Friday 11 January 2013

Variations on a pancake


I tweeted about these pancakes back in October last year, but have only just got around to finishing the blog - life somehow got in the way.

We often enjoy pancakes as a family, and have been using the same recipe for dairy-free pancakes for ages now.  They go very well with bacon, or with maple syrup and banana and the recipe works every time.

I've been trying some recipes from my most recent Weightwatchers cook book, and when I noticed there were not one, but two pancake recipes in it I knew I would try them out sooner or later.


Recipe 1: Apple Drop Scones

We had a bowl full of apples that we were struggling to eat, the first one I tried was this recipe for apple drop scones.   I adapted the recipe to make it dairy-free and I thought the results were pretty good.  The kids, however, were not so sure.  They didn't like the bits, and only ate them after taking out the raisins and the apple pieces.  (in fact, they were so against the bits that even several months later whenever I make pancakes they say "without bits mummmy" in a slightly anxious voice)



Ingredients

100g self -raising flour
50g muesli (I used sugar-free Alpen)
1 eating apple - peeled, cored and finely chopped
25g golden caster sugar
1 large egg
150 ml soya milk (sweetened)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I used oil spray)


Method

Mix the flour, muesli, sugar and apple together.  Beat the egg in the milk, then add to the dry ingredients and beat well
Leave to stand for 15 minutes
Heat a large frying pan with some oil spray
Put tablespoons of the mixture into the pan (as you can see, I could cook 5 at a time in my pan)
When bubbles form on the surface turn them over

The original recipe suggests serving these with low fat spread and jam, but we had them with maple syrup, which I can heartily recommend.

Makes approximately 18 pancakes.  Propoints value: 3 for 2 pancakes with 1 tsp maple syrup

Recipe 2: Maple griddle cakes with apple 'jam'

A few days later we still had loads of apples left, so I thought I'd try again. This time I adapted a recipe for 'Griddle cakes with banana jam'  My version is almost unrecognisable, being made with maple syrup and soya milk and with apple puree instead of banana jam.  The 5-yr-old loved the 'apple jam' and ate several pancakes without any maple syrup at all - a first for him.  And it has the added bonus of legitimately being one of your 5-a-day.

Ingredients - Pancakes

100g self-raising flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon maple syrup
150 ml soya milk (sweetened)
vegetable oil spray

Ingredients - apple jam

3 eating apples
1 tbsp caster sugar
pinch cinnamon
1 tbsp water

Method

Mix all the pancake ingredients together to make a smooth batter
Leave to stand for 10 minutes

Peel, core and chop the apples
Cook them in a covered pan with the cinnamon, water & sugar until cooked.  Mash gently with a fork to form a coarse puree


Put tablespoons of the mixture into the pan 
When bubbles form on the surface turn them over
They are done when they are set and golden brown on each side
Serve with the apple jam

Makes approx 16 pancakes.  1 propoint per pancake (with apple jam)

Recipe Evolution

Both these recipes were inspired by recipes found in this Weightwatchers cook book, which can be bought on Amazon: