I wanted to make some oaty cocoa & banana pancakes this morning for brunch but the bananas were not ripe enough. So I came up with the recipe of these coconut, oat and cocoa pancakes. They were delicious, not too sweet – and they’re free from gluten, dairy, nuts and sugar too!

You’ll need:

• ½ cup porridge oats
• ½ cup oaty or coconut milk
• 2 Tbsp desiccated coconut
• 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 stick of pure raspberry fruit stick (or you can use  a handful of dried fruits such as apricot, sultanas, cherries and so on)
• 1 large egg

How to make the pancakes:

1. Break an egg into a bowl, then add all the ingredients except the fruit stick and blend it into a thick batter using a handheld mixer.
2. Finely chop the stick or the dried fruits and these to the batter. Add a spoonful of vegetable oil and mix well. If you don’t like bits in your pancake, whiz  the batter again for a few seconds.
3. Oil a pancake pan and heat it on the hob. When hot, add 4-5 dollops of the batter and, using the bottom the spoon, shape them into circles. Cook them for about two minutes until the surface looks like a jelly then turn them over and cook for another minute.
4. Transfer them onto a plate, then make another batch. You should be able to make about 10 pancakes.
5. Eat them warm with some raspberry jam, honey or maple syrup.