Quick & Easy Vegan Pancakes
Without Eggs, Grains, Gluten, Dairy, or Soy! 

Unlike traditional pancakes, a serving of our better-for-you rendition contains just: 

• 303 calories
• 13 net carbs*
• 4 grams of protein

Best of all, these crave-worthy flapjacks can be ready in minutes. 

Keep reading to learn more and get the recipe...

We knew that adding starch could be a wonderful option for producing egg-free pancakes and waffles. However, we were reticent to use this ingredient because so many of our valued customers follow a ketogenic or low-carb diet and prefer not to consume added carbs.

As you might be aware, most forms of starch are simply long chains of glucose. And while these starchy carbohydrates do not taste “sweet” at all, when they enter your digestive system, they are rapidly broken down into sugar. This can raise blood sugar and insulin levels.

In fact, many forms of starch can have a bigger impact on blood sugar than consuming sugar itself!

However, not all the starch we eat is digestible... and that's a good thing!

There is a type of starch that “resists”digestion. This unique type of starch passes through the stomach unchanged. In fact, it is even considered a “functional food” – with health benefits that go beyond basic nutrition!

We knew this could be the ingredient we were looking for – with a unique ability to replace the eggs in our pancake and waffle recipe – WITHOUT adding excess carbs!

In general, starches can be divided into three groups:

1. Rapidly digestible starch (RDS) –Digested within 20 minutes
   
2. Slowly Digestible Starch (SDS) –Digested between 20 and 120 minutes
3. Resistant Starch (RS) – Not digested, but fermented as a “prebiotic” in the large intestine

Unlike the first two forms of starchy carbohydrates, resistant starch travels through your stomach and small intestine without being broken down into sugars or changed in any way. As the name implies, this form of starch is “resistant” to digestion. Instead, it functions like a soluble fiber.

Resistant starches are a type of carbohydrate you can indulge in –without the guilt or fear that your waistline will expand!

And the benefits of resistant starch don’t end there, because unlike most forms of starch, studies show that…

If you’re interested in the research, please see more than a dozen studies referenced at the end of this page. For now, let’s cover a few of the main health benefits of RS.

According to one study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, resistant starch increases feelings of fullness by stimulating the production of two specific hormones (glucagon-like-peptide and peptide YY). These chemical messengers send your brain the “I’m full” signal.

When you consider this effect, it’s no wonder that studies also show consumption of resistant starch promotes feelings of satisfaction and reduces the number of calories consumed at subsequent meals over a 24-hour period!

According to Dr. Denise Robertson, who led one of these studies:

“Resistant starch appears to impact hunger and food consumption over many hours, coinciding with its fermentation in the large intestine.”

And that’s not all, because studies also show this ingredient can improve insulin balance and glycemic control. A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition reports that consumption of resistant starch may reduce the insulin response after a meal. In fact, it can even help to lower blood sugar at later meals (a phenomenon called the “second meal effect”).

This unique form of starch can even help to improve gut health, by encouraging your body to produce butyrate, a compound which helps maintain a healthy gut barrier. RS also functions as a“prebiotic” and promotes the growth of “good” bacteria in the gut. These are key factors in promoting a healthy immune system.

Resistant starch is found in a number of foods, including cooked-and-cooled potatoes and beans. In fact, the cooling of these foods changes the starch from being easy to digest (when hot) to resistant to digestion when cooled.

This is the phenomenon upon which “The Cold Potato Diet” is based. One resistant starch researcher, Dr. Chris van Tulleken, states:

“Our leftovers could be healthier for us than the original meal.”

And get this…

Successive cooling and reheating of foods containing resistant starch actually increase the concentration of RS – with the first heating and cooling cycle offering the biggest boost in resistant starch content.

Now, back to that lightbulb moment…

If we could use unmodified potato starch as the egg replacer in our pancakes made with Miracle Mix , we could effectively achieve the egg-replacing benefits of starch… without the drawbacks of the carbohydrates we’re trying to avoid.

Approximately 75 percent of the carbohydrates in unmodified potato starch are in the form of resistant starch. And this concentration can be increased, when this ingredient is cooled. 

The only caveat: To make sure your pancakes or waffles have the most resistant starch and are therefore more “carb-conscious”, you would need to prepare them and then chill or freeze for 24 hours, before gently reheating to serve.

Of course, please keep in mind that this step is 100% optional. You do NOT have to prepare – and then chill – your waffles or pancakes before eating them. They will already be MUCH lower in carbohydrates than traditional pancakes.

This cooking-and-cooling method is simply a way to INCREASE the amount of resistant starch and DECREASE the digestible carbs (and blood sugar impact).

A few final things to keep in mind:

• Reheating uncoils some of the retrograded starch.So,  if you’d like to preserve the largest amount of RS, gently reheat your pancakes or waffles. Again, this is completely OPTIONAL.
  
• The carbohydrate content listed in the nutrition information below does NOT take into consideration the resistant carbs that will “escape” digestion.
  
• Each one of us is biochemically unique. You process and tolerate carbs and resistant starches differently than another person. We provide the nutrition information for this recipe in the recipe card below to help you make the most informed decision.
  
• The resistant starch we used in our testing of Egg-Free & Vegan Pancakes (photographed at the top of this page) was Bob’s Red Mill Unmodified Potato Starch (Note: This is NOT the same as potato flour).

And now, for the step-by-step recipe... 

1. Anderson GH, et al. Relation Between Estimates of Cornstarch Digestibility by the Englyst in Vitro Method and Glycemic Response, Subjective Appetite, and Short-Term Food Intake in YoungMen. Randomized Controlled Trial Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Apr;91(4):932-9.
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9. Dr. Michael Keenan, September 29, 2007,presented at “The New Fiber Story – Natural Resistant Starch”. Sasmita TripathyMasters Thesis, Louisiana State University, August 2007.
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11. Faisant N, Buléon A, Colonna P, Molis C,Lartigue S, Galmiche JP, Champ M. Digestion of raw banana starch in the small intestine of healthy humans: structural features of resistant starch. Br JNutr. 1995 Jan;73(1):111-23.
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