These Sweet Potato Pancakes are made with microwaved mashed sweet potato and spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg for a delicious morning treat!
Sweet potatoes were once only reserved for the holidays, primarily making their appearance at Thanksgiving. Thanks to their newfound popularity as a healthy food, sweet potatoes have made their way into our daily diets. Sweet potato fries, sweet potato hash, sweet potato noodles, and now, these sweet potato pancakes!
Sweet potatoes are packed with a ton of vitamins: all the vitamin A you’d need in a day, vitamin C, manganese, fiber, potassium, and more. I eat sweet potatoes weekly, mainly as a baked sweet potato that I load up with beans, veggies, and top with salsa and sour cream. I’m always interested in new ways to use this versatile root vegetable, and these sweet potato pancakes have quickly become a new breakfast favorite.
I find the easiest and quickest way to cook sweet potatoes is in the microwave. Scrub the skins of the sweet potatoes under running water. Pat dry and pierce all over with a fork. Place the sweet potatoes on a microwave safe plate. Microwave for two minute intervals until sweet potatoes are super soft. (You should be able to mash the sweet potato filling with ease.) Flip and rotate sweet potatoes often to ensure even cooking. This cooking process will take about 6 to 8 minutes. Or, you could roast sweet potatoes in the oven. This takes much longer- about an hour in a 400 degree F oven.
I prefer the microwave method. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, I measure out the remaining ingredients (mis-en-place). This way, I’m prepared and I can get the sweet potato pancakes on the breakfast table faster! You could also prepare the sweet potatoes ahead of time and keep it chilled in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.
These sweet potato pancakes are spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg. If you prefer, you can swap in pumpkin pie spice (usually a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves). They’re not like your traditional pancakes. They’re a bit more substantial and filling. The addition of mashed sweet potatoes definitely changes the texture of the pancakes, but it also adds texture and flavor.
I like to serve these pancakes with a pat of salted butter, a handful of toasted pecans, and a generous drizzle of maple syrup.
Sweet Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato (about 2 small sweet potatoes), cooled
- 1½ cups milk, room temperature
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- maple syrup, to top
- salted butter, to garnish
- toasted pecans, to garnish
Instructions
- Scrub sweet potato under running water. Pat dry. Pierce with fork all over. Place on a microwave safe plate. Microwave at 2 minute intervals until completely soft. Flip sweet potato during intervals to ensure even cooking. A medium sized sweet potato will take about 6 minutes.
- Remove sweet potato skin and mash until smooth. Allow to cool.
- Combine milk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter until smooth. Add in mashed sweet potato and stir until incorporated.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Use a spatula to fold mixture together. Mix until there are no longer any dry streaks of flour. Do not worry if mixture is not completely smooth.
- Set skillet or griddle to medium heat. Lightly grease with butter or oil. Once warm, pour in ⅓ cup portion of pancake batter. Cook until bubbles begin to form on surface and edges of pancake are set. Flip pancake and cook the other side until lightly browned. Repeat with remaining batter. Adjust heat accordingly if pancakes are browning too fast.
- Immediately serve sweet potato pancakes warm with maple syrup, salted butter, and toasted pecans.
Notes
- The two small sweet potatoes photographed above yield roughly one cup of mashed sweet potato.
- Alternatively, you can roast the sweet potatoes in an 400 degrees F oven for 50 to 60 minutes until soft.
- Mashed sweet potato can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Here are more breakfast recipes you might enjoy:
- Make-Ahead Apple Raisin Oatmeal by Zested Lemon
- Breakfast Potato Nachos by The Little Epicurean
- Breakfast Quesadillas by Recipe Girl
- Whole Wheat Pancake Waffles by Lively Table
Looks great and so delicious! Do you think it would go well with pumpkin instead of sweet potato?
Thanks! Definitely, I think it would work great with pumpkin!