It’s nearly Pancake Day! I’ve only just learnt that it’s not a worldwide celebration so maybe a little background is needed for those of you who don’t celebrate! Officially called Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day is the last day before Lent. Since Lent is associated with fasting, Shrove Tuesday celebrations involve indulging in food that one sacrifices for the upcoming forty days. Pancakes were traditionally eaten because they were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before the fasting season.
Well, my pancakes don’t actually contain any of those ingredients so perhaps you can eat them throughout Lent too!
I’m not actually religious but I do love pancakes so the day is really just an excuse for me to indulge in one of my favourite foods. Growing up, we always had “English pancakes”, which are thin and crêpe-like and usually topped with lemon juice and sugar and rolled up. I’ve got a tasty recipe for vegan crêpes on Coconut and Berries here. You can go all out and serve them with Date and Orange Compote and Cinnamon Ice Cream like I did or keep them more traditional.
Over time I’ve come to prefer the American-style pancake and am a big fan of a thick, fluffy stack with plenty of toppings for a weekend breakfast. You might like my Teff Pancakes with Caramelized Bananas.
I thought I’d try something a bit different this time and go savoury. These Squash, Rosemary & Cashew Cheese Pancakes would make a great brunch option, on Pancake Day or any day!
Chunks of sweet, roasted squash, earthy herbs and tangy cashew cheese, all in a soft gluten free pancake base. I topped them with extra cashew cheese, pumpkin seeds and caramelized onions for a real “Fat Tuesday” treat!
- 250g/9oz (approx) Peeled and cubed butternut squash
- 1/2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 1/2 C Brown rice flour
- 1/2 C Millet flour (I grind mine from whole millet grain in a spice grinder)
- 1/2 C Oat flour (I grind mine from rolled oats in a spice grinder)
- 1-1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 Tbsp Chopped fresh rosemary
- 1-1/4 C Non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1 Tbsp Ground flax
- 3 Tbsp Water
- 1 recipe/100g/ 3.5 oz Baked cashew cheese (or your favourite nut cheese), crumbled.
- Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Toss cubed butternut with the oil and spread in a single layer in a roasting dish. Cook for 15-20 minutes, until tender.
- In a large bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir through chopped rosemary.
- In a small bowl, whisk together non-dairy milk, vinegar, ground flax and water.
- Add wet ingredients to dry and stir just to combine. Fold in the baked squash cubes.
- Preheat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Wipe with a little olive oil.
- Add ladle-fuls of the batter to the pan, making sure you get plenty of squash in each. Top with a few pieces of crumbled cashew cheese. Allow to cook undisturbed for a few minutes until dry around the edges. Flip and continue to cook for a further few minutes. Repeat until all batter is used up.
- Serve warm with remaining cashew cheese, pumpkin seeds and caramelized onions or chutney.
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Such a playful dish.
Thanks Jennifer. It was definitely fun to eat!
in the us, i think pancake day is akin to beignet day, or donut day. my coworker always goes to the local bakery and gets the staff donuts, but he does it because he always happens to have a craving for one that day. when i worked at a bakery, we’d have people lined out the door for beignets. it’s pretty hardcore.
i think these are the most delicious pancakes i’ve ever seen, maybe since i’m a savory girl. and cashew cheese makes everything extra special.
Thank you Caitlin. I agree cashew cheese really makes a dish stand out.
How interesting about Pancake Day in the US. It makes sense I guess since donuts probably (traditionally) have the same ingredients as pancakes- eggs, butter, sugar- all of which are banned during lent.
I like the cashew cheese element, do the pancakes feel quite dense? X
Hi Deena, the pancakes aren’t particularly dense. I am used to pancakes made with whole grains though so perhaps I’m biased! You could just use your favourite pancake recipe and add the cashew cheese and roasted squash.
Lovely
I have tried savoury pancakes and crêpes in France before but I think my heart will always belong to sweet pancakes… I sometimes dream of owning a vegan crêpes stall in a retro Peugeot minivan, travelling around the country to feed people with yummy crêpes year-round. Someday… 😉
So excited for Pancake Day! I’d never ‘truly’ celebrated it before moving to the UK, I love how enthusiastic people are about it here.
That sounds like a lovely dream! I’d happily join you
I love pancake day, probably as it’s something we always observed growing up so it has fun memories attached…and obviously pancakes are delicious!
Yay for Pancake Day!! I love your savoury version… I always associate pancakes with sweet but these really address that balance! Hmmm, it looks like i’ll be giving up fruit for lent this year ;-/
We used to do savoury pancakes for main course and then sweet ones for pudding!
Booooo on the fruit. I haven’t really thought about what I might do for lent…it’s fun to take up something though.
Pancake Day! I always miss these things… Happily I celebrate pancakes at least once a month :-).
I celebrate probably at least once a week! It’s just extra special as everyone’s joining me on Tuesday 😀
Looks like I am going to be making these this week with a few substitutions with what I have on hand. Can I just confirm that the quantity of non-dairy milk is between 1 and 1 1/4 cups? Thanks
Great! The quantity is 1 and 1/4 Cup non-dairy milk. Sorry if it wasn’t clear.
Hope they turn out well for you.
I generally forget about Shrove Tuesday until the day itself, or the day after!, so I was pleased to remember early this year
I grew up with the thin pancake variety too, but as I am hopeless at flipping pancakes, I’ve come to prefer the thicker type that are easier to toss for me. Your squash and rosemary mix sounds lovely!
Thanks Kari. I have pancakes so frequently anyway these days that to be honest I don’t always have pancakes on the official day! I might make crepes for a change though tomorrow.
I’ve done savoury crepes before, but savoury pancakes? Not sure I can wrap my head around that one 😉 They do look mighty delicious though!
Just think of them like fritters and then they make more sense! I love savoury crepes too
I LOVE the idea of a savoury, hearty pancake!! Can’t wait to try this as a lovely side 😀
Thank you Ceara! They’d be a great side dish and a nice alternative for bread for eating with soup too!
I bloody love pancake day. I think I might do american pancakes for breakfast and crepes for dinner!
Sounds a fab idea. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today but I just haven’t been in the mood for pancakes! Never mind, I’ll make up for it soon and vegan pancakes are “lent-friendly” anyway!
These sound really good - I love savoury pancakes and don’t have them enough! We aren’t religious but when I was young my parents took lent quite seriously and we didn’t eat dessert during lent (that was serious in my childhood) so pancakes on shrove tuesday was a special day for us. This year I am balancing other things and am hoping I might fit the pancakes in on Wednesday rather than Tuesday which is not really in the spirit of the day but at least I get some pancakes
I often make savoury chickpea flour pancakes but for a main meal rather than breakfast/brunch usually.
No dessert during lent as a child! That does sound serious!
I actually haven’t had pancakes today. I jut wasn’t in the mood and had other things that needed to be eaten. I might have them tomorrow instead…
Sadly, I think I’m going to miss out on pancake day this time around… I haven’t been feeling motivated to come up with some sort of special pancake, and it seems that there are no restaurants serving vegan pancakes on the entire island of Oahu (!) so I’m out of luck. It’s never too late to whip up a batch though, and your savory approach is certainly inspiring. I love the cashew cheese topping especially!
Thanks Hannah. I actually haven’t had pancakes today either! As much as I love them I just wasn’t in the mood and wasn’t going to force myself just for the sake of it.
Vegan pancakes are “lent-friendly” anyway so maybe I’ll whip up a batch tomorrow!
Emma, these are so pretty and creative!! I’ve never had pancakes that weren’t the traditional sweet breakfast type…these sounds super delicious though! Also, I haven’t been getting your email notifications, so I just resubscribed
You should try savoury pancakes- just think of them like fritters and then it doesn’t seem so weird.
Thanks for subscribing!
Oh delicious - some of my favourite flavours are all right there. Any excuse to use cashew cheese and I’m there! I haven’t been able to make any pancakes this year, but if I did, I think these would have been my top choice!
I’ve recently become a little obsessed with savory pancakes so I’m loving the sound of these!! Squash and rosemary were meant for each other!
Savoury pancakes are the bomb! I’m loving chickpea flour pancakes/pudla at the moment.
Wow love these Emma! Great idea to use squash in the pancakes…. plus cashew cheese Mmmmm!!!
Thank you! Yes, cashew cheese is the best!
These look so delicious Emma, I always make my crepes/pancakes sweet but these make a fantastic change! You know how much I adore butternut squash!
I do indeed 😉 It was definitely a fun change. I think crepes filled with roasted squash, cashew cheese & caramelized onions would be just as delicious if you wanted to go down that route instead of fluffy pancakes.
Oh my gosh! So glad I happened upon your website. I am OBSESSED with pancakes, but I’ve never seen anything remotely like these. Rosemary and squash and cashew cheese? I would never have thought of combining those in a breakfast food! *subscribed*
Thanks so much for visiting! Pancakes really are one of my favourite foods- glad you’re on the same page!