Friday, September 2, 2011

PANCAKE PANACEA

How would you like to more than double the protein, slash the carbohydrate, and increase the vital fibre in your splendid blueberry- pancake breakfast?  Yes, those fluffy pancakes you love can be nutritionally elevated with a simple change that doesn’t make them taste like “health” food.  No kidding.

My BW, the education tipster, http://educationtipster.blogspot.com/ loves pancakes.  She likes sour cream on them and syrup and butter as well.  Because of her blood sugar chemistry, I hate it when she bats her eyes and asks me to cook them.  She bought this box of pancake mix; the kind you just add water, stir and bake on the griddle.  I use milk instead of water, but lately have changed this pancake meal to the point where it is very healthy compared to the usual.  

Two things that are normally absent from pancakes but are important dietary components are: protein and dietary fibre.  If you like oatmeal, a great breakfast to control cholesterol, you may be familiar with oatmeal bran, a high-fibre cereal.  I mention it here because I used a little in my BW’s pancakes which increased its fibre.  Some of the commercial pancake syrups, primarily composed of corn syrup products, are very carbohydrate laden and so I replaced these with natural sorghum syrup.  If you don’t care for sour cream with your pancakes, I would urge you to try the newly available Greek style yoghurt, because it is very high in protein and the sorghum reduces the carbohydrates while being capable of sweetening the yoghurt.  Should Sorghum not be available, you could select cane syrup or maple syrup.  

The regular blueberry pancake serving, including ½ cup blueberries and regular pancake syrup has over 100 grams of carbohydrate, some simple sugars;  6.5 grams of protein and 3 grams of fibre.  You may remember that ingested simple carbohydrates stimulate insulin flow which creates fat storage which adds weight gain.

My recipe, using milk instead of water and the yoghurt instead of butter includes 62 grams of carbohydrate, 16.75 grams of protein and 4.5 grams of fibre.  If it tastes great, why not choose the optimum recipe?

Pancakes                                                  serves 2

2/3 cup of pancake mix*
1/3 cup of oatmeal bran`
¾ cup of milk (I used whole but you can use skim)

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
½ cup Greek style yoghurt

2 tablespoons pure sorghum (can substitute with pure cane or maple syrup)

  • Put the pancake mix and oatmeal bran in a bowl, stir.
  • Whisk in the milk, stir to moisten but do not over-stir
  • Get your griddle hot (375F/ 190C)  Either smear with butter or spray with non-stick
  • Using a tablespoon, spoon out batter for the first pancake
  • Place blueberries atop the pancake
  • Repeat with next pancake and so forth
  • After a minute, look at first pancake, when holes appear, flip

When all pancakes are cooked, divide in two and serve with the yoghurt and syrup.

According to the American Heart Association’s 1999 statistical report, 52% of American adults have abnormally high total cholesterol levels (200mg/dL or higher) and 20% have seriously high total cholesterol (240mg/dL or more).

A substance in oats called beta glucans, a gummy soluble fibre that interferes with the absorption and production of cholesterol, allows more of it to be extracted from the bloodstream. Even if you are not concerned with a problematic blood lipid profile, you may prefer these pancakes because you get more nutritional bang for the buck.


* If you make your pancakes from scratch, that’s good. Just remember we want 2/3 cups worth of dry pancake, including leavening and any sweetener you may use normally and 1/3 cup of oatmeal bran for two servings.   So, no matter how many pancakes you are making, use this 2/1 ratio.


34 comments:

Golden Eagle said...

I love pancakes--especially blueberry! :) Thank you for the recipe.

schmetterlingwords said...

Hi, a healthy nutritious yet tasty way to make pancakes. Thanks for the recipe and the nutritional tips :)

anthony stemke said...

THE GOLDEN EAGLE: My spouse loves pancakes. We picked the blueberries at my daughters house.


SCHMETTERLINGWORDS: We feel good eating pancakes this way with the oat bran. I hope you can obtain at least one of the syrups I mentioned.

Vardhini said...

My favorite is blueberry pancakes too .. looks yummy and healthy.

Vardhini
Event: Herbs and Flowers - Garlic

Unknown said...

Never had these... feel like I missed out on something!

http://www.samposey.com/ said...

OMG, this sounds wonderful. It's on the breakfast menu for next week for sure. Thanks Anthony!

anthony stemke said...

VARDHINI: I planted two blueberry bushes in 2003. Last year started getting a good harvest. It's nice to have access to fresh blueberries, which I freeze to use later on. Glad to hear you like them too.

INVERSE: Blueberries are a very healthful food; get to know them.

SHELLIE: My spouse adores blueberry pancakes and I must say, I can see why.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the great recipe. We like blueberry pancakes. I have used oat bran in the past.

anthony stemke said...

SUSANNE: Glad you like them, my BW says they are guilt-free.

Keena said...

sounds yummy!!!!

Samantha VĂ©rant said...

Oh no! I came here hungry, having skipped breakfast, and now I'm starved and jonesing for PANCAKES!!!!!

Yum.

anthony stemke said...

KEENA: Thank You, tis.

SAMANTHA: Thanks for calling, try these pancakes and satisfy your hunger.

Leovi said...

No doubt it is an exquisite recipe.

Kalyani said...

Pancakes looks so tempting .... Thanks for visiting and giving a nice comment on my blog ... Also thanks for following ... Following u too ...

Unknown said...

Mmmm, yummy picture. Wish blueberries were more common in Italy.

anthony stemke said...

LEOVI: Thank You, these pancakes are great.

KALYANI: I appreciate your kind words; you would enjoy these delicious pancakes.

FA L'AMERICANA: Thanks for calling, I used my own grown blueberries.

Al Penwasser said...

You can NEVER go wrong with pancakes!

Nicki Elson said...

I can't believe you posted a recipe using a mix - I...I almost feel like I belong here now.

Kalyani said...

pancakes looks delicious and tempting ...

Torviewtoronto said...

yummy looking pancakes I like the addition of yogurt in this looks wonderful
by the way slow cooking biryani enhances the taste I haven't used a slower cooker for this. do give it a try and let me know I have a few biryani recipes on my site it is like a one pot meal :)

Gail M Baugniet - Author said...

Blueberry pancakes look and sound delicious.

I mentioned on my blog that you might offer some Alaskian salmon recipes for us seafood lovers!

Joanne said...

Now I want blueberry pancakes! your pictures always make me hungry. :O)
Blessings, Joanne

Anonymous said...

I do love pancakes, and this looks like a mighty hearty recipe, One that will stick to your ribs. And tasty too! I'm going to try this one out. Hopefully the kids will like them because of the blueberries.

anthony stemke said...

AL PENWASSER: You are correct sir.

NICKI: You belong author Nicki. My BW made me buy the mix but we picked the blueberries ourselves.

NATURAL ONE: Yeah you right, plus fibre.

KALYANI: Yes, delicious, tempting and healthy.

TORVIEW: Thanks for the info on the biryani, which we love. See you soon.

GAIL: These pancakes are terrific. We love wild salmon too.

JOANNE: As my BW say6s, these are guilt-free. Enjoy.

STEPHEN: No reason why the children would not enjoy them but please don't let them eat too much sorghum syrup; too much sugar, even though natural, is not good for them

Prathima Rao said...

I love pancakes!!! Adding oatmeal bran is a nice idea..And with blueberries..Im in pancake heaven!!
Prathima Rao
Prats Corner

Keena said...

Hey, just wanted to touch base and thank you for the tip concerning Black Cherry Concentrate for gout. My hubby started drinking it(he LOVES the flavor) and in 3 days he has noticed improvements. Hope you are having a great week.

Alexis AKA MOM said...

Oh yes we love us some blueberry pancakes!!! YUMMY

Ok you bought a crockpot for 50cents I'm way impressed!!

Purabi Naha said...

how nice to have added protein and fibre to the regular pancake. The milk addition instead of water is truly great! I loved the photos!!
http://cosmopolitancurrymania.blogspot.com

Misha Gerrick said...

Great recipe. I love seeing healthy variation to my favorite recipes. :-)

anthony stemke said...

PRATHIMA: We love these healthy pancakes too.

KEEMA: Happy to hear about the cure. Even if the pain is totally gone, please continue to take the tonic until it is all gone. If you are concerned about a recurrence, keep it on hand and take some every other day or so.

ALEXIS: Blueberries are a super-antioxidant, and cutting the simple sugars and increasing the fibre makes for a great pancake; I just had to talk about it.
I asked why she was selling the crockpot, she said she was getting a bigger one. Crockpot is great for cooking beans.

PURABI NAHA: Thank You for those complimentary words, I appreciate that.

MISHA: I agree, to take something and make it better. Thanks for calling.

Unknown said...

A scrumptious and sumptuous breaky!
Pancakes are our sunday specials Love the addition of yogurt :) I have made a raspberry coulis which i have yet to blog but plan to use over pancakes!

Alexis AKA MOM said...

Oh yum the boys would love this, thank you!

Miriam said...

Those pancakes sound amazing. :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters

anthony stemke said...

NOW SERVING: The raspberry coulis will be lovely on the pancakes.

ALEXIS AKA: I bet they will and so will you.

MIRIAM: They are really good, and guilt free as well.

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