The One About Healthy-fying Pancakes

To be honest, when it comes to pancakes nothing compares to the original recipe –white all-purpose flour, eggs, milk, sugar. I want them all to be in the batter, making it fluffy enough and full of flavor, so that it’ll keep me eating until tears of joy (and satiation) run down my face. I’ve tried a couple alternative, healthier choices, but nothing beats Martha Stewarts' easy pancake basic recipe. The only thing that makes it better – apart from a generous spoonful of nutella or strawberry jam on top – is when my boyfriend undertakes the hard work and does all the impressive flipping, tossing and turning. (Note: I do the cleaning afterwards.)

But as you know life is tough, so satisfying my taste buds and maintaining a waistline slim enough to fasten the zip in all the floral skirts and dresses I own is of the same importance. That’s why I didn’t roll my eyes when M. introduced me to a slightly healthier alternative. I won’t lie to you, their taste can’t compete with the real stuff, but it can do wonders (and make you feel less miserable) if you’re on a diet or generally watching what you eat, like me.

(photo via cookie+kate)

To provide breakfast to two hungry people you’ll need:

2 large ripe bananas

2-3 eggs, depending on their size (we had rather medium sized ones so we went with three)

4 tablespoons oatmeal (add more if you like the texture of the batter being thicker)

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking powder

Cinnamon according to taste

Olive oil (or other vegetable oil) for the pan

Toss everything into a food processor, kindly ask your companions to stop speaking – these little things make so much noise, you won’t be able to hear them – and keep mixing until you achieve a nice, even consistency. Add a little oil to a well heated pan and then pour about three tablespoons of batter so as to form a little round pancake. If you have a ladle for soups use that instead; it’s exactly the amount of batter you’re going to need to make one pancake. Cook until surface of pancakes has some bubbles and a few have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more.

A proper blogger will tell you to set them aside on a plate and probably put them in the oven/ cover them with aluminum foil to keep them warm, but I was urged (by the cook) to try them as soon as they came out of the pan, so I’m leaving this up to you.

Since we’ve decided to be all healthy, I skipped the nutella and reached for the honey, but I think that all kinds of homemade marmalade and/ or fruits could have worked perfectly, as well. Later I had some kind of aha!-moment and realized that we could have added some raisins or dark chocolate chips in the batter to spice it up a little.

F.

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