These Pancakes Stack Up for a Low-Fat, High-Fiber Breakfast
If somebody asked you to make a list of healthy breakfast foods, you might not think to include pancakes, because, like most of us, you probably picture a big stack of flapjacks, dripping with melted butter and syrup, surrounded by sausage, bacon and a couple of fried eggs.
And, delicious as that may look and sound, it probably should be served with a gift certificate for an angioplasty.
But fear not, with some imagination, pancakes, even those made with pancake mixes, can still be incorporated into a healthy diet. Using a mix can certainly save a little time, and mixes are usually low in fat, although they may contain partially hydrogenated oils and whole milk solids. However, most mixes are also low in fiber and relatively high in sodium.
If you don’t want to venture out on your own, look for mixes that are made from whole grains and have reduced sodium levels. But if you like pancakes and want to take control of what you and your family eat, try starting from scratch. Here’s a recipe we printed for Wellness Pancakes in the February 1998 issue of our Wellness Letter.
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WELLNESS PANCAKES
1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour or a combination of white and whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 egg whites
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup low-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Put everything in a bowl and stir, but don’t over-mix. If necessary, thin the batter with a little more skim milk. You can also substitute 1 cup of buttermilk (which, despite its name, is low in fat) for the skim milk and yogurt. Buttermilk adds a nice flavor and helps the pancakes rise.
(If you don’t want to buy fresh buttermilk, a powder on the market works just as well. Use 1/4 cup of buttermilk powder plus 1 cup of water for each cup of fresh buttermilk needed.)
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This recipe makes four servings of three pancakes; and each serving has about 245 calories (15% from fat) and only 275 milligrams of sodium. If you use whole grain flour, you also get seven grams of fiber, compared with one gram if you use white flour.
Another way to add fiber and a little crunch to pancakes is to mix in such extras as instant oatmeal, wheat germ, oat bran, grated apples, dried fruits, fresh (or defrosted, frozen) blueberries or other seasonal fruits. Canned pumpkin or pureed bananas also add flavor and important nutrients like beta carotene and potassium.
Cooking pancakes on a nonstick pan or griddle coated with a very small amount of oil also keeps the fat content down, compared with cooking them in butter or margarine. Use a paper towel to rub the surface of the pan with about a half-tablespoon of oil or use a nonstick cooking spray. Using too much oil causes pancakes to brown unevenly and will make the edges crisp. Once you’ve oiled your nonstick griddle, it usually isn’t necessary to do it again for the same batch of pancakes.
Topping your pancakes is another way to be creative and cut down on fat and calories. One tablespoon of butter adds 100 calories and almost 12 grams of fat (mostly saturated), and two tablespoons of regular syrup add about 120 calories. So-called “lite” syrups have fewer calories because they have usually been diluted with water.
The best way to squeeze the fat and calories out and put the nutrients and flavor in is to make a simple sauce out of fresh fruit. Berries work especially well, but you can do this with almost any fruit. The bonus is that a cup of fresh blueberries, for example, contains about a third of the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamin C.
Cook the fruit in some water or apple juice, just until it is soft, and, if necessary, sweeten with a little “lite” syrup or brown sugar. To thicken the sauce, add a little cornstarch mixed with water. Another great idea is to heat up some applesauce, mixed with a little cinnamon, to top your pancakes..
In case you make more pancakes than you can consume at one meal, they can be frozen. Just let them cool, put them, separated with waxed paper or plastic wrap, in a freezer-proof container. They will keep for up to three months. When you’re ready to use them, just bake in a 325-degree oven on a cookie sheet for about eight minutes. The toaster oven works just as well. They can also be microwaved on high for 10 to 30 seconds. Just be careful not to over-nuke them or you’ll end up with pancake paperweights.
Remember that breakfast fuels you up after a long night without food, and gives you the energy to make it until lunch or dinner. One of the reasons it is such an important meal (and not only for children) is that it can be a time to concentrate some of the nutrients you need every day. There probably isn’t an easier time during the day to incorporate fruit and whole grains, low-fat sources of calcium and fiber, even if you’re on the run.
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Dr. Sheldon Margen is professor of public health at UC Berkeley; Dale A. Ogar is managing editor of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. They are the authors of several books, including “The Wellness Encyclopedia of Food and Nutrition.”
