I love Jamie Oliver’s Everyday Superfood book. It really has inspired a lot of the recipes I now cook (tweaked to be gluten-free where necessary, of course). I love breaking my meals down into macronutrients and I always strive for balance, taking advantage of natural ingredients that pack the biggest flavours and health benefits. No restricting – just eating nutritious and delicious food. This book is influenced by diets all over the world, from communities where people live the longest, healthiest lives, based on very simple and nutritious ingredients.
Michael loves Jamie’s smoothie pancakes from that book – naturally sweetened with a banana (make sure it’s ripe, those green ones will do nothing!), everything is chucked in the food processor and it’s good to go. We make it the night before and quickly whip up a batch of pancakes on mornings before work and uni.
I’ve adjusted Jamie’s recipe to make it gluten-free and replaced the berries in his with orange and cardamom here. Cardamom is a spice that I have always associated with savoury dishes, but over the past year or so, food blogs all over have been incorporating it into chia puddings and chocolate brownies. Food is amazing.
The cardamom gives these pancakes a nice warmth to them that is a perfect pick-me-up on those dreary winter mornings. But it’s also great for summer mornings too, when you want some with an extra kick! The orange lends a little freshness. Orange and cardamom is a winning combo, and what better way to eat it, than in pancake form?

Orange and Cardamom Pancakes
Ingredients
- 200 g self-raising gluten-free flour
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 300 ml milk (I used Alpro coconut)
- 1 ripe medium banana
- 2 medium eggs (or 2 flax/chia eggs)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest and juice of 2 oranges
- Oil or butter for greasing pan
- Optional: maple syrup, freshly cut orange and banana, pomegranate seeds, toasted nuts, popped amaranth
Instructions
- Blitz banana in food processor or mash with a fork or potato masher until smooth.
- Add milk, eggs, and vanilla extract and blitz.
- Add the gluten-free flour, baking powder and ground cardamom and blitz the mixture again until well combined.
- Zest the oranges and add their juice to the mixture. Combine well.
- Heat a pan on medium heat and grease with a little bit of oil, preferably coconut for flavour.
- Use 1/4 cup (or 2 heaped tablespoons) to measure out one pancake and dollop it in the greased pan. Depending on your pan size, you can do 2-4 at a time.
- When the pancake top begins to bubble, it should be ready to flip. Cook for a further 2 or 3 minutes on the other side until nicely browned. Remove from the pan and place on a separate plate under a clean tea towel to keep warm. Repeat until all the batter is cooked.
- Serve 3 pancakes per person and top with anything you like. I used fresh orange segments, pomegranate seeds, toasted pecan nuts and popped amaranth with a drizzle of maple syrup.
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