We’re throwing it back to an amazing recipe from 4 years ago, plus a little bit of reminiscing. Remember the times when blogs were a form of storytelling? I always love looking back at past blog posts and remembering where I was at that given point in my life. Here’s a little snippet from back in 2018 with messages that I still carry with me! And of course, fluffy sweet potato pancakes that I still make to this day.
“Here’s the truth: I have had anxiety since I can remember. Sometimes it creeps in when I least expect it. Often times it shows up as physical symptoms and my body completely shuts down. I’m still learning to manage it, because quite frankly in some weird way sometimes my anxiety pushes me to be better. It gives me energy, and excitement… yet at times, it’s also chaotic and out of control. The key is finding the balance and feeling more in control. Work in progress!
What I should be focusing on is the little moments, filling my heart with joy and embracing what comes my way. I can only do so much and sometimes I have to realize that what I’m doing is ENOUGH. Sometimes I just have to tell myself that things will be okay. That no matter what happens, I’ll still be here kicking it tomorrow.
Lately, I made a conscious effort to start my days out happy. You know, like starting my days out with a deep breath, a good playlist and a batch of these fluffy sweet potato pancakes with delicious chai spices. I tend to associate pancakes with my Dad and childhood, so cooking up a batch in the morning brings me nothing but good warm fuzzy feelings of nostalgia. For reals. Talk about a mood booster.”
Yes, we’re adding sweet potato to pancakes
I’ve been a sweet potato lover for as long as I can remember. I used to love sprinkling them with cinnamon, peanut butter, and maple syrup, so I thought what could be better than adding that irresistible flavor it to a stack of pancakes? The sweet potato in these pancakes adds:
- The perfect texture so that your pancakes are deliciously fluffy
- A lovely natural sweetness (they are SWEET potatoes, after all!)
- Vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber (to keep you full!) and antioxidants
Ingredients in these sweet potato pancakes
Besides sweet potatoes, of course, these incredible pancakes are filled with cozy chai spices and simple ingredients. Can you imagine these paired with a chai-spice latte? YUM. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Flour: we’re using white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour to keep the pancakes light and fluffy.
- Egg: you’ll need 1 egg in this recipe to help the pancakes cook properly.
- Milk: a little unsweetened almond milk give them the perfect amount of moisture. You can also use melted butter.
- Oil: we’re also adding a tiny bit of olive oil or melted butter for extra moisture.
- Maple syrup: you’ll add some pure maple syrup into the batter for natural sweetness, and a suggest saving some to top your stack!
- Sweet potato: the one and only! You’ll be adding mashed, cooked sweet potato right into the batter.
- Spices: I’m a huge fan of chai-spice and it’s so easy to make them at home. All you need is cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
- Baking staples: don’t forget the baking powder (not baking soda), salt, and vanilla extract! Learn how to make your own vanilla extract here.
Can I use a different flour?
I recommend sticking with white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour so that the sweet potato pancakes come out perfectly fluffy, but feel free to use all purpose flour of that’s what you have on hand.
For a gluten free option, I suggest trying a 1:1 all purpose gluten free flour. Please note that I have not tested this swap so I’m not 100% sure how the pancakes will turn out.
Healthy sweet potato pancakes in 3 steps
- Mix the dry ingredients. Start by whisking together your flour, baking powder, salt, and all of those spices.
- Make the batter. In a separate bowl mix the milk, egg, oil, maple syrup, vanilla & mashed sweet potato until it’s nice and smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix until just combined.
- Cook, top & serve. Lightly grease your griddle and place it over medium heat. Drop the batter by 1/4 cup and cook for about 2 minutes until bubbles appear. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Stack them up with your favorite pancake toppings and enjoy!
Our favorite pancake toppings & mix-ins
These sweet potato pancakes are the perfect base for delicious toppings and mix-ins! Here’s what I can suggest:
- Chocolate: the sweet potato + chocolate combo is sneaky delicious, trust me! Feel free to add 1/3 cup of chocolate chips to the batter.
- Nuts: I love to add chopped walnuts or pecans in the batter and/or on top of these pancakes.
- Banana: sliced bananas on top would be amazing.
- Maple syrup: the one and only! I always top these with some pure maple syrup.
- Whipped cream: fresh homemade whipped cream makes these extra special. If you’re not into whipped cream you could even add a dollop of yogurt!
Tips for perfect sweet potato pancakes
Be sure to get all of my tips & tricks for making the best pancakes (plus a video) here! For the basics, remember these:
- Remember to measure out 3/4 cup mashed sweet potato, which is about 2 medium sweet potatoes.
- Do not overmix your batter! This will result in a gummy pancake texture.
- The batter will be thick, but if it’s TOO thick simply add a little more milk.
- Cook your pancakes over medium heat so that they cook evenly. If you flip your pancakes and they appear to be cooking too fast, feel free to reduce the temp to medium-low so that they don’t burn.
How to keep pancakes warm
Feel free to make these healthy sweet potato pancakes ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven. Simply place oven at 200 degrees F, then add pancakes to a platter or oven-safe plate and place in the oven until ready to serve.
Freezer-friendly sweet potato pancakes
If you’d like to make your pancakes ahead of time and serve them at a later date, you can place the pancakes on a baking sheet so they aren’t touching and place them in the freezer for 30 minutes, then place them in freezer safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, simply add the sweet potato pancakes to a plate and microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warm. I do it all the time!
Start your weekend out with warm fuzzy feel good feelings from these sweet potato pancakes and a little music thanks to this playlist. Best topped with toasted pecans, a little butter (or peanut butter) and a drizzle of real maple syrup.
More pancake recipes you’ll love
- Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
- Carrot Cake Pancakes (gluten free + dairy free!)
- Change Your Life Salted Brown Butter Pancakes
- Fluffy Almond Flour Pancakes
Get all of my pancake recipes here, and even more recipes using sweet potato here!
If you make these sweet potato pancakes be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Chai-Spiced Sweet Potato Pancakes
Fluffy chai-spiced sweet potato pancakes filled with delicious roasted sweet potato and wonderful, cozy chai spices. These easy, healthy sweet potato pancakes are the perfect way to use up leftover sweet potato and make the best fall breakfast! Add your favorite toppings and enjoy.
Ingredients
- 1 cup white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon ginger
- pinch of cloves
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, plus more if necessary
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or sub melted butter)
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup mashed, cooked sweet potato (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)
Instructions
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In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices. In a medium bowl, combine almond milk, egg, oil, maple syrup, vanilla, and mashed sweet potato until smooth. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Batter will be thick, however if it is way too thick add in a tablespoon or two of milk.
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Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with olive oil and heat over medium. After a minute or two, drop batter by 1/4 cup onto skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on top, about 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more oil and remaining batter. You may need to reduce heat to medium low on the pan to prevent burning. I usually do this after my first batch. Makes 8 pancakes, 2 pancakes each.
Recipe Notes
See the full post for tips, tricks, ways to customize, and even how to freeze these pancakes!
Nutrition
This post was originally published on October 17th, 2018, and republished on November 26th, 2022.
64 comments
Have you ever been to Nashville? The Pancake Pantry is famous for its sweet potato pancakes and they are soooo good!
Have you ever been to Nashville? The Pancake Pantry is famous for its sweet potato pancakes and they are soooo good!
These look so good! Sweet potatoes, chai!!! and then lots of syrup…I’d be in heaven! And yes, start the days out happy. Start with a mimosa if nothing else 🙂 pinned
These are my go to pancakes! They are so tasty and wholesome too. Love them with some maple syrup and pecans on top! I make them for my littles and I almost weekly as they are really easy for little hands to eat.
I’m so glad! Perfect breakfast 🙂
These look so good! Sweet potatoes, chai!!! and then lots of syrup…I’d be in heaven! And yes, start the days out happy. Start with a mimosa if nothing else 🙂 pinned
Totally loving everything about this gorgeous stack of pancakes!
Totally loving everything about this gorgeous stack of pancakes!
I think having to find an apartment (esp. in a new city) is one of the most stressful situations to be in…glad to hear these pancakes helped alleviate some of the stress (or at least, take the edge off!). They look fantastic, and I *love* sweet potatoes – can’t wait to try them!
Fun! Loving the idea of my favorite veggie turned pancake!
Fun! Loving the idea of my favorite veggie turned pancake!
Made these for brekkie today- WONDERFUL! Thanks Monique for another winner 🙂
I have never had a chai spiced pancake before! Wish I had a stack of these to devour right now, they look seriously amazing!
I have never had a chai spiced pancake before! Wish I had a stack of these to devour right now, they look seriously amazing!
Seriously girl these pancakes look insane!
Seriously girl these pancakes look insane!
Love this recipe! Do you mean actual sweet potatoes, or yams?
Love this recipe! Do you mean actual sweet potatoes, or yams?
Looks delicious Monique! Yet to try them 🙂
Looks delicious Monique! Yet to try them 🙂
I slightly adapted this recipe to work with ingredients I can get in my corner of the world (brown sugar instead of maple syrup, regular milk instead of almond milk, 1/4 cup whole weat and 1 cup plain flour) and they were delicious! They needed to bake a bit longer than it said in the recipe, but that may be due to all my substitutions. Next time, I think I will adjust the spices to 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and vanilla for a more balanced flavour.
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
I slightly adapted this recipe to work with ingredients I can get in my corner of the world (brown sugar instead of maple syrup, regular milk instead of almond milk, 1/4 cup whole weat and 1 cup plain flour) and they were delicious! They needed to bake a bit longer than it said in the recipe, but that may be due to all my substitutions. Next time, I think I will adjust the spices to 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and vanilla for a more balanced flavour.
Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Wow! Love sweet potato pancakes. Bet these one taste really good with all the chai spices. Pinned!
Wow! Love sweet potato pancakes. Bet these one taste really good with all the chai spices. Pinned!
If I already have a chai spice blend, how much of it should I use for these pancakes?
Maybe a teaspoon or two! Depends how chai intense you want them!
WOW I have to try them 🤤🤤🤤
Absolutely! 🙂
Is that a cup of flour?
I was thinking the same thing. I am thinking it is.
Hi Monique! Today i made for breakfast these pancakes, loved the taste but it was so hard to flip and the pancake inside is not all the way cooked. Is it supposed to be like that?
Yep! Updated 🙂
Same here with starting my day off right! Positive affirmations, music, a walk in nature, an awesome workout, a healthy breakfast, and some micro-social time are my favorite ways to perk up my morning! These sweet potato pancakes DEFINITELY belong in the equation to a happy day…unless you want these for dinner, which by all means, go for it, haha! I love the addition of chai spice to add an extra kick to the stack. The drizzle of maple syrup on top of the pancakes just gives the BEST comforting aesthetic!
The best way to start the day! Love that. These for dinner = genius 😉
I’m having problems trying to pin these pancakes. The message is that your page doesn’t allow items to be pinned.
Hi Rina – we’re working on a fix for our Pinterest buttons. Stay tuned and thanks for your patience!
I’m having problems trying to pin these pancakes. The message is that your page doesn’t allow items to be pinned.
Hi Rina – we’re working on a fix for our Pinterest buttons. Stay tuned and thanks for your patience!
Made these gluten free and they turned out great!! Used 2/3 all purpose gluten free flour mix and 1/3 teff flour for a nutty flavor. Delish! Hit with everyone at my table!! Also great reheated in the toaster for a weekday breakfast. Win!!
Glad those swaps worked out! And reheating in the toaster is the best way to do it 🙂
The taste is great but are they supposed to be soft and gooey in the middle ?
They shouldn’t be gooey in the middle – I would be sure to cook them on a medium-low heat so that they cook evenly throughout!
Totally worth my extra effort of buying whole wheat pastry flour online! Kids and I even loved them plain with no syrup! (ALTHOUGH, I DID SNEAK A FEW BITES WITH SYRUP, SOOO GOOD!)
So happy to hear that, Mary!
Love, Love, LOVE these pancakes!!!! My new favorite!
I’m so glad!!
Hi Monique, could you tell me what “makes 8 pancakes, 2 pancakes each” means? Doest that mean I get a total of 8 or 16 pancakes? Thanks!
Hi Monique, could you tell me what “makes 8 pancakes, 2 pancakes each” means? Doest that mean I get a total of 8 or 16 pancakes? Thanks!
Hi Laura! Each serving is 2 pancakes (for one person), and the recipe makes a total of 8 pancakes.
These were yummy! The sweet potato flavor wasn’t super strong but we loved the chai spice 🙂
Made these as is and they were great!
I’m so used to making pancakes with oat flour or soaked buckwheat or other healthy substitutes to flour. I hadn’t made a flour pancake for so long i had forgotten how good they can be! A weekend treat I will repeat for sure.
Aren’t they delicious? The perfect weekend brunch!
These are seriously the best pancakes ever! I’ve made them twice now, once with spelt flour and once with whole wheat and they were perfect both times. With a little dollop of coconut cream on top it’s like having pie for breakfast!
Amazing! I’m so glad you loved them (and coconut cream on top sounds delicious!)
Made these for my husband’s birthday because he loves sweet potato. I subbed out the almond milk for flax milk and they came out delicious. I think these might be our go to pancakes now, we always keep mashed sweet potato in the fridge, because they were soft, fluffy, and the chai flavor was a great addition.
These were the perfect fall pancake recipe! So simple and quick to make. Thank you for always having the best recipes!
Absolutely! So glad you loved these 🙂
YUM. These were so good, had them with some greek yogurt and berries on top. Next time I might add some chopped pecan into the batter.
Delicious! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
These pancakes are so light, fluffy, and delicious! I halved the recipe for a single serving. I also used oat milk instead of almond milk (what I had on hand). My pancakes weren’t fully chai-spiced, as I did not have any cloves or cardamom, but delicious nonetheless! I am excited to try this recipe again when I have all of the ingredients! This was a perfect hearty but healthy meal full of fiber and essential vitamins. This recipe will definitely join my regulars. Thanks!
Perfect! So glad you loved them!!
These look wonderful! I will definitely try them. Could you tell me the best way to cook sweet potatoes? Thinking baking might preserve more of the nutrients, but also takes more time. Thanks for all your great recipes!
Hi, Deena! I definitely recommend roasting them whole for the best texture and concentrated sweet potato flavor. Just poke holes into the potato with a fork and bake on a foil-lined sheet at 400ºF for 1 hour or until fork-tender 🙂