Doubtless, like me, many of you will be contemplating pancakes tomorrow to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. Last year I gave you my traditional (if re-vamped) version of a sweet pancake all the better for filling with winter fruits (see Wholemeal Pancakes with Winter Fruits in the Green Recipe section).
This year I am enticing you with some American Style Blueberry Pancakes. These are neat and small pancakes just about palm-sized that are served with an orange and blueberry sauce. They are a great way to get children cooking with supervision and a fabulous way of getting youngsters to eat more nutritious eggs.
I use FryLight instead of oil, butter or margarine to reduce the fat content. The Better Than Butter variation is undoubtedly the best for this recipe but the Sunflower Oil variation is also very good. In my bariatric version I use Splenda sweetener but you could also use honey instead if tolerated.
AMERICAN STYLE BLUEBERRY PANCAKES
Ingredients
Metric/US
125g plain flour/generous 1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp Splenda granulated sweetener
2 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
150 ml/2/3 cup semi-skimmed milk
200g/7 oz blueberries
grated zest and juice of 1 orange
2 tbsp runny honey or 1 tbsp Splenda granulated sweetener
FryLight Better Than Butter or Sunflower Oil low-fat spray
Method
1. To make the batter, mix the flour with the baking powder, sweetener, egg yolks, vanilla and milk in a bowl and beat to make a thick, smooth batter. Whisk the egg whites until stiff then fold into the batter with 75 g/3oz of the blueberries. Set aside.
2. To make the topping, place the orange zest, orange juice and honey or sweetener in a small pan and cook until slightly syrupy and reduced. Add the remaining blueberries and cook for 3-4 minutes until they release some juice and just begin to soften. Remove from the heat.
3. To cook the pancakes, warm a large flat, non-stick frying pan. Spray a few times with the Fry Light spray then drop 4-5 tablespoons of the mixture into the pan, spacing evenly. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes until the underside is golden brown and set. Turn the pancakes over and cook on the other side until golden. Remove and keep warm. Re-spray the pan again and cook the remaining mixture in the same way to make a total of about 12 small pancakes.
4. Serve the pancakes with the blueberry sauce drizzled over.
MAKES 12
WLS PORTION: 1-2
V suitable for vegetarians
CALORIES (per pancake): 77
PROTEIN: 3g
CARBOHYDRATE: 12.7g
FAT: 1.6g
Image courtesy of Fry Light
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