Pancakes are awesome...fact.

Since it’s a bank holiday, you might find that you have more time than usual to knock up a tasty and nutritious breakfast. Everyone loves pancakes, but they are generally not the healthiest option. These pancakes are adapted from a recipe I found on Mark's Daily Apple, an excellent resource for all things involved in the Paleo/Primal lifestyle (I’ll doing a post on the Paleo Diet soon). They are gluten-free, and contain a great selection of tasty and healthy ingredients. The banana is a source of gluten-free low Glycaemic Index carbs as well as nutrients such as potassium (linked with decreased risk of osteoporosis and possibly diabetes¹), while the almond butter is a source of unsaturated fats (linked with reduction of the risk of cardiovascular disease²) and the berries are a great source of anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant linked with reduction of blood pressure³.

They also happen to be super-tasty, so give them a go at once!

Ingredients (per person)

Pancakes:

1 banana

1 egg

1 tablespoon of almond butter

½ teaspoon of cinnamon

Butter for cooking

Sauce:

½ cup of berries (Sainsbury’s frozen mixed berries are good here)

Splash of water

½ a scoop of protein powder (chocolate or strawberry flavour work well here).

Method

Put the berries in a saucepan with a splash of water, and bring to the boil. Put a lid on, and turn down to the lowest heat while you get on with the pancakes.

Put all the pancake ingredients into the food processor, and whizz until they are a smooth batter. This can be done by hand, but will result in a chunkier texture. Fry tablespoon-sized dollops in butter, flipping once the undersides are firm. Keep an eye on these, since they can burn quite easily. Once all the pancakes are done, take the berries off the heat, and stir in the protein powder. Stir this well, so it totally dissolves and doesn’t give a grainy texture.

Serve the pancakes around the edge of your plate, with a puddle of sauce in the middle as in the picture.

Nutrition

This will give you:

kCalories: 331

Protein: 17g

Carbohydrates: 39g

Fat: 14g

If not using the protein powder, you get:

kCalories: 289

Protein: 8g

Carbohydrates: 38g

Fat: 14g

Enjoy (with not guilt at all)!

References

1          He, F. J. & MacGregor, G. A. Beneficial effects of potassium on human health. Physiol Plant 133, 725-735 (2008).

2        Jakobsen, M. U. et al. Major types of dietary fat and risk of coronary heart disease: a pooled analysis of 11 cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr 89, 1425-1432, doi:ajcn.2008.27124 [pii] 10.3945/ajcn.2008.27124 (2009).

3          Rodriguez-Mateos, A. et al. Blueberry intervention improves vascular reactivity and lowers blood pressure in high-fat-, high-cholesterol-fed rats. Br J Nutr, 1-9, doi:S0007114512003911 [pii] 10.1017/S0007114512003911 (2012).