My favorite thing to eat for breakfast is a homemade, fresh of the griddle pancake. I don’t particularly like the ones at restaurants and hotels. In my opinion, they probably have a lot of butter or oil that make them taste very rich and leaves me with an overstuffed belly.
I try to make my pancakes as healthy as possible, by adding fat free milk and frying with Pam (vegetable spray). Here are recipes for three versions of pancakes that I make at home. These are great for breakfast, lunch, snack or dessert.
American – These are classic American, fluffy and thick pancakes. Use low-fat Bisquick to make the job easier and serve them with low-calorie maple syrup. Take it a step further by using whole wheat flour (instead of white) and serve the pancakes with lots of fruits and berries.
Another twist is adding mashed bananas or a cup of fresh blueberries into the pancake batter. It takes your ordinary pancake to “gourmet” and everyone loves it.
Swedish – Prepared almost the same way, but much thinner and lighter. Swedish pancakes look almost like mini crepes but are soft and have a slight saltiness to their taste. Stack up 3-4 pancakes and serve on a warm plate. These savory pancakes can also be served for lunch. I use the Lund’s mix, but a runny pancake batter would do too.
Hungarian – When I first tasted Hungarian pancakes (Palacsinta) served in a rich creamy sauce as dessert in Budapest, I felt like I died and went to heaven! Once I returned home to the US, I recreated this recipe with my own inspiration. The pancakes themselves are extremely thin, thinner than a crepe, so you need to make 8-10 for each serving. Add a teaspoon of Nutella and sprinkle poppy seeds between each layer. Finally, top it all with a Bourbon sauce. I have to warn you this dish is far from health but worth every calorie!
