Alternative Pancakes

It's nearly Pancake (aka Shrove) Tuesday, and with all the pancake related items cramming shelves everywhere, it was inevitable that I would begin to crave them at some point or another.
Thing is, I didn't want just any pancake, I wanted a properly thick, crumpet like one, and with all that butter and sugar, it was inevitably a no-no in my mind.

Determined, I ended up scouring the internet, and found various 'alternatives', one of which used only four basic ingredients - flour, baking soda, egg, and most importantly of all, Greek Yogurt.

Now, I knew it wasn't going to be the same as traditional, sugary, buttermilk pancakes, but it was worth a shot to silence these cravings! I changed the recipe slightly to suit me, and after waking up early today to go fetch those blasted ingredients, I finally got round to eating them for lunch. (I spend far, faaaaaar too long in food shops, it takes me like an hour to choose cereal, let alone multiple ingredients!)

Recipe - "Alternative Pancakes"
(Original credit goes to here where I got the original before I altered it)

Makes: 4 pancakes

Portion size: 2 pancakes per person
Calories per portion: 170 (depending on brands of yogurt, etc)











Ingredients:
1 egg white
1tsp baking soda
roughly 60g plain flour
roughly 150g Greek Yogurt (I used Total 0% fat which is healthier, but you can use any)
Fruit of choice (I used raspberries and blueberries)

Optional:
Vanilla extract
Sweetener (not really necessary but like I said, I have a sweet tooth!)

Method:

- Mix the greek yogurt with the egg white, then add the flour and baking soda, (plus vanilla extract/sweetener if using).
- Heat your pan up. (I used one of those 'one-spray' Flora cans to stop the pancakes sticking)
- Add around 2 spoons of mixture to the pan. Don't worry if it doesn't look that much, the baking powder kicks in and makes them rise quite a bit!
- I highly recommend fruit or it'll be a tad too bland, so pop them on top of the uncooked side straight away, pressing them slightly in with your finger.
- Cook for about 30 to 60 seconds on a medium heat, or until the mixture starts to bubble slightly. Make sure you don't leave them there for too long or they'll burn and taste nasty! (I did this with one)
- Flip the pancake over once the side is cooked (aka holds together) enough to do so, and repeat with the other side.
- Continue flipping until cooked.
- Repeat for the final three pancakes, and enjoy!

My Opinion:

Okay, visual wise, (ignoring my burnt one), these don't look too different to normal thick-style pancakes. They have a much softer consistency, and although they hold together fine, you can break them apart with a fork quite easily (yay for me, less washing up!). Again, the texture is soft but firm in the mouth, and although I like this, other people may want to use oats or wholegrain flour in the mix for more chew.

Moving onto flavours - now, the way these were cooked, the berries all exploded into my mix, so it tasted pretty good. I think I could've done with more vanilla extract or sweetener in the yogurt though. Without the fruit it would taste pretty bland, but I easily polished off my two and had to prevent myself from eating the rest - not because they weren't filling (which they were), but because they were moreish!

NB - I popped the other two in the fridge for tomorrow's breakfast, keep an eye out for my edit as I'll say whether they are reheatable / toastable the next day or not! :]
UPDATE: Tried them this morning, one cold and one warmed in the microwave. The cold one didn't really do much, but the heated one was yummy!

Verdict: 6.5 out of 10
These are nowhere near as good as the real thing, but they still do a pretty good job. The fruit is the saviour and highlight of these, and I probably wouldn't cook them without, unless you were planning on adding jam or honey on top instead. (But again, I have a sweet tooth). I'm looking forward to trying out the recipe again and tweaking it further.
As a healthier option? Sure! At only 85 calories a hefty pancake with fruit, they're pretty guilt free and don't take too long to make...without much washing up either.

-> On a side note, the smell from the ones I'm saving for tomorrow, despite being cold now, is promisingly scrummy!


Tomorrow - I'll be trying out a (healthy!) Red Kidney Bean curry recipe I found.

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