Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes

I've been in carb denial over the past 3 weeks and I woke up this morning craving pancakes.  Rarely do I reach for something sweet in the morning, not even sugar in the coffee, so this was an urge I didn't want to pass up.  However, trying to defeat my love of all things white flour, I went for a whole wheat alternative and it turns out white flour is for suckers.  Two silver dollar pancakes later, I am filled to the brim with fiber packed goodness.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
6 tbsp unsweetened applesauce
6 tbsp fat free Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 + 1/4 cup 2% milk

Sift the dry ingredients together first (just add the brown sugar after sifting), make a well in the center of the dry mix and add the egg, applesauce and yogurt. Using a hand mixer or a whisk, begin to add the milk, 1 cup to start and then the remaining as needed to thin out the batter (use up to 1.5 cups if necessary).

In a non-stick pan, melt 1 tbsp butter over medium heat.  When bubbles start to form in the butter, add 1/2 a soup ladle of batter to make small sized pancakes, more if you like large rounds. The pancakes are ready to flip when the bubbles that have formed in the batter begin to pop.  The edges will be browned from the butter and the second side will take less time than the first.  When making pancakes, I use my Le Crueset covered casserole dish to store the pancakes and keep them warm while I cook the remaining batter.

This mix is a great with accompaniments! I added rinsed blueberries to mine but bananas and walnuts would be delicious or chocolate chip pancakes.  Nutella anyone?

Whole Wheat Breakfast Muffins with Mix-Ins…Muffin-Top Shop Open for Business! (J/K, these are healthy)

I am trying to become a better baker...really, I am.  But, I am also trying to become a healthy meal-maker.  So, I found a traditional muffin mix recipe and modified it by reducing the sugar and substituting the butter (some).   I also used whole wheat flour which I am really starting to enjoy.   Give these a go, they are pretty tasty and you can feel good about it.

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup whipped honey

1/2 stick butter (I used 50/50 Smart Balance butter)

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup reduced fat sour cream

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

Mix-ins - I had a few bananas-gone-bad, so I diced them up small and threw 'em in with some toasted walnuts.  This mix would be great with lots of fruit variations diced and folded in with almonds, walnuts, pecans, etc.  One thing to keep in mind, this mix isn't super sweet so if you like the sugary goodness, try dusting powdered sugar on top of warm muffins or add a drizzle of honey.  Oooh, or a sugar glaze made from powdered sugar and lemon juice.  Yum!

Spoon into a muffin pan, 2/3's full in each cup and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Anyone tried using the cookie dough scoop from Crate & Barrel for batter?  Easy and clean!

Now go! And bake something healthy.