Blueberry Banana Pancakes

One of my favorite parts about the weekend is Sunday breakfast with my husband.  It’s his absolutely favorite meal so I never worry about what to make him because he loves it all!  This past holiday weekend it was sweltering in the mid-Atlantic.  The kind of hot that smacks you right in the face when you walk out the door at 8:00 in the morning.  We decided it would be a lazy-shades-down-air-conditioner-on-full-blast-couch-and-movie type of day.

For breakfast, I wanted to eat something healthy and summery and decided we’d have pancakes with blueberries and bananas; a perfect summer combination.  And...super healthy blueberries are packed full of antioxidants, Vitamin C, and dietary fiber.

Pancakes can seem like an un-healthy option, but they really aren’t.  Most buttermilk pancakes can pack a whopping calorie punch (1 IHOP buttermilk pancakes = 440 calories; 1 Bob Evans pancake = 329 calories) even before adding maple syrup.  This recipe calls for fat-free buttermilk so you're still getting that delicious flavor, and it is a great, healthier option that you can make at home on your own lazy Sunday morning.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tsp Demerara or Sugar in the Raw

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

½ tsp baking soda

1 ½ cups fat-free buttermilk

½ cup skim milk

1 T canola oil

¼ cup egg substitute

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed

2 ripe bananas, mashed

Preparation:

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

In a medium bowl, add the buttermilk, skim milk, canola oil, egg substitute and vanilla.  Stir to mix. 

Add the mashed bananas to the dry ingredients.

Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry, just until incorporated.  You want the mixture to be lumpy.

Gently fold in the blueberries.

Heat a griddle or flat skillet to medium heat.  Spray the surface with non-stick spray like Pam.  When the surface is hot enough, using a ¼ cup measure cup, scoop the pancake mixture onto the hot griddle/skillet.

You’ll know it’s time to flip when the pancakes are bubbly on top.

Flip and serve hot.

I have to have pure maple syrup for my pancakes (1/8 cup = 100 calories), but you can certainly save some calories by serving them with sugar-free syrup (1/4 cup = 30 calories).  Either way, be sure to heat it up a bit before you pour it on your pancakes!

Serves 6 (two 5” pancakes each)

Calories 246 / Carbs 49g / Fat 2g / Protein 9g / Fiber 3g / Sodium 713mg