Better For You Pancakes

Wow, is that title even possible? Probably not, exactly.

Years ago, while working at the travel agency, I was browsing the internet during some down time. I came across one of those AOL galleries with healthy recipes, and decided that I really should TRY and eat healthier. What I found amid a bunch of recipes that did not sound appealing was a recipe for the South Beach Diet pancakes. I was intrigued. The recipe call for rolled oats instead of flour, and cottage cheese instead of oil or butter. I printed out the recipe to try at a later time.

Fast forward like four years, and I have to say I LOVE THESE PANCAKES! Plus, the recipe is for one serving! In a world of dieting (or just trying to eat healthier), baking for one is HARD. This recipe is also super easy in that you can make it in the blender (or food processor, as I discovered one morning when the blender was dirty, and I didn't feel like hand washing it). Over the years, I have topped these pancakes with strawberries or added blueberries or blackberries, but just this past week, I discovered even further heaven! I had a couple bananas on the verge of over-ripeness, so I threw one into the blender with all of the ingredients. At the end, I added some chopped up walnuts to the batter, and OMG! Banana Bread Pancakes! I made them two days in a row, they were JUST..THAT...GOOD.

 Photo from http://www.food.com/recipe/south-beach-diet-oatmeal-pancakes-109387

Here is the basic recipe I have been using. I have seen other versions, but this works well for me.

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup lowfat cottage cheese
2 egg whites (I buy Jumbo eggs)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Dash each ground cinnamon and nutmeg

Yields 2 pancakes 

Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend. I have a KitchenAid Blender, and I have discovered that using the Chop setting works best. Sometimes Mix (and definitely the faster settings) make the batter too runny. In those instances, I have added more oats to thicken the batter. You're making pancakes, so you want this the consistency of pancake batter. (Go figure.)

Heat a griddle pan over medium heat, and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour half the batter (or less if you want more, smaller pancakes) in the center of the pan. Now is the time to add blueberries (or blackberries or nuts) if you would like. Once bubbles have formed, and popped, go ahead and flip. This can take anywhere from 2-4 minutes depending on the thickness of your pancake. If the pancake is too dark (which happens to me all the time with a glass top stove), adjust your heat. The second side will cook in 2 to 3 minutes, again, depending on thickness.

Note on the Banana Nut Pancakes: The batter will take a little longer to cook, and may seem unset, but that is the yummy banana in the batter.

I hope you find this recipe as delicious as I do!

I use FitBit and Lose It! to figure out calorie counts, and according to my FitBit calculations, the above recipe has 241 calories, 4 grams of fat, 4.4 grams of fiber, 31.3 grams of carbs, 350.2 milligrams of sodium, and 18.1 grams of protein. (FitBit doesn't have Jumbo egg whites, so the above calculations are bases using Large eggs.)