
We've been watching speed skaters stuffed into their shiny full-body leotard skins like sausages. And with a gorgeously buffed out Michelle Kwan absent from the rink, the itty bitty teeny tiny figure skaters together weigh all of 175 pounds. It's enough to give someone a little bit of a complex.
So what do we do about this feeling of over-adequacy in the thigh area? We eat a breakfast of champions! We already know that the experts always say that we should always eat breakfast if we are going through a "lifestyle change" (I try not to use the D word). A Bloody Mary doesn't count, so fat-free yogurt with fresh fruit might seem the most natural choice, but it's winter. It's cold. Pancakes sound so much better.
To make it a little less, well, harmful to our future fit selves, use whole wheat flour, and load the pancakes with fiber and potassium in the form of bananas.
Hey, and if you drown your pancakes with maple syrup, I'll just pretend I didn't see. Besides, pancakes are better than...a doughnut.
Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
In a large bowl, sift together 1 c. whole wheat flour, ½ c. all-pupose flour, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, 1½ tsp. baking powder, and ½ tsp salt.
In a separate bowl, whisk together 1½ c. milk, 3 Tbsp. melted butter, 2 large eggs, and ½ tsp. vanilla.
Pour the milk/egg mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Ladle about ¼ to ½ c. of pancake batter onto a frying pan or griddle that has been lightly greased. Place thinly sliced bananas** on top of the pancake batter in the pan. Let pancake cook until the edges are dry and small air holes have popped up all over the surface, about 1½ minutes. Lift the edge of the pancake to check for golden brown-ness underneath. Turn the pancake over and cook for another 30 seconds until cooked through.
Repeat until all your pancakes are made.
**Obviously, you could be using any sort of fruit here.

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2-23-2006 @1:01PM SM said... Although my recipe is slightly different in proportions, I've started breaking the flour requirement into quarters; I've added 1/4 unbleached flour, 1/4 whole wheat, 1/4 flax meal, and 1/4 wheat bran. Adding fruit works too. It's a long-lasting filler (yet not overbearing); I'll never go back to the plain white pancake!
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2-23-2006 @1:04PM sarah said... oh! even better with the flax meal and the wheat bran! does it make you pancakes sort of dense, though?
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2-23-2006 @1:07PM SM said... Actually, no... well, sort of, but they're not lead. They fluff well in the pan.
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2-23-2006 @2:22PM geoff said... I use the same recipe (well almost) and after putting the bananas on top, I immediately dust the top of the banana with a cinnamon/sugar mixture ( I do mean dust... it doesn't take much) before turning over. The end result is a slightly carmelized banana, which is wonderful, even if the griddle gets a little messy with the extra sugar. I think it's worth it.
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2-23-2006 @4:11PM twolf1 said... If you add chocolate chips, are they still good for you? ;)
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2-27-2006 @1:45PM diaphinia said... We did the multigrain riff above and added some chopped pistachios, cardamom and cinnamon. You could make these in a restaurant and get LOTS of money for them. So good, and they were plenty fluffy with fantastic texture. EXCELLENT recipe!
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