Guilt-Free Friday: Pancakes

So I was craving pancakes Sunday morning.  I was lying in bed thinking about the days when I wasn’t aware of what carbs and gluten were doing to my body and I’d hop out of bed and whip up a batch and enjoy them with my fake syrup and then lay around feeling happily bloated all morning (happily only because it tasted sooooo goooood…).  Ah, those were the good ol’ days… Okay not really.  I’m really okay avoiding all that stuff, and honestly it’s been a very fun challenge finding alternatives like pizza and pasta!  I can honestly say I don’t miss any of that stuff.

It’s been really rewarding, too, because THREE TIMES in ONE DAY I got comments from people that I’m “looking good” or “losing weight”.  I got all excited when I heard this, thanked them graciously, and said I’m really happy to hear that because I haven’t really been doing anything, so I had no clue if I was or not!  I haven’t been on a scale in several weeks either so I have no clue what my progress has been…  But I got to thinking – “I haven’t been doing anything” was an honest statement, but not all together true… I HAVE been doing something, it’s just become easy and second nature now that I don’t FEEL like I’m doing anything.  Yay!  That’s a huge breakthrough!

No way was I going to ruin my progress by making the old school pancakes!  So off to the wonderful worldwide web I went in search of a paleo pancake recipe, hopefully calling for ingredients I had on hand.  All from the comfort of my bed (what was I doing before my smart phone came into my life?).  I found the perfect recipe on a blog called Paleo Table.

My good friend came over with her kids as I was making these.  We planned to make homemade Kahlua after the pancakes, and the pancakes were definitely a wonderful precursor to our mission (which, by the way, the kahlua turned out AWESOME, but it’s not exactly good for you so I won’t be sharing that recipe here, as it’s a bit out of the scope of this blog… but I’d happily admit it’s good for the soul!).  She said they were the best she’d ever eaten!  I had to agree… All three of our kiddos scarfed them down along with us!

They were even better with melted butter and maple syrup… mmmmmm…

They look mouth-watering and delicious even with the crappy quality of the photo I took with my phone!

Which brings me to a quick little spiel about butter and syrup.  With either of those, I’m talking about the real thing.  I’ll start with butter.  The alternative that most everyone uses is margarine, which is basically just processed chemicals and vegetable oil made to resemble butter but with less saturated fat and cholesterol (so it’s healthy for your heart, supposedly).  Unfortunately the stick margarine has trans-fats, which are really really bad for you (in a nutshell, consuming trans-fatty acids can lead to deformed cellular membranes, which can increase cancer risks, promote inflammation, and speed up degeneration in tissues).  Butter, however, is a natural product – its fatty acids are similar to our bodies’ fatty acids, so it's easier for our digestive systems to figure out what to do with it.  It’s higher in saturated fat and cholesterol, though, which is why margarine has been more attractive to people.  But, what we don’t realize is that even though the oils that go into margarine are unsaturated, they become more saturated as they’re processed to turn into a harder spread.  Even though margarine doesn’t contain cholesterol, it still stimulates your body to make cholesterol when you eat it, so it’s really not as “heart healthy” as it comes off!

This information was taken from an article written by Dr. Andrew Weil, if you’d like to read more – it gives you a history of margarine and how it originated (kind of disgusting, I’m glad it’s come along as far as it has!) and a bit of a chemistry lesson on each product.  Ultimately, if you have to choose between one or the other, he suggests going with the real thing – butter.  And I agree.  It makes more sense.  But I also agree that it should be consumed in moderation.  It may be the natural choice, but that doesn’t make it entirely healthy… just a lot less detrimental to your health overall than margarine!

Maple syrup, however, has some big differences between real and fake.  Here are the ingredients in Aunt Jemima’s syrup: CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, WATER, CELLULOSE GUM, CARAMEL COLOR, SALT, SODIUM BENZOATE AND SORBIC ACID (PRESERVATIVES), ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL FLAVORS, SODIUM HEXAMETAPHOSPHATE.  Here are the ingredients in organic, grade B maple syrup: ORGANIC MAPLE SYRUP.  Hmmm…. Which would you rather consume?  If you’re still undecided, how about we look at the nutrition facts?  Aunt Jemima: ¼ cup contains 120 mg of sodium, 52 mg of carbohydrates (32 mg of which are [refined] sugar), aaaannnndddd that’s it.  The real stuff?  The only thing that’s the same is the carbohydrates, except the sugar isn’t refined, otherwise it contains the minerals calcium, potassium, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, and iron; the vitamins B2, B5, B6, niacin, biotin, and folic acid; and it also contains amino acids which are building blocks of proteins.

Need I say more?

Now go stock your fridge and pantry with REAL food, not stuff that’s been chemically altered to resemble food, and enjoy the health benefits!

And now for that recipe!

Ingredients
Dry
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 packet Stevia
Wet
3 large eggs, room temperature*
4-5 Tbsp full-fat coconut milk (I used almond milk as that’s all I had on hand)
2 Tbsp raw honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (again with the REAL thing!  Why eat “imitation” vanilla?  Imposter!  Do your body a favor and consume things it can recognize!)

*You can quickly bring whole eggs to room temperature by setting them in a bowl of very warm tap water for about 5 minutes.

Preparation

1. Sift dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, forming a well in the center with a spoon.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, 4 Tbsp milk, honey, and vanilla.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon. If the batter is dry, add 1 Tbsp coconut milk.
4. Let batter sit for 5 minutes.
5. Coat cooking surface with coconut oil.
6. Set griddle to 300 degrees or warm skillet over medium heat.
7. Scoop 1 Tbsp of batter onto prepared griddle. Repeat to make small pancakes.
8. Cook 2 minutes on first side or until bubbles start forming around the edges. 
9. Flip and cook 1 minute on second side or until center is cooked through.
10. Keep cooked pancakes warm in a low oven (170 degrees F).
11. Garnish with honey, pastured butter, fresh fruit, or raw maple syrup.  Enjoy!

By the way, these freeze really well, so I recommend going ahead and making a double batch - you'll be glad you did on those mornings you're feeling rushed and need something quick to pop in the toaster and take with you on the go!