Growing up almost every holiday meant brightly dyed biscuits in festive shapes for breakfast. Valentine’s Day was pink hearts followed by green shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve tried natural food colorings but they don’t pack the punch of classic colors from my childhood. Way back in September, I attended a cooking demonstration by Danielle Walker of Against All Grain. Someone asked if they could substitute sunbutter for almond butter in one of her recipes. She said it was a fine substitute but warned the treats would turn green. The baking soda reacts with trace amounts of chlorophyll in the sunbutter, which results in natural green food coloring! Boom. It is insane.
I was so excited about these naturally green pancakes but disappointed when the pancakes didn’t turn green. They were still delicious and worthy of posting without the fun color. I added bananas and a sunbutter-maple syrup drizzle to spur up the pancakes. I wondered why they didn’t turn green but was at a loss. Not until I cut into them about 30 minutes later, I was shocked to see it did work. As they sat out, the pancakes just kept turning more kelly green. My final bite was a dark beautiful green. I couldn’t believe not a drop of food color was involved! These Naturally Green Pancakes are not only great for St. Paddy’s Day but also for a fun science experiment in the kitchen!
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup organic sunbutter
- 1/2 cup applesauce, I made my own but this brand is good
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- coconut oil, for frying
Directions
- Heat oven to 200 degrees.
- Beat eggs with a hand mixer.
- Add all other ingredients and mix until smooth.
- Melt a little coconut oil in a griddle or flat-bottom skillet over medium heat.
- Scoop about 1/4 of a cup of batter onto the griddle for each pancake.
- Allow cook for a couple minutes or until the center of the pancake starts to bubble.
- Flip and cook for another few minutes.
- Remove from skillet and place in the oven for 20-30 minutes. This allows the pancakes to turn green!
Recipe adapted from here.
Enjoy!
x vanessa
I made these and they were delicious! The nutmeg is the perfect spice for the pancakes. In case anyone was wondering, I calculated the nutrition and there are 970 calories in the batch (49g protein, 60g carbs, 58g fat).
Great info! Thanks!
Oh man, these sound delish! You have some yummy recipes on here, chica 🙂
Can I sub a different nut butter?
Yup! They won’t turn green because it takes the chlorophyll in the sunbutter, but they will still taste delicious!!