The children jump out of bed, run to the kitchen and immediately ask for breakfast. Pancakes are the kids’ favorite breakfast but just plain, Bisquick or Krusteaz pancakes don’t offer healthy ingredients like those that can be added if a pancake made from scratch recipe was used. Making pancakes from scratch can be fun for the kids while teaching them about healthy ingredients.
A simple, basic recipe for pancakes made from scratch is:
- Crack two eggs in a bowl.
- Mix in ¼ cup of oil (vegetable oil or olive oil).
- Add about 1 ½ cups of apple sauce.
- Pour in 2 cups of flour (spelt flour, white flour, wheat flour or a combination of two)
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon of nutmeg
- and 1 ½ cups of milk.
- Mix all together until smooth
To make even healthier pancakes, almond granola can be added to the eggs and oil mixture before adding the flour. This gives the pancakes some protein and a much more wholesome texture. Bear Naked (Bearnaked.com) makes granola that is all natural. There are also several recipes to make your own Almond granola.
Preheat a frying pan on medium heat with olive oil. Drop ½ to 1 cup of batter at a time in the frying pan. When the batter begins to form holes flip the pancake over. When the center is completely cooked remove and enjoy your applesauce, granola pancake.
Pure maple syrup is a nice addition to a healthy pancake. USDA Grade A or B syrup is much healthier because it is the real thing. Regular pancake syrup is just an imitation of 100% pure maple syrup. Grade A Maple syrup is taken from the trees first thing in the season and is lighter and milder in flavor. Grade B syrup is thicker and has a stronger maple flavor. Most grocery stores carry 100% pure maple syrup or it can even be found online at amazon.com.
Letting kids be a part of mixing pancakes, measuring with the measuring cups and pouring in the ingredients is a great way to teach them measuring skills. Children can crack the eggs into a separate bowl and pour them into the mixing bowl. Measuring the flour, milk, oil and spices can be a great opportunity to teach children about units of measurement.
Teaching kids how to measure accurately helps them learn the importance of following directions. For example, too much milk will make the pancakes so runny that they won’t cook like pancakes are supposed to. Kids love to be a part of the breakfast making production. After the cooking and math lesson the kids get to enjoy healthy pancakes made from scratch.
