Pretty Dragon Pancakes
These pink Dragon Fruit pancakes are so stunning to look at and they taste amazing too. So whip up a stack for someone you love! They make a wonderful breakfast or a delicious pudding; and yet they are simple to make and will put a smile on everyone’s faces.
The batter, which can be made the night before, is made with spelt flour and flavoured with tropical Dragon Fruit powder (also known as Pink Pitaya powder). The Dragon Fruit powder is also what gives the pancakes and the topping their fabulous bright pink colour. It is also full of nourishing fibre and bursting with antioxidant polyphenols.
Serve these fluffy pink pancakes with the creamy protein-rich topping and garnish them with raspberries and pomegranate seeds for a sweet and nutritious start to the day.
These pancakes are made from spelt, if you need them to be gluten-free then see the options in the notes. Also see egg-free, dairy-free and low-histamine options in the notes below.
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Pretty Dragon Pancakes
Ingredients
Topping
- 150 g Cottage Cheese (full fat)
- 2 tsp Honey
- 2 tsp Dragon Fruit Powder (look out for Pink Pitaya Powder)
Pancakes
- 190 g Spelt Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tbsp Dragon Fruit Powder (look out for Pink Pitaya Powder)
- 3 Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 150 ml Milk
- 0.25 tsp Olive Oil (light)
Garnish
- 150 g Raspberries
- 4 tbsp Pomegranate Seeds
- 1 tsp Honey (or Maple Syrup – both are optional)
Instructions
- Whizz the cottage cheese, honey and dragon fruit powder in a mini food processor until smooth and creamy. Set aside in the fridge whilst you make the pancakes.
- Put the spelt flour, baking powder and dragon fruit powder into a mixing bowl and stir it all together to create a pink mixture. Rub out any lumps of dragon fruit powder using your fingers.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract and milk, then whisk until combined (I use an electric hand-held whisk, but you could also do it manually; alternatively, you can make this batter entirely in a food processor).
- Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add a drizzle of the light olive oil and brush all over the bottom of the pan. Add a couple of large spoonfuls of batter to the pan to make mini pancake shapes, being careful not to let them touch each other. Cook them until bubbles appear on the top of the pancake. Flip them over and cook the pancakes for a couple more minutes until cooked on both sides and all the way through. Keep these warm whilst you cook the rest of them.
- Once all the batter is used up, create stacks of pancakes, top them with the pink cottage cheese mixture. Then garnish them with raspberries, pomegranate seeds and an extra drizzle of honey, if you like a touch more sweetness.
Notes
- You can buy Pink Pitaya or Dragon Fruit Powder from health food shops and online.
- If you can’t get hold of Dragon Fruit powder, you can swap to freeze-dried beetroot powder or raspberry powder.
- Feel free to play with the garnish. Sliced strawberries and melted dark chocolate would be delicious too.
- For evenly-sized pancakes, measure the batter using an ice cream scoop.
- To make this dairy-free use silken tofu in place of the cottage cheese, and use a plant-based milk.
- Gluten-free pancakes can be made using a gluten-free blend like Doves Farm, but I prefer sorghum flour.
- Egg-free: switch the three eggs to 3 tablespoons of ground flax seeds with 6 tablespoons of water and leave to soak for 15-20 minutes before adding to the batter.
- Low-histamine: switch the raspberries to blueberries.
- The pancakes store nicely in a container in the fridge overnight and for up to 24 hours.
Just made these and they were a hit! I didn’t do the cottage cheese. I simply put maple syrup and dried strawberries with a raspberry coulis. The plates were wiped clean.