Beautiful thick pancakes with yogurt and flaxseed to stick with you all morning (or evening if you have them for dinner like we do!).
Most of my weekday evenings go something like this: I walk over to the daycare to pick up the boys after I finish work. When they spot me, they shout ‘Mommy!’ and rush to greet me with hugs and kisses filled with an unbridled enthusiasm that melts my heart every time. Then comes the inevitable question that makes me cringe…”So what’s for dinner?” I cringe because I know that almost anything I say will be met with disappointment, and of course, plenty of whining. I’m used to it; this blog wouldn’t be called Food and Whine otherwise. Still, sometimes I do like to have a simple answer to this question that evokes something besides dread and disgust. What I’ve come up with is to occasionally leave it up to Cole to answer his own question. “It’s your choice today,” I’ll tell him. Once he stops jumping up and down and shouting with glee, he’ll usually decide on pancakes. He might mix it up and say spaghetti, but most often it’s pancakes he wants. His answer is so predictable that I actually plan for it on my weekly menu. I make sure I always have ingredients on hand for either pancakes or spaghetti. If he ever decides on something different I’m screwed, but until then I’m happy to prepare him the meal of his choice. Pancakes happen to be one of my favourite foods too, so I really don’t mind. It gives me a chance to experiment with new varieties, like these yogurt pancakes. I used Yoplait strawberry yogurt the first time we made them and I was very impressed. I like a nice thick pancake with substance and these definitely fit that description. Look how lovely and puffy they are on the griddle:
If you like a thinner, lighter pancake, feel free to add more milk. The boys loved them too, so I’ve made them a few times since then with some variations. One time Cole suggested crumbling up one of my Maple Pecan Granola Bars into the batter. He comes up with crazy ideas like this sometimes and I think it’s wonderful how creative he’s become in the kitchen at such a young age. Anyway, we tried the granola bar idea and it was amazing! It gave the pancakes great texture and flavour. The next time I tried pecans, mashed banana, and plain yogurt with a little honey. That was good too, but Cole wasn’t too thrilled about the pecans. I guess according to him they only taste good with they’re inside a granola bar.
I hope you enjoy these pancakes and please have fun experimenting with your own crazy ideas.
Yogurt Pancakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1/2 cup yogurt, any kind
1 cup (or more) milk
1 egg
In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder and flax. In a 2-cup measuring cup, scoop in 1/2 cup of yogurt. Pour milk into measuring cup until it reaches the 1 1/2 cup mark (or 1 3/4 mark for a less dense pancake). Add egg and whisk into the milk and yogurt with a fork. Pour it into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Batter will be thick. Cook on a hot non-stick or greased griddle until batter begins to bubble, then flip and cook until the bottom is golden. Serve with syrup or fruit sauce.