Kabocha Squash Pancakes

#weirdvegwednesday this week we decided to both honor our weird vegetable choice and the fact that yesterday was National Pancake Day.  Why wouldn’t we use a vegetable to make pancakes???  So if you don’t like squash don’t go near this one but if you love it, you have to try it.  Kabocha squash has a very similar flavor to butternut squash but with fewer calories and similar health benefits.  YES PLEASE!!!  I needed to go to a smaller local grocery store in order to find one, your big chain stores probably aren’t going to carry this variety, even Whole Foods.  The sauce will take 15-20 minutes to make so plan accordingly when you are timing out your pancakes.

Ingredients

1/2 cup kabocha squash, roasted and mashed
1 cup diced kabocha squash for sauce
2 large eggs
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2/3 cup almond flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 strips bacon, chopped
1 cup water

Directions

1. Cut the squash into half and remove the seeds.  Roast half the squash in a baking dish with a small amount of water in the oven at 400 degrees for roughly 35 minutes.  Dice the remaining squash and set aside.
2. Add your chopped bacon to a skillet and render out all the fat until bacon is crispy.  Once cooked remove the bacon and as much bacon grease as you want depending on your love of bacon.  If you leave it all in there you probably won’t need the 1 tbsp of coconut oil.  I removed all the grease but didn’t wipe the pan clean so still had some bacon remnants on the bottom of the pan.
3. Add your diced squash to the same pan that you cooked the bacon.  Satuee for 10 minutes.  Add 1 cup of water to the pan, make sure you scrape all the bacon bits off the bottom of the pan.  Let this simmer for 10 minutes or until the squash is tender.  Once the squash is tender remove half of the squash and half of the remaining liquid, add to a blender or food processor, add the 1/4 cup of maple syrup, and blend until smooth.  Return this puree back to the squash in the pan.  Add your bacon back in at this point and your sauce is done.
4. Mix together the roasted, mashed squash, eggs, 2 tbsp maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour, salt, vanilla, and baking soda.  Try to get most the lumps out.
5. On a large griddle, add a little coconut oil, then spoon out the pancake batter.  It should make 4-5 pancakes depending on how big you make them.  You will need to cook for roughly 6 minutes per side if cooking over a medium high heat.
6. Top your pancakes with the sauce and enjoy!!!