These mini chickpea pancakes are made with chickpea flour, rosemary, scallions, spinach, and lemon for a delicious appetizer, lunch, or dinner. They're made thicker by the addition of a little baking powder. Instructions include making this pancake as small thick pancakes.
It's also a great high protein appetizer for your next party with a dollop of sour cream. These pancakes are vegan without the sour cream topping.
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Jump to:
- โค๏ธ Why you'll love this recipe
- ๐ง Main Ingredients + Notesย
- ๐ค What is Chickpea Flour?
- ๐ช Recommended Equipment
- ๐ฏ Why This Recipe Works
- ๐ฉโ๐ณ Tips for Success
- ๐ฉโ๐ณ What can I do if the batter runs out when removing the rings?
- ๐ง Can I make this dish ahead?
- ๐กIdeas for Possible Variations
- ๐ฑ Garnish Options
- ๐ฝ Side Dish Ideasย
- Mini Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Spinach and Scallions
Chickpea pancakes are popular all through the Mediterranean and remind me of crepes. The first time I had this dish was in the Liguria region of Italy where it's called farinata on menus. It's served in large, shallow pans straight from wood-fired ovens. Baking it that way gives the farinata a slightly smoky flavor and crispy edges.
When the pan arrived at our table, we tore it into pieces, and ate it with our fingers. It was one of the best things I had while I was in the region.
For more chickpea pancake recipes, check out this basic chickpea pancake recipe made the way I had it in Liguria minus the wood-fired oven.
Chickpea pancakes are also popular in the south of France where they're called socca. The ones I've had there are thicker than their Italian sibling but essentially the same dish.
This recipe shows a way to make mini chickpea pancakes with scallions and spinach but you can also make it as one big pancake.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Chickpea pancakes are vegan, gluten-free, and a great way to get plant-based protein.
- Since chickpea flour is a gluten-free flour, there's no risk of over-mixing and ending up with tough pancakes. Chickpea pancakes are very tender.
- They're ready in under 30 minutes with only 15 minutes of prep, so this is a great quick dinner or lunch.
- These savory pancakes are versatile for adding different ingredients or toppings.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to many dishes often lies in the ingredients. For example, some ingredients make a huge difference to the flavor and/or texture of the finished recipe. And purchasing the right ingredients can save you valuable time in the kitchen.
This list only covers ingredients that require some notes. For all of the ingredients, measurements, and directions for this savory chickpea pancake, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Chickpea flour - In some areas chickpea flour may be called garbanzo bean flour, garbanzo flour, gram flour, or besan flour. More information on this flour is in the below section: What is Chickpea Flour?
- Fresh rosemary - don't substitute dried rosemary.
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🤓 What is Chickpea Flour?
As mentioned above when you look for chickpea flour on your grocery shelves, you may see garbanzo besan flour or gram flour. Are they all the same?
Yes and no. They are all made by grinding dried chickpeas, but there are subtle differences.
Chickpea flour, garbanzo flour, and garbanzo bean flour are all milled whole white chickpeas (garbanzo beans). Gram flour and besan flour is made by grinding split brown chickpeas. You can substitute any of them for each other but gram and besan flours are more finely ground than chickpea/garbanzo flours.
Chickpea flour is gluten-free and very common in Mediterranean cooking and is also sometimes used as a thickener for soups.
It can be used as a binder to replace eggs in baking because of its high protein content. To replace one egg, mix equal parts of chickpea flour and warm water together to form a thick mixture.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Whisk
- Medium mixing bowl
- Medium, nonstick sauté pan or nonstick frying pan, for example an 10" skillet. You can also use a crepe pan if making one large pancake as long as it's oven-safe, or a nonstick griddle if using cake rings. Any pan you use for making one large pancake must be oven-safe. This is not necessary for smaller pancakes that can be flipped.
- Chef's knife
- Cooking rings (if making mini pancakes)
- Metal spatula
🎯 Why This Recipe Works
- The combination of baking powder and cake rings to limit the spread of the pancakes promote a thick pancake.
- When making one large pancake, the baking powder, even though it's a very small amount, makes the pancake puffy and lighter.
- Adding both scallions and spinach make these pancakes a little heartier and meal-worthy.
- Rosemary is a perfect and traditional flavor to add to any chickpea pancakes.
👩🍳 Tips for Success
- Allow a little crust to form on the surfaces of the pancakes before flipping them. It adds a lot of flavor to the pancake(s).
- If using baking rings to make smaller pancakes, be sure not to over-fill the rings with batter. If you over-fill them, they will be too thick and when you remove the rings, and some batter will run out in the pan. If you cook them long enough to ensure they will be stable, the bottoms may be too browned.
- The mini pancakes need to cook for a few minutes before removing the cake rings. Look for tiny bubbles on the tops of the pancakes and a firming up of the batter around the edges. Very quickly after this, the tops will become more cooked. This is when you flip them.
- You can oil the cake rings before arranging them in the skillet if you want but I haven't found that to be necessary.
- When making one large pancake, you must use an oven-safe pan so that you can finish the pancake under the broiler. A large chickpea pancake cannot be flipped.
👩🍳 What can I do if the batter runs out when removing the rings?
Very simple.
- Spread the batter around the small pancakes in the skillet to make one large pancake. Cook over medium heat until bubbles appear on the top of the batter (just like when making traditional pancakes).
- Slide the pan under the broiler for 2 - 3 minutes, until the pancake is firm.
- Run a spatula around the rim of the pan and transfer to a serving plate. These pancakes are very tender and tear easily. Just go with it for a rustic dish. It will still be delicious!
🧊 Can I make this dish ahead?
There are at least 3 options for making these pancake ahead:
- Whisk together the warm water, chickpea flour, minced rosemary, salt, and pepper. Cover tightly and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Since this mixture needs to sit for 15 minutes to allow the flour to completely absorb the water, this saves a little time.
- Completely make the batter ahead of time, tightly cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
- Make the pancakes ahead of time and re-warm on the stove or in the microwave oven when ready to serve them.
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Swap out the rosemary for other herbs. Oregano, basil, and thyme are all good choices.
- Use shallots in place of the scallions.
- Make one large pancake instead of 5 small ones.
- Shred butternut squash and fold it into the batter in place of spinach.
🌱 Garnish Options
- Add a few drops of sriracha to sour cream or Greek yogurt for a slightly spicy topping.
- Serve these like blinis with caviar. There is a fabulous seaweed-based vegan caviar I highly recommend called Zeroe Caviar. It's delicious!
🍽 Side Dish Ideas
Any roasted vegetable dish is great with this in the fall and winter months. In summer, I make a large kale salad with avocado slices.
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Mini Chickpea Flour Pancakes with Spinach and Scallions
Equipment
- See the above Equipment section of the post
Ingredients
Pancakes
- ยพ cup (3.4 ounces) chickpea flour also called garbanzo flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ยฝ teaspoon finely minced rosemary
- Few twists of fresh black pepper
- ยพ cup warm water
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
- ยผ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large garlic cloves minced (about 1 ½ tablespoons)
- โ cup very thinly sliced scallions save the stalks for a garnish
- ยผ cup slivered baby spinach leaves packed
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Sour Cream Topping (Optional)
- 4 tablespoons sour cream or plant based sour cream
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ยฝ teaspoon onion powder
- ยผ teaspoon garlic salt
Instructions
Pancakes
- Place the chickpea flour, minced rosemary, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl and whisk in the warm water until you have a smooth batter. Set the bowl aside on the counter for 15 minutes to allow the chickpea flour to completely absorb the water.The batter will be a little thinner than traditional pancakes made with wheat flour.
- Whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and baking powder. You should have about 1 ¼ cups of batter.
- Add one tablespoon olive oil to a non-stick pan or griddle over medium heat. Sauté the scallions until softened, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic and slivered spinach. Cook for another minute until the garlic is very fragrant and the spinach begins to wilt. Stir the scallions, garlic, and spinach into the batter. Stir in the lemon juice.
- If needed, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan you used to sauté the scallions. Keep the heat on medium. (Note: If making 1 large pancake, use an oven-safe pan or skillet.) To make 1 large pancake: Pour all of the batter into the pan to make one big pancake. When small bubbles appear on the top, slide the pan under the broiler for 2-3 minutes. When the pancake is firm, remove from the oven. Serve warm topped with the optional yogurt/sour cream sauce.To make several small pancakes: Arrange the 3" baking rings on the pan and pour ยผ cup of the batter into each baking ring. Cook until many small bubbles begin to appear on the tops of the pancakes and the edges of the pancakes begin to firm up, about 3 minutes. When the top surfaces look less runny, it's time to flip them. Remove one ring and check the bottom surface. It should be a golden brown. If it is, flip it over with a spatula and repeat with the other rings. Do this carefully as the pancakes are extremely tender.Cook for an additional minute or two before serving with the optional sour cream sauce.You may need to do this in batches, depending on how many cake rings fill into your skillet.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Sour Cream Topping (Optional)
- Stir together the sour cream with the remaining ingredients for the sauce. Spoon spoon a very small amount over the pancakes, or serve it on the side.
Notes
👩🍳 Tips for Success
- Allow a little crust to form on the surfaces of the pancakes before flipping them. It adds a lot of flavor to the pancake(s).
- If using baking rings to make smaller pancakes, be sure not to over-fill the rings with batter. If you over-fill them, they will be too thick and when you remove the rings, and some batter will run out in the pan. If you cook them long enough to ensure they will be stable, the bottoms may be too browned.
- The mini pancakes need to cook for a few minutes before removing the cake rings. Look for tiny bubbles on the tops of the pancakes and a firming up of the batter around the edges. Very quickly after this, the tops will become more cooked. This is when you flip them.
- You can oil the cake rings before arranging them in the skillet if you want but I haven't found that to be necessary.
- When making one large pancake, you must use an oven-safe pan so that you can finish the pancake under the broiler.
lizthechef
Wow - another winner - love your take on pancakes...
Norma Chang
I just know I will like this pancake even before making it especially with the addition of baby spinach leaves in the batter.
Choc Chip Uru
Your chickpea pancakes look delicious, sriracha yoghurt is such a great touch ๐
Yum!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Oui, Chef
I'm a huge fan of Bob's Redmill stuff as well. These look quite fab, thanks for sharing these little treats.
sylvie
What an unimaginable but genius combo !
Gisela duVigneau
Hi Susan ,
I am wondering how the addition of an egg to the batter would affect this recipe?
Susan Pridmore
Hi Gisela, I thought I'd responded to your question and somehow didn't publish it. I haven't tried adding an egg. But from what I know, it would hold the pancake together more and I'm guessing they would be less tender. But I haven't tried it. Next time I make them, I'll try it and let you know. If you try it first, please let me know!
Paul:-)
Hi Susan,
Really easy to whip up. I didnโt have Rosemary so used some lightly crushed Fennel seeds and a spoonful of Garlic powder.
Iโve also seen a recipe for these with simple Indian spices which Iโve been meaning to try but havenโt got around to it.
Thanks,
Paul:-)
Susan Pridmore
I'm so excited you made these, and I love your additions. I'm a huge fan of adding fennel seeds to all kinds of things. Thanks for letting me know how they went for you!