Even with a strict diet day in and day out, I will get my pancakes! With a bit of imagination, I changed some ingredients and made a couple hearty and healthy pancakes as part of my second breakfast at 7:30 AM. You read it right…second breakfast!

Ingredients for the pancakes:
3/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1/8 teaspoon of baking powder
a pinch of kosher salt
1 egg
1/2 cup of low-fat or fat-free milk
a dash of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of canola oil
1 handful of chopped walnuts and cashews

Pear Topping:
1/2 of bartlett pear, slice it into 5 or 6 thin slices
1 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon powder (enhances the flavor without adding sugar)
2 tablespoons of 100% apple juice or apple cider (no concentrate please)

After mixing the pancake ingredients, heat up a skillet with medium heat and pray Pam around it to prevent sticking. Wait about 30 seconds for the skillet to be completely heated, then slowly pour the batter into the skillet to the size of your desired pancakes. Wait until the pancake is golden-brown on one side and flip it over to the other side for another couple minutes until the second side is gold-brown as well.

To make the pear sauce, put the sliced pears into a small pan and sprinkle them with cinnamon powder. Second step, pour the apple juice or cider into the pan, then cover it up with a lid and let the pears simmer for about 5 minutes. Check the pears every two minutes and give them a little shake. The key to make the sliced pears soft and sort of sticky like syrup is to keep to fire low and condense the liquid inside of the pan.

At the end, top the pears off with two tablespoons of low-fat or fat-free yogurt, now you got a perfect plate of healthy carbohydrates, proteins, and a small amount of essential fats.

I hope you don’t have to settle for the boring buttermilk pancakes with high sugar syrup anymore. Pancakes will be healthier and taste even better if you can just use your imagination and creativity!