pancake success

I'm 4 days into a 30 day personal ban on refined carbs which means no white flour and no white sugar. I'm actually trying to shun all sugars in general with the exception of a few low sugar fruits and of course the natural sugars found in dairy. I've got a vacation coming up, and who wants to look doughy in a bikini? Not this girl.

Cutting out sugar has been easier than I anticipated given that most of my daily calories probably come from sweet things but cutting out white flour has taken some improvisation. Switching to whole wheat flour (which I would NOT recommend for pastry)has been challenging. It's contains far more nutritional value than tradition white flour however it creates a much denser product. Maybe all those vitamins and minerals make it heavy? It also requires more liquid ingredients to achieve the same outcome as a white flour recipe. Be prepared for a dry, sticky dough.

Yesterday morning I made whole wheat apple cinnamon pancakes, with no sugar! I microwaved the apples for about 3 minutes to soften them before I folded them into the batter, used light buttermilk instead of my usual fat-free variety and topped them with just a little unsalted butter. They were just sweet enough to satisfy my craving and the buttermilk kept them from tasting like Triskets. Who says you can't have your pancakes and eat them too?

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 apple (or blueberries, banana, etc)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 egg

Whisk together dry ingredients, except for the brown sugar, in a bowl and, using a whisk or an egg beater, mix the brown sugar, buttermilk, oil, and egg in another bowl.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and mix gently. Fold in fruit. It's okay if you have lumps when you're done, if you over mix the batter you’ll have tough, chewy pancakes.

Let the batter sit for a few minutes. Heat a skillet over medium high heat until it’s hot enough to make a drop of water sizzle. If your skillet is nonstick, you probably won’t need to grease it, but if it’s a traditional pan or cast iron like mine, you’ll want to butter that baby up before you make the pancakes. Drop 1/2 cup dollops of batter into the hot skillet and cook the pancakes until bubbles form on top, flip and cook another 2-3 minutes. Graciously accept compliments, applause and possible marriage proposals. Enjoy.