With the New Year rapidly kicking in and the skies remaining grey, now is the time to treat our bodies and our minds with food for the soul.
Olimata Mtonga, a 21-year-old Brighton-bred student who is currently studying Nutrition and Health at university is committed to making sure we do just this. Her ethos is about building a healthy relationship with food (which happens to be vegan) in a way that is accessible and approachable for us all.
I hope to inspire my followers to be healthy for more than just aesthetics, encouraging its importance in mental well-being too; as well as sharing veganism in a way that isn’t ‘preachy’ or forceful.
Olimata Mtonga
Olimata is keen to explain that as a student she understands that not everyone has access to “fancy kitchen equipment, funky superfoods, or the gym” and for this reason, she works hard to ensure that her recipes are as approachable as possible.
This week’s Sweet and Simple Vegan Pancakes are a great way to start the day right and begin a healthy new year.
Sweet and Simple Vegan Pancakes

By Olimata Mtonga
So, as you may have heard on the grape-vine, ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ and personally I could not agree more.
Eating a good hearty meal first thing really gets me going, puts me in a good mood and gives me loads of energy to conquer the day (or at least, give it a good try!).
As 2019 kicks in and we’re getting back into the swing of the daily routines, it can be easy to skip breakfast in the rush; but I hope that these easy, vegan pancakes make their way into your morning rituals for good!
They’re lovely to whip up for a home-cooked brunch with friends – just multiply the single-serve recipe accordingly; or, sleep-in and indulge in something sweet on your Sunday morning… you deserve it, after all.
The recipe is enough to whip up about 4 American-style pancakes, and is as follows:
- 1 large, really ripe banana
- 1 cereal spoon of chia seeds
- 3/4 cup of porridge oats
- 2/3 cereal spoons of maple syrup (golden syrup/agave/honey for non-vegans would work too!)
- Dairy-free ‘milk’ (to measure)
- Coconut oil for frying
- Toppings of choice
n.b.: (if you don’t have a proper set of measuring cups, use the same coffee mug throughout to measure what you need).
Method:
- To make the pancakes, first add the oats to a blender, whizz them into a flour and set aside in a mixing bowl.
- Then, add the banana and maple syrup to the blender until they make a smoothie-like consistency, and add to the oat flour.
- After, stir in the chia seeds.
- The trick with this recipe is to have the mix thick enough to get American-style pancakes, but not too thick that it creates a dough. If you feel like yours could be a bit runnier, this is where you’d add in some dairy-free milk.
- Let the frying pan get really, really hot before adding the coconut oil and ladle the mixture into the pan. You’ll know the pancakes are done where they’re golden, a bit crispy and hold their own shape.
Finally, assemble the cooked pancakes into a stack and go toppings CRAZY!
In these photos I decided to go with: goji berries, cacao nibs, coconut sugar, fresh figs, frozen raspberries, some banana coins and crunchy sunflower seed butter. What I love most is that all these toppings don’t just taste good, but do good too!
I’ve left below the links to where I get some of the more reasonable priced ‘specialty’ foods like goji berries, but just really experiment with what you’ve got stowed away in the cupboard.
I thoroughly enjoyed this breakfast and it’s been a winner amongst my family and friends too!
I’d love to see if you tried these out, so make sure to tag me in any pictures on Instagram @olimatafitnessuk.
I hope this new year brings you prosperity, peace and love! I’m really looking forward to starting this journey of sharing more recipes with you.
Love, always,

Ols x