Sunday, March 30, 2014

Flax and Chia Pancakes

I love pancakes.  This morning the family and I were going to go to a Maple Sugar House since it is Maple Weekend in New York.  We would have enjoyed a pancake breakfast, a tour and a ride in a horse drawn wagon.  When I woke up it was raining.  The idea of going to a small maple sugar house in the rain, with kids, without being able to run around outside did not sound fun to me.  So we all chose to stay home. 


That didn't mean we wouldn't have pancakes.  As I said, I love pancakes! Pancakes say "Sunday morning" to me.  They say "family time" and "comfort" but they also say "carbs!" 

Carbs are not our enemy if we eat the right amount and the right kind.  I cannot tell you what the right amount of carbs are because that is something unique to each individual.  However, I can tell you that simple, processed carbs are what we need to avoid.  Pancakes are traditionally made with white flour.  White flour is processed.  Since I don't want to give up on pancakes I swap some of the white flour with whole wheat flour and flax seeds and chia. It is an easy swap that doesn't change the texture of your pancakes too much.  When you use all whole wheat flour, pancakes tend to be really dense.  These pancakes stay fluffy.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 cup unbleached flour (or white wheat works nice)

1 cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup ground flax seed

2 Tbs chia seeds

2 ¼ tsp baking powder

¾ tsp salt

3 large eggs

2 ¼ cups milk

1 ripe banana, mashed

2 Tbs butter, melted

 
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, flax, chia, baking powder, and salt.  In a smaller bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add the milk and melted butter and whisk again.  Add the mashed bananas.  If you don’t like the texture of mashed bananas puree the bananas first. The bananas help reduce the amount of butter going into the batter.  You really don't taste the bananas when pureed.


 

Mix the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.  Do not over mix!

Note: you can also use buttermilk.  You will have even fluffier pancakes with buttermilk!

Add a little butter or coconut oil to a hot griddle.  Using 1/3 cup measuring cup pour the batter onto the griddle.  Wait until you see little bubbles pop before flipping the pancakes.  Cook a few minutes longer until golden brown. 


 
Keep cooked pancakes in a warm oven until all are done and the family can eat together! 

 

My boys like these with just a few chocolate chips and real maple syrup.  After all, it is Maple Weekend in NYS!   I like them with sliced bananas and a dollop of plain yogurt.  But today I put a few frozen blueberries in mine and topped with more blueberries and 1 Tbs of maple syrup.  So yummy.


Now I am properly fueled for my morning of playing with the boys, doing laundry and catching up on a P90X3 workout I missed when I opted for a run earlier this week!