It’s that time of year for sweet potato pancakes, otherwise known as latkes. Latkes are eaten as a celebration for the miracle of Chanukah. The miracle of Chanukah is a commemoration of when the 2nd temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. The light that is supposed to burn in the synagogue needed to be kept alive. At this time it was done by the use of oil. The ancient Israelites thought there would only be enough oil to last 1 day, but instead it lasted for 8 crazy nights. For this reason, Chanukah foods are supposed to contain oil or use oil for cooking.
This recipe is a twist on the traditional white potato pancakes. We boosted the nutrition by using sweet potatoes, oat flour, and skipping the eggs. Instead of the eggs, we replaced flaxseed which acts as a binder. Eggs are high in cholesterol, and not needed. The sweet potatoes are high in Vitamin A, which are great for eye, skin, bone, and dental health. It’s also high in fiber and much lower glycemic than its white potato counterpart. Adding in parsley and some garam masala also boosts the antioxidants in this recipe. Go go super latke! For an added super latke boost, serve it with our Dried Cherry and Cranberry Sauce or my traditional Garden Fresh Foodie Apple Sauce. 
If you’re looking to make these oil free, you can. We baked these latkes instead of frying them. Like our falafel, they still come out delicious, just without the added oil. If you do fry them, you don’t need to use a lot of oil. Just use enough to prevent the pancakes from sticking, as you would a typical pancake. And don’t forget…you have to listen to Adam Sandler’s Chanukah song while making these! Have a few crazzzzzy nights!
**These freeze perfectly. Just place on a cookies sheet once baked and place into freezer. Freeze until firm and then place into freezer bags. Makes a great appetizer!
Ingredients Makes about 27-28 small lakes (we doubled this):
- 4 cups shredded unpeeled sweet potatoes (Use a food processor and this is a breeze! Make sure you wash them well and use organic potatoes)
- 1/3 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup grated onion (you can do this in a food processor too)
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 3 tbs fresh lemon juice
- 4 flax eggs or 4 eggs-to make flax eggs, combine 1/4 cup ground flaxseed, and 3/4 cup of water. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes to thicken
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garam masala (Indian curry spice). If you don’t have this seasoning, you can add 1/4 tsp of coriander, cardamon, cinnamon, and all spice, and 1 tsp of cumin to make your own curry blend
- black pepper to taste
- olive oil for pan (or if baking, use non-stick baking sheets)
Instructions:
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well (we’ve even mixed this up the night before and kept batter in the fridge)
- If baking, preheat oven to 375. If frying, add a small amount of oil to a skillet or griddle, making sure pan is hot before adding batter. We baked ours.
- Form small-medium sized pancakes, patting the batter down only slightly. Smaller pancakes are easier to manage and make great appetizer-sized portions. We used a cookie scoop to make our pancakes uniform and used the underside of the scoop to press down the latkes. If baking, place onto a baking sheet with a non-stick sheet like a silpat or parchment paper.
- Because these are plant-based, they need to be cooked well on 1st side before flipping, same is true with baking. When baking, we baked the 1st side for 20 minutes and then flipped them, pressed them down a little again and baked for 8 more minutes. You can also just bake them without flipping.
- Serve hot with apple sauce or cranberry sauce.
*These freeze very well. To freeze: place on a cookie sheet and put into freezer for a few hours to firm up. Layer between wax paper and place into a freezer container. or vacuum seal them. To reheat: Preheat oven to 350. Take latkes straight from freezer and place on a cookie sheet to reheat until warm (about 10-15 minutes).
Nutritional Benefits:
- High in Fiber 5 g/3 latkes: great for regulating blood sugar, digestive health, increasing satiety
- Low in Fat/no saturated fat/no cholesterol/oil free-1 g fat/3 latkes; great for heart health
- Gluten free/plant-based-reduces inflammation
- Good source of plant-based protein; 3.3 g in 3 latkes
- High in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory
- Good source of Vitamin A: aides in bone, skin, teeth, and eye health, as well as cardiovascular function; 1 cup of sweet potatoes=377% of your daily needs for Vitamin A and 37% of your Vitamin C needs
- Parsley: 2 tbsp of parsley contains 17% of daily Vitamin C needs, 13% of Vitamin A needs, & has 156% of Vitamin K
- 4 cups shredded unpeeled sweet potatoes (Use a food processor and this is a breeze! Make sure you wash them well and use organic potatoes)
- ⅓ cup oat flour
- ½ cup grated onion (you can do this in a food processor too)
- ¼ cup chopped parsley
- 3 tbs fresh lemon juice
- 4 flax eggs or 4 eggs-to make flax eggs, combine ¼ cup ground flaxseed, and ¾ cup of water. Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes to thicken
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsp garam masala (Indian curry spice). If you don’t have this seasoning, you can add ¼ tsp of coriander, cardamon, cinnamon, and all spice, and 1 tsp of cumin to make your own curry blend
- black pepper to taste
- olive oil for pan (or if baking, use non-stick baking sheets)
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well (we've even mixed this up the night before and kept batter in the fridge)
- If baking, preheat oven to 375. If frying, add a small amount of oil to a skillet or griddle, making sure pan is hot before adding batter. We baked ours.
- Form small-medium sized pancakes, patting the batter down only slightly. Smaller pancakes are easier to manage and make great appetizer-sized portions. We used a cookie scoop to make our pancakes uniform and used the underside of the scoop to press down the latkes. If baking, place onto a baking sheet with a non-stick sheet like a silpat or parchment paper.
- Because these are plant-based, they need to be cooked well on 1st side before flipping, same is true with baking. When baking, we baked the 1st side for 20 minutes and then flipped them, pressed them down a little again and baked for 8 more minutes. You can also skip the flip if you wish.
- Serve hot with apple sauce or cranberry sauce.
- *These freeze very well. To freeze: place on a cookie sheet and put into freezer for a few hours to firm up. Layer between wax paper and place into a freezer container. or vacuum seal them. To reheat: Preheat oven to 350. Take latkes straight from freezer and place on a cookie sheet to reheat until warm (about 10-15 minutes).
i will try these tomorrow night.
Hope you like them Bonnie!
These look delicious – thanks for the fun twist on a favorite childhood memory!
Thanks Lisa-hope you enjoy them! Try them with the dried cherry and cranberry sauce-so yummy! Both freeze really well!
YUM!!! Made these and froze half (already GONE) and they were delish!! Loved that they weren’t fried and super easy to make! Thank you GFF!!
So welcome Jennifer! They freeze beautifully! I’m serving them this weekend-glad you enjoyed!
This morning I made the sweet potato latkes with almond flour (instead of oat flour). They were outstanding!!!!! My husband and I actually like them better than the traditional latkes. My only problem is they fell apart a little bit – Next time I will use more flaxseed.
So glad you liked them Donna! We love them at our house! If using almond flour instead of oats, yes, I’d boost the flaxseed by about 1 flax “egg”. It’ll help bind the almond meal together.