When the weather gets cold outside, I love making pancakes on weekend mornings. I love hearty pancakes that are full of whole grains and healthy ingredients. I have recently been experimenting with avocado and how to add this healthy ingredient to baked goods, which can be tricky. If you prefer pancakes that are less heavy, add more milk to make the batter thinner. These pancakes are even good cold as a snack later in the day or the following day. Do you prefer waffles? Make this recipe into waffles instead!
According to Allison Topilow, MS, RD, CDN, Nutrition Consultant, you can enjoy these delicious pancakes while getting great nutrition! Whole grains, fruit, protein, and healthful fats are all included in this recipe. You even get some omega 3 fatty acids from the ground flaxseed.
Kid Friendly Tip: Have your child mash the banana and avocado in a bowl with a fork. Get your child involved by letting him measure and mix all of the ingredients together. When adding the spices, ask your child to close her eyes and smell the spices. See if she can guess what the spice is! Your child can also pick the topping for the pancakes (jam, syrup, apple butter).
Language Concepts: When making this recipe, discuss what ingredients make these pancakes healthy. Your child can explore the ground flaxseed, oats and avocado. Discuss the different textures and colors of the ingredients. Focus on sequencing (e.g., focus on the steps of making the pancakes), problem solving (discuss what might happen if you were missing an ingredient), expanding vocabulary and answering “wh” questions. Have your child recall information by asking him to tell you how you made the pancakes when you are all finished.
Picture Book Recommendations: Pancakes for Breakfast, The Monkey Balloon, Curious George Makes Pancakes
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground all spice
1 cup low fat milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons avocado oil (can be replaced by canola, vegetable or coconut oil)
2 tablespoons of mashed avocado
1/4 teaspoon applesauce
1 mashed ripe banana
1 teaspoon each of vanilla and maple extracts (maple extract optional)
Preparation:
- Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and whisk together.
- Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl (milk through banana).
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix in extracts.
- Pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto a non stick pan on medium heat (for each pancake). Cook, turning once until golden brown on both sides.
Makes about 8 pancakes.
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Becca Eisenberg is a certified speech language pathologist and mom of two.Through her own personal challenges at mealtime with her two young children she ventured on creating a website to help parents facilitate language and make mealtime fun. Her website gravitybread.com focuses on facilitating and encouraging language with fun and easy recipes, educational books and recommended toys and apps.
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