour later we were both rolling around the floor. ‘I feel like I’ve been poisoned!’ He complained, running to the toilet. We felt awful – hungover, and seedy. My head ached, and my stomach hurt. We drank a lot of water.

Our lesson was learned, once and for all.

So this Sunday, I adapted the old pancake recipe, and made these little sweet potato pikelets. The sweet potato adds a richness that the original recipe didn’t have, plus some sneaky nutrition which my three-year-old didn’t notice. They were lovely served with peanut butter, cinnamon cream cheese and candied pecans – flavours reminiscent of a pumpkin pie. Still indulgent, but with minimum added sugar (only a tiny bit added to the pecans), and consequently – no headaches, stomach aches or hangovers.

• Servings: 15-20 pikelets
• Time: Preparation: 10 mins Cooking: 20 mins
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

• 1/2 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1/2 cup white self-raising flour – if you only have 1 type of self-raising flour, it is fine to use a full cup instead of a combination of the two (or use 1 cup gluten-free self-raising flour)
• 270ml can coconut milk, shaken up before opening (or 1 cup regular milk)
• 1/3 cup sweet potato puree
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• Coconut oil, for frying
• Unsweetened, full fat cream cheese, ricotta or greek yoghurt, with a little ground cinnamon stirred through to taste
• Handful of pecans, lightly toasted in a frying pan with a teaspoon of rice malt syrup
• Optional additional toppings: strawberries or other berries, nut butter

1. In a large bowl, sift the flours. Make a well in the centre.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the coconut milk, sweet potato puree, eggs and vanilla powder until well combined. Pour into the well and whisk until all ingredients are incorporated.

3. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat and melt a teaspoon of coconut oil. Place spoonfuls (I use a 1/8 measuring cup to ensure they are all equal size) of the batter into the frying pan. Cook for 2 – 3 minutes until the edges begin to set and bubbles appear on the surface, before carefully flipping and cooking on the other side for a further minute. Serve with toppings.

Gluten-free: Use 1 cup gluten-free self-raising flour instead of regular flours.
Dairy-free: Use coconut milk instead of regular milk, and coconut yoghurt as a topping, instead of cream cheese, ricotta or greek yoghurt.

Sweet potato pancakes with candied pecans