Blueberry Banana Breakfast Pancakes or Rock Buns- gluten free, cane sugar free

This is one recipe that, with a little tweaking, can go 2 ways- either cute rock buns or luscious little pancakes. Either way, they are a very special breakfast for that gluten free vegan in your life- or for anyone, actually. Mothers' Day this year falls on Sunday March 15th in the UK, and Sunday May 10th in the USA; so you have plenty of time to perfect your pancake-flipping technique. What mother wouldn't want to be presented with a stack of these for breakfast, dripping in agave or maple syrup?

 Notes:

• If gluten is a definite no-no, then make sure your oats are sourced from a company that does not mill them on the same line as wheat or other gluten-containing products; there again, supermarket "free from" sections can be useful for these if you can't get to a wholefood or health food shop.
• The rock buns are best eaten warm from the oven; they lose their cakey-ness otherwise. Maybe you could try splitting and toasting them too.

Rock Buns

Makes about a dozen:
400g self-raising gluten free flour (I used Dove's Farm brand- it's organic too)
4 tsps baking powder
1 1/2 tsps xanthan gum
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tabs porridge oats
50g sultanas or raisins (or how about dried cranberries for extra Christmas credibility?)
200ml maple syrup
150ml melted coconut oil or sunflower oil
200-250ml soya milk
1 medium banana, finely chopped into sultana-sized chunks
120g washed fresh blueberries

• Prepare the banana and blueberries, and set aside with the sultanas.
• Get all the dry ingredients together in one bowl (ie: flour, baking powder, cinnamon and oats)
• Whisk together the oil, maple syrup and soya milk in another container.
• Beat the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly, then stir in the fruit, distributing it as evenly through the mixture as you can.
• Spoon into prepared muffin moulds. You can fill them more than usual as they don't rise very much.
• Bake for about 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C. 

Pancakes

(These are a little more fiddly, but we liked them best!)

Makes about 15 or so 8-10cm mini pancakes:
200g self-raising gluten free flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon or mixed spice
1 tab porridge oats
1 flax egg (1 tab ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tabs water)
100ml agave
75ml melted coconut oil
320ml soya (or other plant) milk
1 banana, mashed
120g washed fresh blueberries

• Prepare the flax egg and mix thoroughly with the mashed banana.
• Mix the flour, baking powder, xanthan gum,spice and oats together in a large bowl.
• Beat the agave and the oil into the banana- flax mixture and add to the large bowl.
• Whisk in the soya milk gradually. The batter will be a little thicker than regular pancake batter; barely even pouring consistency.
• Cook in a well-oiled pan on a gentle heat, using an ice cream scoopful of batter for each pancake. I used a mini "one-egg" pan to get the perfect shape and size. The batter is thick and sticky, and needs spreading evenly in the pan. Before it sets, dot with 5 or 6 blueberries. When the batter is set on top, carefully flip over with a spatula and cook the other side (careful: it doesn't need as long as the first side.