Sweet Potato Pancakes for Baby

These super easy Sweet Potato Pancakes for baby are made with 4 simple ingredients and are ones that the whole family will enjoy. Great for baby-led weaning. 

Banana Chia Pancakes must be one of my son's favorite desserts and snacks. And I must admit, it works for me because they are so easy to make and with mostly the ingredients I always have at home. But since we also know the amazing health benefits of sweet potatoes I knew we had to make a recipe for healthy sweet potato pancakes. 

Why we love these healthy sweet potato pancakes? 

• Great way to add the nutrients from sweet potatoes to your baby's diet, for your picky toddler 
• Healthier than traditional pancakes because there is no added sugar, so a healthy baby pancake recipe  
• Great sweet potato blw recipe
• Great finger food  
• Older kids will like it too
• Ideal recipe for breakfast or for tasty snacks 

If you like this vegetable pancake recipe for baby you will also like our Pink Beet Pancakes, Spinach Pancakes for Baby or Pumpkin Pancakes. 

Ingredients 

• Wholewheat Flour - I tend to choose whole grain spelt flour because it is far more digestible than regular wheat all purpose flour, especially for babies and toddlers. Unfortunately it is not always available and not every store sells is so wholewheat flour is a great alternative. Wholewheat flour contains far more nutrients than regular white flour. These nutrients include minerals such as iron, magnesium and manganese but also complex carbohydrates and fiber.
  Eggs - Choose either organic ones or free-range so you can be sure that the chickens have not been treated with any hormones, antibiotics or preservatives. Eggs are a great source of B vitamins, especially choline as well as protein.
  Milk - As this recipe was originally made for my 22-month old, I used goat's milk due to its calorie and nutrition content. It is high in protein, fat, calcium and calories so a great ingredient to use when needing to boost up the calorie and nutrition content of toddler meals.
  Sweet Potato - You can use either store-bought sweet potato puree that is ready-to-be mixed into the pancake batter or you can make your own.I baked my own sweet potatoes as I couldn't find a puree and needed a bigger batch to test all the different batters and come up with the best one :). Sweet potatoes are a great ingredient  choose in both sweet and savory meals not only because of its great taste but also because it is filled with great nutrients such as vitamin A, copper, manganese and potassium but also plenty of fiber.

How To Make Sweet Potato Pancakes

If you will not be using sweet potato puree for these pancakes, you will first need to bake your potato. 

How To Bake Sweet Potato For Baby Pancakes

Prepare the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.

Prepare the sweet potato. Cut the sweet potato in halves lengthwise and pierce it through the skin with a fork several times (do not peel the skin). Place them on a baking tray on top of some parchment paper. Bake for about 45 minutes (until you can easily pierce it all the way to the other side with a knife).

Cool and prepare for pancakes. Allow to fully cool before scooping the flesh. Takes about half an hour.

How To Make Sweet Potato Pancakes for Baby 

Prepare the batter. Put all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until a smooth batter is formed.

Prepare the nonstick skillet. Heat the skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot, lightly grease it with a little coconut oil.

Making and baking the pancakes. Using a tablespoon, scoop the batter from the blender and place on the pan. These will be small pancakes. I can usually make 4 pancakes at a time. When you see the batter firming around the edges and lifting a bit off the pan, flip them over. They should be golden brown. Cook for another minute or two.

Cool and serve. Transfer to a plate to cool before serving.

Serve these with any nut butter, fresh fruit, homemade hazelnut butter or this healthy Nutella. 

Tips And Tricks For The Perfect Pancakes

Choose the perfect pan. If possible, make sure you are using a nonstick skillet, and possibly one that is not toxic, so a cast iron skillet is best. That way you will only need minimal oil to grease the pan and the pancakes will bake more quickly and evenly. 

Know your pancake size. You want to make sure to make the pancakes just big enough so that they are baked on the inside but not overly brown on the outside. I've found with this batter that the perfect amount is about one tablespoon.  

Don't overuse the oil. If you have a good pan, you will only need a tiny amount of oil to grease it. I've recently switched to using olive oil for baby and toddler pancakes because I only use small amounts and you can't really taste or smell it. And the health benefits are far better than of coconut oil. If you add too much oil the pancakes will be too greasy and sometimes even soggy and there is a large possibility your child won't want to eat them. 

How to Serve to Babies & Toddlers?

 Babies

• 6-9 month old – cut the pancakes in length and width of your index finger.
• 9 month+ or pincer grasp – you can cut into smaller bite size pieces, the size of your pinky fingernail. 
• You can serve these with a thin smear of nut butter (nut butters are a choking hazard for babies, so spread thinly) and fresh fruit mashed or cut up age appropriately.

Toddlers 

• You can serve them the same as you would for adults. If you add peanut butter then you can fold them and make little pancake "sandwiches" so it is easier for them to grab without getting nut butter all over themselves 

Possible Variations 

• Make them dairy-free. Instead of whole cow's milk, you can substitute with plant-based milk (almond milk, oat milk). I would recommend if serving to babies and toddlers to use calcium fortified plant-based milk just to ensure that they are getting enough of that very important micronutrient. 
• Use another flour. If you don't have (or want to use) wholewheat flour, you can always choose plain wheat flour or rye flour. I wouldn't recommend using fat-based flour such as coconut flour or almond flour because you'd need a carb-based one for this batter to work well. I also wouldn't recommend substituting with rolled oats or oat flour because it simply isn't as thick and could cause your pancakes to burn more easily from the outside.
• Add vanilla extract, pumpkin spice, cinnamon  

Can you freeze them?

Yes. They are great to freeze and then you can defrost them one by one for quick baby or toddler snacks as you need them. 

Layer them between greaseproof paper one by one and place them in a freezable airtight container (we use these sustainable glass ones which are great for baking also). 

To defrost, I pop them in the toaster on a defrost setting or if I remember to do this sooner, then put them in the fridge and reheat in toaster for a minute (but not toast them). Or you can place them in a warm oven for a few minutes. 

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