I seriously don’t know how I survived before these pancakes came into my life only a few short months ago, thanks to an idea from speedy runner Kinsey Gomez!! I’ve always loved pancakes, but felt guilty eating them – really they were just flattened dessert cakes with syrup on them in which I was trying to pass for breakfast.
Then I began using oats for all my baking because not only are oats the most fantastic gluten-free grain I’ve found to bake with, they contain a unique type of fibre called beta-glucan, which is known to boost the immune system.
Studies have found beta-glucan significantly enhances the human immune system’s response to bacterial infection – in fact beta-glucan not only helps neutrophils (the most abundant type of non-specific immune cell) navigate to the site of an infection more quickly, it also enhances their ability to eliminate the bacteria they find there! Beta-glucan is not found in many other foods (barley and mushrooms are the other two places).
In using oats and eliminating sugars, this combo finally made for a breakfast that was pretty much my bowl of oatmeal in a pancake form and has become a weekend staple (this was in fact the stack I devoured this morning!!). Although I’ll admit play with the recipe each time – this is my current favourite version.
Makes 2 servings (3-4 pancakes each)
Ingredients
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 2 eggs, beaten (or 2 Tbsp chia mixed with 6 Tbsp almond milk and sit to gel)
- 2 Tbsp chia seeds
- 2 Tbsp hemp hearts
- 1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup (optional)
- ½ tsp vanilla
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup oat flour (ground rolled oats, I grind my rolled oats in my Vitamix)
- dash sea salt
- 1-2 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk, or more, if needed
Directions
- Heat a large skillet over med heat, with coconut oil or grasfed butter.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, eggs (or chia/milk mix), chia seeds, hemp hearts, vanilla and cinnamon.
- Fold in the ground rolled oats and sea salt. If the batter seems quite thick (not pourable into pancakes), add a touch of almond milk to thin the mixture slightly.
- Pour about ¼ cup of the mixture per pancake onto the heated greased skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook 1-2 minutes longer.
- Serve with berry compote.
Berry Compote
- 1 cup frozen mixed berries
- 1 Tbsp tart cherry juice
Heat the berries and juice over medium heat until soft and nearing a boil, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and cool slightly before serving over pancakes.
Enjoy!
To deliciously healthy food and stronger faster running… Cheers,
Sarah J Cuff, RHN