Whole Wheat Applesauce Cinnamon Quinoa Pancakes

It's really hard to believe after a couple years of making pancakes from scratch, that I used to always buy the mix.  Plain, old, white pancake mix.  Buttermilk if I was feeling fancy.  Heaven forbid I wouldn't have any mix on hand on a Saturday morning...no pancakes for us!

But now, every Saturday I make my favorite  "Fluffy, Filling, Whole Wheat Pancakes"
My kids love them with syrup or warm sliced strawberries or bananas, and I enjoy them with apricot jam.  Lately though, I've been trying to experiment with Quinoa, other than as a side dish or as a salad. I did a Google search for "Quinoa Pancakes" and I found this "Whole Wheat Banana Quinoa Pancakes" recipe by Monique of Ambitious Kitchen.

I didn't have bananas on hand, since I have a houseful of monkeys that go through a bunch in about a day.  So, I tweaked Monique's recipe a bit and this is what I came up with.

Whole Wheat Applesauce Cinnamon Quinoa Pancakes
1 cup cooked quinoa
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup applesauce

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together quinoa, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla, applesauce, melted butter, and honey until smooth. Add wet mixture to flour mixture and combine.  If batter is too thick simply add a bit more milk; if it's too thin add more flour.
2. Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with butter or cooking spray and heat over medium. Drop batter by 1/4 cup onto skillet. I use an ice cream scoop!  Cook until bubbles appear on top, about 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more melted butter and remaining batter.

Makes about 10 pancakes.

You can see the quinoa texture to these pancakes - but they still hold together like a fluffy wheat flour pancake.

We had these for supper the other night and I made it a treat for my girls with whipping cream, sliced strawberries, and chocolate sauce.  A bit of a splurge to balance out all that healthiness!  I really enjoyed mine with some plain yogurt & sliced strawberries.  So good!  The girls weren't fooled by the quinoa...you can definitely taste it and the texture is slightly different but nothing shocking.  Just like cornmeal pancakes have a different texture as well.  My eldest said they tasted "nutty" and my middle said they tasted "healthy".  My youngest didn't say much, but she didn't eat all of hers either.  However, they are VERY filling!  Before I started making whole wheat pancakes my kids would go through four.  Now they usually eat two.  They were full after only one quinoa pancake.  I'm sure the mountain of whipped cream had a lot to do with that though.

I'm hungry thinking about this now...good thing I have a few saved in the fridge...I think I'm going to have a snack!

"It's So Good You Don't Need to Put Butter On It" Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I've been absent from blogging after attending two 3-day conferences back to back - the first was on hearing loss (effective communication, learning & advocacy for my four year old) and the second was our denomination's annual Pastor's Conference.  All my good intentions for an "Everyday Active" have gone out the window this last week.  Regular exercise takes some serious commitment!!!  I admire those of you who don't let travel or change in schedule throw you off your routine.  **applause**

If talking about regular exercise is making uncomfortable thoughts rise up within you, here's something to soothe your pain....what's more comforting that warm, fresh, homemade banana bread straight out of the oven?  When we returned home from our Pastor's Conference we had about one hour before our house would be filled with a pile of young adults who we mentor weekly. And they are generally hungry.  Starving, even.  Some of them exist on pizza pops and "frozen whatever".  I must admit, it felt "back to my wonderful normal" to put my apron on and quickly make up something yummy and healthy  to feed people I love.

"It's So Good You Don't Need to Put Butter On It" Whole Wheat Banana Bread
 ½ cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups mashed very ripe banana (3-4 medium to large bananas)
¼ cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or dried cranberries if desired..I had neither on hand, but it turned out fine without.

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
- Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth.
- Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and nuts, stirring until smooth. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and let it rest at room temperature, uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Bake the bread for 40 minutes or until outside starts getting dark. Lay a piece of foil gently across the top and bake until a cake tester (like a toothpick) inserted into the center comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes more.
- Remove the bread from the oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes before turning it out of the pan onto a rack to cool completely.

This recipe that I found on a website called Breadtopia turned out fabulous!  I always struggled with burning the outside of my banana bread in order to get the inside cooked through.  I had never been told to simply cover with foil.  Duuuuuuhhhh.  I was patient and made sure to let it cool enough before slicing and it didn't crumble into a million pieces.  The entire loaf was gone in about 5 minutes and got rave reviews from even the pickiest eaters of our young adults group.  One of them was shocked that something with whole wheat actually tasted good and another said, "It's so good you don't even need to put butter on it!"  (Hence the name....)

So, if you still aren't convinced that whole wheat baked goods can be as moist and fluffy as those made with white flour I dare you to try this recipe.  And if you really need help making the switch from white to whole wheat, simply STOP BUYING WHITE FLOUR at the grocery store.  It's amazing how quickly you'll start loving baking with whole wheat.