These high-protein pancakes remind me a lot of the Weight Watchers pancakes that I tried a while back. Although, unlike the Weight Watchers version, this one does include flour. And quite a bit more milk than their version. I do think I like the idea of adding some mashed banana to the batter next time though. Just to add a little fruit and sweetness.

For the version below, I have swapped out the white flour with whole wheat, added a mashed banana, omitted the oil, and added some vanilla and cinnamon. I know that sounds like quite a few tweaks. But I think it still keeps the spirit of the original recipe.

Cottage Cheese and Yogurt Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 140g whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 3/4 c. cottage cheese
• 2 large eggs
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Sift the baking powder and baking soda into the flour and mix.
2. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, eggs, banana, vanilla, and cinnamon, and mix well.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into dry and stir to combine.
4. Heat a tawa or skillet over medium-low heat and oil as needed.
5. Once the pan/tawa is hot, pour a few 1/4 c. portions of batter into the pan.
6. Cook until bubbles form in tops and sides begin to look dry, then flip and continue cooking until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through.
7. Repeat with remaining batter.
8. Serve with maple syrup, jam, butter, yogurt, and/or fresh fruit.

These were okay. Not my favourite, but it was fine. And they were quick and easy to put together.

I ended up making them with whole wheat flour instead of white, because we were out of white flour and the grocery store was completely sold out the last time I was there.

I think some walnuts would have made a nice addition. And they also could have used a bit of cinnamon. Still... they were good overall.

Orange Spice Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 1/3 c. orange juice
• 1 tsp. grated orange zest
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions

1. Combine flours and and sugar.
2. Sift in baking powder and ground ginger.
3. Add the cinamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and mix well.
4. Beat the egg, orange zest, and vanilla with the orange juice.
5. Mix in the melted butter.
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
7. Add the walnuts (if using) and stir to mix.
8. Heat a tawa or griddle over medium heat. Grease as necessary.
9. Pour some batter into the tawa/pan and cook until bubbles form and edges look dry.
10. Flip and cook until brown on both sides and cooked through.
11. Repeat with remaining batter.
12. Serve pancakes with marmalade and/or butter.

I've made banana pancakes before, but usually they involve mashing the bananas and mixing it into the batter. These ones work a little differently. You make a fairly standard buttermilk pancake batter and then add a few slices of banana to each pancake as it cooks.

I find this approach a little more messy and fiddly than just mixing the bananas into the batter, but it's a nice way to change things up if you want to try something a bit different on occasion. That said, I did have to make some adjustments to the recipe. The original only called for 3/4 c. of all-purpose flour and 1/3 c. of whole wheat flour. And this was cleary not nearly enough flour. I ended up adding an extra 1/2 c. of whole wheat flour and, honestly, I feel like it still could've used a little more. I also ended up needing more bananas than the recipe called for. I guess they expected you to slice the bananas thinner. But I quite liked the thick slices. So I'd just plan on using an extra banana next time.

Three-Spot Banana Buttermilk Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfasts by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 3 bananas, sliced

Directions

1. Combine flours, brown sugar, and salt.
2. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
3. Beat the egg with the buttermilk and stir in the melted butter.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
5. Heat up a tawa or skillet and add a little butter as needed.
6. Using ~1/4 c. of batter for each pancake, pour in as many as will comfortably fit in the pan (usually 1-3).
7. Press three slices of banana into the top of each pancake and cook until bubbles form and the edges start to look dry.
8. Flip the pancakes and cook until underside is brown and pancake is cooked through.
9. Transfer to a plate and repeat cooking process with remaining batter and bananas.
10. Serve with maple syrup, peanut butter, Nutella, and/or whipped cream.

I keep meaning to make another strata for breakfast but being too tired to put it together the night before and sleeping in too late to put it together the morning of. So, instead of strata, we had pancakes this morning. These are nice apple-pecan pancakes with a bit of oatmeal and cinnamon. (The original recipe called for walnuts, but the pecans were on top and I like them better anyway, so I just used them.)

I used a mix of white and whole wheat flour for my pancakes today. But I think I'd be quite happy to make them with 100% whole wheat flour next time. Or, if you adjusted the proportions a bit, you could easily do them up as sourdough pancakes instead.

We had some leftover chocolate from an earlier dessert, so I re-melted it by sitting the dish it was in inside the bowl of hot oatmeal and served it as a topping for these nutty, fruity pancakes. The Kidlet had hers with melted chocolate and maple syrup. And I opted for sliced bananas and a small drizzle of melted chocolate on mine. They were delicious!

Autumn Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1 1/2 c. boiling water
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 180g whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 1-2 apples, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions

1. Pour the boiling water over the oats and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Add the butter and set aside.
3. Sift the baking powder into the flour.
4. Add the cinnamon and sugar and mix well.
5. Beat the egg with the milk.
6. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients along with the oat mixture. Stir to combine.
7. Stir in the apples and nuts.
8. Preheat a tawa or skillet over medium heat.
9. Grease as needed.
10. Working with ~1/4 c. of batter at a time, pour it onto the hot tawa.
11. Cook until bubbles form in the surface and edges begin to look slightly dry.
12. Flip and cook until both sides are golden brown and pancake is cooked through. Transfer to plate.
13. Repeat cooking process with remaining batter.
14. Serve with fruit, syrup, melted chocolate, and/or whippped cream.

---

Variations

Sourdough Autumn Pancakes

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 1 c. boiling water
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 60g whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 3 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 c. milk
• 250g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 1 large egg
• 1-2 apples, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Yachaejeon (Korean Vegetable Pancakes)

I think I was a bit too skimpy with the oil when frying these pancakes. They were good, but came out a little gummy. I think a bit more oil, a slightly higher temperature on the pan, and going to the trouble of properly julienne-ing the potato (rather than grating it) probably would've made the difference. But I was still feeling a bit tired and decided to try to save some time and simplify my life by grating the carrot and potato rather than exercising my knife skills. And I had hoped that I could get away with just a light coating of oil on the pan to make these somewhat healthier. But, sadly, this lead to somewhat lacklustre results. Not bad. Just not great either.

On the bright side, this did make for a very low-effort vegetable side to go with the leftover stir-fry from the night before. And it let me clear some things out of the fridge that needed to be used anyway. I didn't have quite as many garlic chives as I would have liked, but everything else was lovely. Although I might consider adding some thinly sliced yellow onion along with the green onion next time. Can't go wrong with more alliums!

Also, given that the batter is basically just a lightly seasoned mix of flour and water, I'd be tempted to try making these with sourdough starter at some point. The hydration of the batter is much higher than what I usually keep my starter at. But that could be easily remedied by simply watering it down a bit. A 2:1 ratio of starter to water by mass should produce the right proportions. The flavour would be a bit different, to be sure, but I think it'd still be good! Something to try for next time...

Yachaejeon

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

Sauce

• 1 cheongyang or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
• 1 mild red chile, thinly sliced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 c. light soy sauce
• 2 1/2 Tbsp. white vinegar
• 1/8 tsp. sugar

Pancakes

• 180g flour
• 1/2 tsp. dasida (or salt)
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 360g water
• ~150g (or more) garlic chives, cut into 5-cm pieces
• 1 small Yukon Gold (or similar) potato, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 cheongyang or jalapeño chile, thinly sliced
• 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the chiles, green onion, yellow onion, soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar for the dipping sauce. Mix well and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, dasida, and pepper and stir to mix.
3. Pour in the water and mix.
4. Add the garlic chives, potato, carrot, bell pepper, chile, green onions, and yellow onion (if using) and mix well.
5. Heat a pan, skillet, or tawa over medium-high heat.
6. Pour in ~1 Tbsp. of oil.
7. Spoon some batter onto the tawa and spread thin.
8. Cook until golden-brown on underside, then flip and cook until second side is also nicely browned.
9. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil as necessary.
10. Serve pancakes with the chunky dipping sauce.

I'm still working my way through all of the feijoa recipes (in an attempt to work through all of the fejoas). Today's recipe was pancakes with a feijoa-based sauce.

Both the pancakes and the sauce were very quick and easy to put together and they made for a nice breakfast. I ended up using old-fashioned rolled oats ("whole grain oats") for my pancakes even though the recipe called for "rolled oats", which I think is the equivalent of what we would call "quick oats" in North America. This worked fine, but I think the quick oats probably would've been better. I debated using instant oats (aka "creamy oats" to you antipodean folks), but the package of "whole grain oats" was already opened and the "creamy oats" were still sealed, so I figured I'd just see how it came out with the more toothsome old-fashioned oats for now.

I cut the sugar in the sauce back to only a 1/4 c., but you may find you need more or less depending on the sweetness of your fruit (and your tooth). The original recipe called for 1/2 c. modulo fruit sweetness.

Photo goes here.

Oat Pancakes with Feijoa-Apple Sauce

Slightly adapted from NZ Woman's Weekly

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 150g soft (plain/standard/cake) flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Sauce

• 1 large apple, peeled and chopped
• 300g feijoa pulp
• 1/4 c. sugar (or to taste)
• 1/4 c. water

Directions

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
2. Mix in the brown sugar.
3. Beat the egg with the milk and the vanilla.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
5. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.
6. Combine apple, feijoa, sugar, and water and bring to a boil over medium heat.
7. Cook until fruit is very tender and easily mashed with a fork (10-15 minutes).
8. While the sauce is cooking, make the pancakes.
9. Heat a pan, tawa, or griddle over medium heat and grease as necessary.
10. Use ~1/4 c. of batter for each pancake and cook until underside is nicely browned and sides are starting to look dry, adjusting heat as necessary during cooking.
11. Flip pancakes and cook until other side is browned and pancakes are cooked through.
12. Repeat process with remaining batter.
13. Serve pancakes topped with the feijoa-apple sauce and plain Greek yogurt.

These were slightly unusual, but very tasty pancakes! The base is a pretty standard buttermilk pancake batter. But the twist is that you stir in a cup of granola right at the end. It's not something that I would have thought of doing, but it works quite well. We used the last of Orthia's home-made granola and it was lovely!

Granola Pancakes

From The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 150g flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 3 Tbsp. butter, melted
• 1 c. granola

Directions

1. Combine the flour, sugar, and salt and sift in the baking powder and baking soda. Mix well.
2. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and mix in the melted butter.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined.
4. Stir in the granola.
5. If the batter seems too thick, add a splash of mix (or buttermilk).
6. Heat a large pan, griddle, or tawa over medium heat. Add a little butter if necessary.
7. Use ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake and cook until bubbles form and top is just beginning to look dry.
8. Flip and cook until both sides are golden-brown and pancakes are cooked through.
9. Serve with jam, syrup, butter, bacon, and/or fruit compote.

I was planning on doing carrot-zucchini latkes for breakfast this morning. But the zucchini wasn't a great price this week, so I decided to save it for another time. Which is all well and good, except it left me with a hole in my meal plan.

After some frantic rifling through cookbooks, I eventually settled on this pancake recipe. It's not super substantial, but it was tasty and we had all the bits readily to hand. And that was the important bit this morning!

I ended up using some horopito-infused honey as the honey component of this recipe and I think it worked quite nicely. That said, regular honey will work just fine too. I just used the horopito honey because we had it and I thought it would complement the other spices well. (Which it did.) The slight peppery taste worked well with the coriander and cinnamon in the batter.

Spiced Whole Wheat Pancakes with Nuts

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 300g whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 c. milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 c. oil
• 3 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts, divided

Cinnamon Honey

• 1/4 c. honey
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp. butter

Directions

1. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, and salt and mix well.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and mix in the oil and honey.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
4. Mix in half of the walnuts.
5. Heat the pan over medium-low heat.
6. Add a little butter if necessary.
7. Scoop a few portions of batter into the pan, using ~1/4 c. for each pancake.
8. Cook until bubbles form and edges look dry.
9. Flip and continue cooking until browned on both sides and cooked through.
10. Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate and repeat with remaining batter.
11. Meanwhile, gently heat the remaining honey and mix in the cinnamon and butter. Stir to combine.
12. Serve pancakes topped with cinnamon honey and reserved walnuts.

This is pretty similar to the savoury sourdough discard we already make, but it incorporates a chemical leavener to yield a slightly fluffier finished pancake. The "batter" is just sourdough discard thinned with a little water, seasoned with a pinch of salt, and given a bit of baking powder for leavening. Chopped scallions and herbs get stirred into the batter as well. I think cilantro and/or parsley work particularly well. But you could experiment with a variety of different herbs.

The recipe suggests serving these with a dumpling dipping sauce. The Kidlet had hers with ketchup. TF went for some Sichuan peppercorn pickles. And I had mine with Laoganma and a little soy sauce. (Although next time I think I'd swap out the soy sauce for a bit of black vinegar instead.)

Much like with the other savoury pancakes, I think these go well with fried eggs. The eggs add a little protein and make the meal a bit more substantial.

Sourdough Herb and Scallion Pancakes

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 170g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/4-1/3 c. fresh herbs, chopped
• fried eggs, to serve
• condiments (soy sauce, Laoganma, pickles, ketchup, mayo, vinegar, etc.), to serve

Directions

1. Combine the sourdough discard, water, salt, and baking soda and mix well.
2. Mix in the green onions and herbs.
3. Heat a tawa or griddle over medium heat.
4. Oil or grease the griddle if necessary.
5. Drop a scoop of batter (~1/4 c.) onto the hot griddle and cook until bubbles form and edges look dry.
6. Flip and cook until browned on both sides and pancake is cooked through.
7. Repeat with remaining batter, cooking 2-3 pancakes at a time.
8. Serve pancakes topped with fried eggs and/or conidements of your choice.

This recipe comes courtesy of the King Arthur Flour website. I used it to make sourdough pancakes. But the authors note that it works equally well for waffles. I cannot vouch for the outcome when waffling. But it did make tasty pancakes!

The recipe as written calls for entirely white flour. But, because my starter is based on whole wheat, I opted to use a mix of white and whole wheat flour. I figure the extra fibre is a nice bonus and having at least some whole wheat flour in the sponge is probably helpful for the starter as well.

The sponge rose nicely overnight and bubbled up dramatically when the baking soda was added in the morning. Despite this, the pancakes were not quite as fluffy as I was expecting. They were still very good. Just not as soft and light as I'm used to getting from some of my other buttermilk pancake recipes. But, they're easy and use a generous quantity of sourdough discard, so I really can't complain!

This recipe makes a fairly big batch of pancakes. I didn't count, but I'd say I got well in excess of two dozen (using ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake). I think, between us, we ate about a dozen for breakfast and it looked like there were still maybe a dozen and a half to two dozen going in the fridge afterward. So, this is a fairly generous recipe.

Given that I was making such a big batch, I decided to try adding some mix-ins to some of the batter. I made the first 10 or so plain and then, for the remaining batter, I added a combination of pecans, toasted sesame seeds, and white poppy seeds. (A slightly tweaked version of a suggested set of mix-ins from The Breakfast Bible. Mostly because a) I wanted a higher proportion of pecans and more mix-ins overall than the original recipe called for and b) because I couldn't find my regular poppy seeds, so I ended up using some white poppy seeds instead.)

Given that I did these pancakes two different ways, I debated whether or not to write this up as one recipe or two. I think normally I would simply do the batter write-up and then add a separate section at the bottom of the post with a variant that includes the mix-ins. But I also added toppings (peanut butter, maple syrup, and bacon) to the pancakes with the mix-ins. And, at that point, it feels like it begins to approach the point of being a new dish/recipe. So, with that in mind, I decided to make a separate post for the gussied up version and only include the plain batter here.

Sourdough Pancakes (or Waffles)

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

Sponge

• 225g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 120g all-purpose flour
• 120g whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 c. buttermilk

Batter

• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Directions

1. Combine the discard, flours, sugar, and buttermilk in a large bowl and mix well.
2. Cover and let stand at room temperature for ~12 hours.
3. The next morning, stir down the sponge and mix in the eggs, salt, and butter.
4. Sift in the baking soda and mix very well.
5. Let the batter stand while you preheat a griddle or tawa over medium heat. For waffles, preheat your waffle iron.
6. Lightly grease the tawa as needed and make your pancakes, using ~1/4 c. of batter for each and cooking until golden-brown on both sides. For waffles, pour a portion of batter into the preheated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer directions.
7. Repeat until all batter has been used.
8. Serve with your favourite toppings.

I've been working my way through all the suggested mix-in and topping combinations for pancakes in The Breakfast Bible. In retrospect I think that maybe the peanut butter and bacon would have been a better match for the banana pancakes, but I think it still worked reasonably well with the nuts and seeds used here.

Nutty Sourdough Pancakes with Bacon

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Pancakes

• 1 batch sourdough pancake batter
• 1/2 c. chopped pecans
• 1/4 c. toasted sesame seeds
• 2 Tbsp. poppy seeds

Toppings

• peanut butter
• maple syrup
• bacon

Directions

1. Make your pancake batter as directed.
2. Add the pecans, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds and stir to combine.
3. Cook the pancakes as usual, using ~1/4 c. of batter for each.
4. Top pancakes with peanut butter, maple syrup, and bacon.
5. Optionally serve with fried eggs.

I've been continuing to work my way through the different suggested mix-ins and combinations of toppings in the pancake section of the Breakfast Bible. I thought that the spiced pancakes would go particularly well with the apples and sugar-and-spice compound butter. And they did! (That butter, by the way, is also excellent on waffles and/or banana-oat pancakes.)

Spiced Pancakes with Apples and Compound Butter

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Batter

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 2 tsp. grated orange zest
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

Toppings

• sugar-and-spice butter
• apple(s), diced
• pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)
• maple syrup

Directions

1. Combine flours, oats, sugar, mixed spice, and salt.
2. Sift in baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
3. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk and orange zest.
4. Drizzle the butter into the wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Heat a skillet, griddle, or tawa over medium heat. Add a little butter or oil if necessary.
7. Using ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake, portion 3-4 into the pan and cook until underside is browned and bubbles form on surface.
8. Flip and continue cooking until both sides are browned and pacakes are cooked through.
9. Repeat until all batter has been used.
10. Serve pancakes topped with a little of the compound butter, some diced apple, toasted pecans (if using), and a drizzle of maple syrup.

This is another mix-and-match pancake creation courtesy of The Breakfast Bible. I just used the standard whole wheat pancake recipe and added a bit of coconut and pinapple to the batter, then topped them with even more pinapple and coconut. McMillan suggests a combination of pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, and maple syrup for the topping. I didn't have any macadamia nuts, so I tried it with a few slivered almonds instead. That was good, but, in retrospect, I think that a few toasted pumpkin seeds would have been even better. I also ended up adding a dollop of plain Greek yogurt to mine. I felt that this made them a little more substantial and brought everything together. That said, if you really wanted to double down on the coconut flavour, then I think some whipped coconut cream would go a treat on these!

Piña Colada Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Batter

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. rolled oats (pref. quick oats)
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 large eggs
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 c. unsweetened dried coconut
• 1/2 c. finely diced fresh pineapple

Toppings

• plain Greek yogurt and/or whipped coconut cream
• chopped fresh pinapple
• toasted coconut chips
• macadamia nuts and/or toasted pumpkin seeds
• maple syrup

Directions

1. Combine the flours, oats, and salt and sift in the baking powder and baking soda.
2. In a separate bowl (or large measuring cup), beat the eggs with the buttermilk.
3. Mix the butter into the wet ingredients
4. Pour the wet into the dry and stir until just combined.
5. Mix in the coconut and pineapple.
6. Preheat a pan, griddle, or tawa over medium heat.
7. Lightly grease the pan if necessary.
8. Use ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake. Cook 1-4 at a time, depending on the size of your pan.
9. Cook each pancake until it is browned underneath and bubbles form on surface.
10. Flip and cook until the other side is browned and pancake is cooked all the way through.
11. Serve topped with yogurt (or coconut cream), pinapple, coconut chips, nuts/seeds, and maple syrup.

In the Breakfast Bible, there is a section dedicated to pancakes, waffles, and crêpes. McMillan gives three basic recipes for each (usually plain, whole wheat, and gluten-free) and then provides suggested combinations of mix-ins with a separate list of suggested combinations of toppings. This allows you to mix-and-match your breakfast concoctions.

I debated whether I wanted to write those recipes up the same way. Providing the lists of mix-ins at the bottom or variants as separate recipes included in the same post. In the end though, I decided that I liked the idea of picking a set of mix-ins, pairing it with a set of toppings, selecting a base, and then writing each of those up as their own post.

For these chocolate-strawberry pancakes, I used the whole wheat pancake batter as my foundation and then added in some chopped strawberries and dark chocolate. We then topped them with a combination of more strawberries, maple syrup, whipped cream, and shaved dark chocolate.

Chocolate-Strawberry Pancakes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 2 c. buttermilk
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 120g dark chocolate, 90g chopped, 30g shaved
• 450g strawberries, 120g chopped, 330g quartered
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• maple syrup, to taste

Directions

1. Combine the flours, oats, sugar, and salt.
2. Sift in the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
3. Beat the eggs with the buttermilk.
4. Drizzle the butter into the buttermilk mixture, whisking to blend.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
6. Mix in the chopped chocolate and chopped strawberries.
7. Preheat a griddle or large pan over medium heat and grease as necessary.
8. Pour some batter into the pan. (Use ~1/4 c. for smallish pancakes or 1/2 c. for large ones.)
9. Cook until sides start to look dry, then flip and cook until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through. Repeat with remaining batter.
10. Meanwhile, beat the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla extract until stiff.
11. When the pancakes are done, dish them up and top with the quartered strawberries, maple syrup, whipped cream, and shaved chocolate.

This is a very simple dish of savory cornmeal-buttermilk pancakes topped with lightly spiced black beans. They're pretty plain on their own, but still taste lovely and are really excellent when topped with some salsa and sour cream. I'm sure guacamole, radishes, and green onions would also go great. As would a bit of cheddar cheese.

I served these as a filling, leguminous side-dish to accompany some vegetable enchiladas. A very nice meal!

Cornmeal Pancakes with Black Beans

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Beans

• 1 (470mL) can black beans, drained
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tsp. chili powder

Pancakes

• 2/3 c. cornmeal
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 c. frozen corn, thawed

Assembly

Use as many or as few toppings as you'd like. All are optional, but salsa is strongly recommended.

• salsa (red or green)
• sour cream
• chopped fresh cilantro
• chopped fresh oregano
• green onion, thinly sliced
• radishes, thinly sliced
• sliced avocado and/or guacamole
• grated cheddar

Directions

1. Combine the beans, oregano, and chili powder and warm over low heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
2. Meanwhile, combine the cornmeal, flour, chili powder, salt, and pepper; sift in the baking soda; and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter with the buttermilk and eggs.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine.
5. Stir in the corn.
6. Heat a griddle or tawa over medium heat and lightly grease or oil it.
7. Make pancakes using ~1/4 c. of batter for each one and cook until golden on both sides.
8. Serve the pancakes topped with black beans.
9. Garnish with salsa and whatever other toppings you desire.

This was a really nice breakfast. The apples and cottage cheese make it a bit more substantial than pancakes on their own would be.

Photo goes here.

Buckwheat Pancakes with Apples and Cottage Cheese

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 4 apples, sliced
• 1 tsp. cinnamon sugar
• 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. buckwehat flour
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg
• 1 c. cottage cheese
• 1-2 Tbsp. raisins, chopped
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. stevia
• 3-4 Tbsp. maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Place the apples in a baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 30 minutes.
3. Combine flours and sift in baking powder.
4. In a large measuring cup, combine the milk, buttermilk, and egg and mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine.
6. Heat a pan or tawa over medium heat and grease lightly.
7. Use ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake and cook until browned on both sides and heated through.
8. Mix the raisins, cinnamon, and stevia into the cottage cheese.
9. Top each pancake with apples, cottage cheese, and maple syrup.

I appreciate that these pumpkin pancakes actually had an appreciable amount of pumpkin in them. Everyone really enjoyed them. And they're not too ruinous nutrition-wise. (Relative to regular buttermilk pancakes at least.)

The original recipe was made with all-purpose flour, but I opted for a mix of white and whole wheat flour. I think next time I'd just make them 100% whole wheat. I think the bran is nice with the spices. And, I didn't do it this time, but I might try swapping out the butter for applesauce next time.

Pumpkin Pie Pancakes

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c. hard whole wheat flour
• 1/2 Tbsp. baking soda
• 1/2 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice¹
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 c. pumpkin purée
• 2 large eggs
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted²
• maple syrup and/or whipped cream, to serve

Directions

1. Combine the flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt and mix well.
2. In a large measuring cup, beat the buttermilk with the pumpkin, eggs, sugar, and butter (or applesauce).
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined. If the batter seems too thick, stir in 1-2 Tbsp. of water to thin it to the desired consistency.
4. Cook the pancakes over medium-low heat, using ~1/4 c. of batter per pancake. Flip when bubbles form and the top starts to look dry and cook until nicely browned on both sides and heated through.
5. Serve topped with maple syrup, whipped cream, or both!

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¹ I didn't have any pumpkin pie spice ready to hand, so I just used an equal amount of mixed spice instead. The flavour is slightly different, but similar enough that I felt comfortable using them interchangeably in this recipe. ^Back
2 As mentioned above, I might consider experimenting with substituting unsweetened applesauce for the butter here. ^Back

Blueberry-Bran Panakes

I ended up making a fair few changes to this recipe, so I just want to write down what I did before I forget.

The original recipe called for 3/4 c. of bran flakes cereal, but I only had OG all bran -- the one that comes as little bran sticks -- so I swapped that in, but used a bit less since I figured it probably had a higher packing fraction than the flakes did.

The original also called for two eggs whites and 2 tsp. of canola oil. I decided to just use one whole large egg instead. I figured that the original was probably written that way because 2 tsp. of oil came out to less points than an egg yolk did under the old points system. But now eggs (not just egg whites) are "free" and I liked the idea of egg in the batter better than oil. So I just rolled with that and left out the oil.

For the sugar, I decided to toss in 1/2 Tbsp. of the Splenda brown sugar blend that I got a while back rather than the 1 Tbsp. of granulated sugar called for.

And I opted to use a mix of different berries rather than just blueberries. Mostly because I had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer and I didn't particularly feel like trying to pick through it to get enough blueberries to make my pancakes. So most of them actually ended up being blackberry-bran pancakes. But I did end up doing a few blueberry- and mixed-berry-bran ones as well.

I also greased my pan with butter rather than using cooking spray. I didn't use much. I figure there was probably only ~1/2-3/4 of a tsp. used for the whole batch of pancakes.

Oh, and I guess the last little change I made was to top them with a "no sugar added" syrup in place of the icing sugar-- And, as I type that, I am reminded that I acutally meant to top them with fat-free cottage cheese and no sugar added syrup! Whoops! That probably would've solved the these-are-tasty-but-not-really-very-filling issue. Because I just ended up eating half a banana afterward to try to fill myself up a bit more since I was still pretty hungry even after 3 pancakes. Maybe next time I should top them with banana slices and cottage cheese and syrup...

Blueberry-Bran Pancakes

Adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. All-Bran cereal
• 1 1/4 c. buttermilk
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 Tbsp. Splenda brown sugar blend (or 1 Tbsp. brown sugar)
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• ~1/2 tsp. unsalted butter
• 1/2-3/4 c. frozen berries (preferably blueberries)
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1/2 c. (fat-free) cottage cheese
• 2-3 Tbsp. "no sugar added" syrup (or maple syrup)

Directions

1. Combine the cereal, buttermilk, egg, and sugar and let stand for 5 minutes.
2. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, then whisk to combine.
3. Heat a pan over medium-low heat.
4. Very lightly grease the pan with some of the butter.
5. Scoop a scant 1/4 c. of batter into the pan and press a few berries into it. Repeat to form as many pancakes as will comfortably fit in the pan.
6. Cook until the undersides are golden-brown and the top starts to look less wet.
7. Flip and cook on the other side until golden-brown.
8. Transfer cooked pancakes to a plate and repeat cooking process until you run out of batter. (Should make 10-12 pancakes.)
9. Top pancakes with banana slices, cottage cheese, and syrup and serve.

I've been eating a lot of cottage cheese bowls for breakfast lately. The apple one in particular is very tasty and simple to make. It's also low-Points/low-calorie and gets me a good dose of protein, calcium, and fruit first thing in the morning. All-in-all, it's a pretty ideal breakfast. That said, I still like to mix it up a bit sometimes. So I've been casting about for other breakfast ideas.

Eventually I settled on this Weight Watchers sheet pan pancake recipe. I made a few adjustments, but the basic idea is the same.

Banana Sheet Pan Pancake

Slightly adapted from Weight Watchers

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 c. water
• 5 1/2 Tbsp. sugar, divided
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large bananas, divided
• 2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour¹
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• chopped pecans, to serve²
• maple syrup, to serve
• raspberries, to serve

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and grease a rimmed baking sheet.
2. Combine the yogurt, water, 1/4 c. of the sugar, vanilla, and eggs.
3. Mash two of the bananas and mix them into the wet ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined.
6. Pour the batter into the pan and spread all the way to the edges.
7. Slice the remaining two bananas and decorate the top of the "pancake" with the banana slices.
8. Sprinkle remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp. of sugar over top.
9. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 15-20 minutes.
10. Serve topped with maple syrup, raspberries, and/or chopped pecans.

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Variations

Lower-Calorie Version

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. plain fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 c. water
• 5 1/2 Tbsp. 1:1 monk fruit or stevia sweetener, divided
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 4 large bananas, divided
• 2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• chopped pecans, to serve
• "no sugar added" syrup, to serve
• raspberries, to serve

Spiced Banana Bread Sheet Pan Pancake

The original recipe claimed to be a "banana bread" sheet pan pancake, but it didn't include any of what I tend to think of as the traditional/characteristic banana bread spices. I think, if I were doing it again, I'd want to try to add some more spices to it to amp up the flavour a bit.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. spiced rum
• 2 large eggs
• 5 large bananas, divided
• 2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
• chopped pecans, to serve
• maple syrup, to serve
• raspberries, to serve

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¹ The original recipe calls for white whole wheat flour (as in flour ground from white wheat berries). I don't generally keep that on hand, so I usually just substitute regular hard whole wheat flour. That said, I think soft flour would be even better here. I didn't feel like grinding any for this recipe, but I might give it a go with soft flour next time. I think 330g should be about right. ^Back
2 The recipe called for using the chopped nuts as a topping, and that's what I did this time. I think I'd be inclined to try mixing them into the batter next time though. ^Back

Someone shared their method of making sourdough okonomiyaki in a bread forum a while back and I jotted the recipe down for future use. It's similar to my existing okonomiyaki recipe. The main differences being that this one contains neither oil nor soy sauce (just salt and pepper). It also includes leavener, which my previous recipe did not. And, of course, sourdough starter replaces the flour and water in the original.

All-in-all it worked pretty well. I used kale, shredded carrots, green onion, smoked tofu, and a little bit of frozen "spaghetti mix" for mine, but you could easily change up both the protein and the veggies depending on what you feel like or what you have available.

Suggested veggies (~2 1/2 c.): kale, spinach, cabbage, brussels sprouts, onion, bell pepper, shishito pepper, green onion/scallion, carrots, mustard greens, corn, cremini or shiitake mushrooms
Suggested proteins (60-120g): tofu, smoked tofu, Chinese sausage, hotdog, tinned tuna, SPAM, poached chicken or turkey, back bacon

Sourdough Okonomiyaki

Ingredients

• 280g sourdough discard @ 100% hydration
• 1 large egg (or 1 small egg + 1 egg white)
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt¹, ground
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1-2 Tbsp. water or milk
• 1-2 carrots, grated (probably ~1 c. total)
• 1 c. frozen chopped kale
• 1/4 c. frozen "spaghetti mix"
• 3 chopped green onions
• ~75g diced smoked tofu
• soy sauce, mayo, hoisin sauce, and/or furikake, to serve

Directions

1. Combine starter, egg, cornstarch, salt, pepper, and baking soda and mix well.
2. Adjust consistency with water (or milk) to form a thin batter.
3. Mix in the veggies and tofu (or protein of your choice).
4. Heat pan over medium heat.
5. Lightly grease or spray pan with cooking spray and pour in ~1/3 of the batter. Spread it out thin. This should form a large (~25cm/10") pancake.
6. Cook until underside has begun to lightly brown, bubbles form, and top begins to set.
7. Carefully flip the pancake over and cook until the other side and browned slightly and pancake is cooked through.
8. Remove from heat and repeat process with remaining batter.
9. Serve pancakes topped with soy sauce, mayo, hoisin sauce, and/or furikake.

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¹ I may consider replacing the salt with dasida next time. I have a bunch that I need to use up and I think it could be a nice flavour. ^Back