Healthy Tasty Flax Pancakes
Finicky eater
What's the best time of day to eat pancakes?
Pancakes
We love pancakes! Hotcakes. Hoecakes. Flapjacks. Griddlecakes.
There are businesses built off of the easy, cheap staple. There are restaurants that build menus around them. People go to great lengths to get a good tasty pancake, especially if it reminds them of pleasant things.
Pancakes are a comfort food. They make most of us nostalgic, reminding us of good times and the comfort of home, family and good things, usually with a sense of security.
Normally weekend or holiday meals with mom or dad mixing and flipping pancakes early in the morning, with that inviting aroma calling us to the meal.
Good memories!
They are usually a breakfast staple in many kitchens or a person's repertoire of easy, convenient foods to make and eat at home. Anyone can make a basic pancake! Some people prefer the convenience of store bought batter or frozen ones.
Yet, pancakes tend to be inexpensive, filling and enjoyable. A food that is budget friendly and a crowd pleaser.
They are easy to make from scratch though, so i always ask why bother with pre made when you have all the ingredients there right in your own kitchen.
A basic pancake recipe consists of flour, water and some leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda.
Drawback
- all white flour
- white sugar
Nutritionists are encouraging us to do away with all things white in our diet. That includes flour which is the mainstay of pancake recipes, because they have been stripped of everything healthy, spike our glycemic index - blood sugar and contribute to nothing remotely beneficial to the body..
Other than culinary delight!
Most of us find it hard to live without certain foods like pancakes, so we are always working on ways to enjoy them according to the nutritionist and our taste buds.
I think i have a solution that is pleasing for both our health, grown ups and the kiddies, alike.
Flax meal
Flax seeds ground up to resemble meal.
Flax seeds are very, very beneficial to our overall health. They offer us fiber, both soluble and insoluble. They are considered a source of ' good' heart healthy Omega 3 essential fatty acids which contribute to heart health.
As Lignans, they contain plant estrogen and antioxidant qualities, they are also high in most B vitamins, magnesium, and manganese as well as other health benefits.
Just 1 tablespoon has beneficial properties that promote good health.
Taking up to 1 tablespoon or less daily leads to overall digestive well being, especially since enough of us don't get the recommended dose of dietary fiber.
According to extensive research flax seed may help the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes. It is highly recommended for it's high fiber.
Adding 1/2 a cup of finely ground flax seed to your basic pancake recipe increases all the goodness without totally changing the pancake into an unappealing health 'nuts' version, - they give wide variety of healthy alternatives. No offense to the 'health nuts'.
It's been hard to keep my pancake fluffy and healthy with all the other ingredients suggested to make a good healthy version of our morning pancake.
So, keeping it to half a cup, kept everything i enjoy about pancakes tasty and appealing without too much guilt, and still relatively inexpensive to make.
Side note: If you wanted to up the fiber content of the pancake, ingredients like Almond flour, oat flour and other healthier versions of flour can be added, thus lessening the 'unhealthy' white version.
Winning over my son made it even more thrilling!
Cook Time
Utensils
- Griddle or non stick frying pan.
- whisk or fork
- 1 medium bowl
- 1 large bowl
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- platter or large plate
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour, all purpose
- 1/2 cup flax meal, fine ground
- 2 tbsp baking powder, regular
- 1/2 tsp salt, regular
- 2 tbsp white sugar, granulated, opt
- 1 egg, large
- 1 cup milk, whole or choice
- 2 tbsp oil, melted butter or choice
- 1 tsp vanilla / flavoring, pure
- Assemble all your ingredients, plus your cooking utensils. You will need one bowl for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients.
- Sift all your dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until combined.
- Beat together all wet ingredients in another bowl.
- Make a well or hole in the center of the dry flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients.
- Stir until well combined and no dry mix is left.
- Heat pan or griddle on medium heat. Wipe with some oil.
- Scooping about a 1/4 cup of batter, pour onto the heated pan or griddle.
- When you see tiny bubbles form at the perimeter or edges of the pancake, flip on the other side cook a few seconds til light brown.
- Remove and place cooked pancakes on plate or platter.
- Serve while hot with a pat of butter and syrup.
| Nutrition Facts | |
|---|---|
| Serving size: 2 pancakes | |
| * The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA. |
- Flaxseed Health Benefits, Food Sources, Recipes, and Tips for Using It
Is flaxseed the new wonder food? Preliminary studies show that flaxseed may help fight everything from heart disease and diabetes to breast cancer. - National Pancake Day 2011: The Best Types Of Pancakes (PHOTOS)
IHOP may be offering free pancakes, but the offer doesn't include the full range of potential pancake goodness out there. From blueberry to kiwi to creme cheese there's always a way to spicy up an already delicious pancake dish.
Serving suggestion
Plain, with a little butter and syrup or dressed up with a variety of toppings as a dessert with whipped cream, chocolate and fruits, pancakes can be eaten all day long for any meal or snack.
Topping Variations
- fresh fruit, like blueberries, strawberries and bananas
- powdered sugar
- whipped cream
- chocolate
- nuts
- whole grains, like oatmeal
These can also be added to the pancake itself, either stirred into the batter or dropped in before flipping.
Experiment!
Pancakes tend to be one of those foods that just adapt themselves to whatever you can imagine when it comes to a culinary delight.
I've even served them as my carbohydrate staple with fried chicken, my son always crows. His excitement is always worth it!
Enjoy!
What you know?
view quiz statisticsHistorical tidbit
The American pancake is based on the Scotch pancake, because it is thicker, and uses raising agents, like baking powder or baking soda to make it fluffy.
Although we think of hoecakes as pancakes they are different because they are made out of cornmeal, originally baked on a shovel like hoe, used by field hands and cooked over an open fire
Hoecakes are also referred to as 'ash cakes', 'corn pone', or the Native American Indian name 'jonican'.
