In every relationship, there inevitably is that one early thing that you disagree on.
Ours was pancakes.
Mike, he’ll eat them any and every day of the week for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. Me, I love me my sweets but even at brunch, give me noodles or a hunk of red meat and eggs over pretty pancakes anytime.
You learn to compromise, of course. And so over the last eight years, Marion Cunningham and I have become well-acquainted.
In my little kitchen, I’ve worked hard to channel the doyenne of quintessential American breakfasts, putting her fluffy buttermilk pancakes on the table more times than I can count. Ditto for Swedish cardamom pancakes, lemon ricotta, blueberry, orange blossom water-walnut … sometimes, even for dinner.
Yes, people do change. I do have one requirement, though — that we try to be healthy once in a while.
I’m not talking about signing up for spinning or running five miles — let’s not talk crazy here. I mean having pancakes that aren’t just blobs of flour, milk, eggs and scads of syrupy goodness designed to go straight to our thighs and move in for a while.
Oats and wheat germ, they, too, can be our friends.
It’s just
too bad these friends sometimes end up giving pancakes a taste and
consistency that’s a little like flapjacks a la wall insulation.
And
so I keep scouring cookbooks and Web sites, looking for that tasty,
super-healthy pancake recipe. This weekend, I found another that wasn’t
terribly like wall insulation — a big endorsement, I know. But with a healthy dose of spices — cardamom, cinnamon, pick your poison — the flavor is all there.
There’s
always a silence when I first set “healthy” pancakes down on our table.
Mike knows they’re good for him — but he also worships Marion’s
buttermilk pancakes more than Jessica Simpson worships self-tanner.
But these, they’re not bad. As wall insulation goes, we’d give it an 8.
Somewhat Healthy Pancakes
Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon of spice (cinnamon, cardamom or a combination of cloves, nutmeg, ginger — cook’s choice.)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
Additional vegetable oil (or melted butter) for the skillet
Directions
In a large bowl, mix flour, oats, wheat germ, baking powder, brown sugar and spices. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix milk, vanilla, beaten egg and oil. Stir the milk mixture into the flour mixture and mix well. (You can thin the batter to the consistency you’d like by adding more milk by the tablespoonful.)
Lightly brush a heated skillet with vegetable oil (or melted butter, if you’re feeling decadent) and scoop scant 1/4-cup amounts of batter onto the skillet. Cook over medium-heat for about 1 to 1.5 minutes before flipping over and cooking for about a minute longer.
Serve with syrup and fruit, if desired.
