Pancakes are so easy but they can make an ordinary day feel kind of special. These pancakes are thick and fluffy and have just 10 mg of sodium each. I love these with just plain old maple syrup or honey but for a little extra flavor, try infusing your maple syrup with a little ginger.
Servings: Makes seven 4-inch pancakes Sodium: 10 mg sodium each Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
1 cup (120 grams) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon Hain's featherweight baking powder*
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil (canola or vegetable)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup water (or 3/4 cup milk, although this will increase the sodium)
* If you're using Ener-G sodium free baking powder, use 2 tablespoons.
**You can substitute 1/4 cup plain greek yogurt for the 2 tablespoons of oil
Optional ginger infused maple syrup:
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced thin
1 tablespoon hot water
1) If you're making the ginger infused maple syrup, do that first so it has a little time to sit. Combine the maple syrup, ginger, and hot water in a small heat proof bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then microwave again for another 30 seconds. The syrup should be hot enough that you need oven mitts to hold the bowl. If it's not, microwave for another 30 seconds. Let sit until the pancakes are done. Scoop out the ginger just before serving.
2) In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and sugar and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, egg, vanilla and water (or milk). Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined--don't over mix the batter. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
3) Heat a nonstick pan or griddle on medium heat and add a thin layer of oil or butter. Spoon 1/4 cup of batter per pancake and cook for about 2-3 minutes, and then flip and cook for another minute. Cooking times will vary so keep an eye on the pancakes as you go. You can usually tell the pancakes are ready to flip when you start to see little bubbles in the batter. Turn the heat up or down if the pancakes are browning too fast/slow. Serve hot and enjoy!
TIPS/NOTES:
-This recipe can easily be doubled. Any more than that and I recommend making a separate batch.
-These pancakes are thick and fluffy. If you like your pancakes a little thinner, add an additional 1-4 tablespoons of water or milk.
-I like these with water or milk, but if you can tolerate more sodium, go with whole or low-fat milk for a richer pancake. You'll get about 8 pancakes using milk. You can also use melted butter in place of the oil, but there isn't a very significant taste in flavor there. Cooking the pancakes in a little bit of butter (or an oil/butter combination) will give you the best butter flavor.
-For another variation, try making these with 3/4 cup whole fat coconut milk (instead of the water) and 1/4 cup toasted black sesame seeds! Just use the coconut milk in place of water, and add the sesame seeds to the batter after it's been mixed, but before resting. They'll cook up the same, and have a very subtle coconut-sesame flavor that will pair really well with the ginger-infused maple syrup.
-Make happy face or heart shaped pancakes and your kids will think you're a magician. But be careful here, once you start making special shaped pancakes, it's hard to go back to plain old round ones. Here's a video on how to do this.