Home Cooking
I was having a bit of trouble sleeping tonight and my stomach was grumbling every couple of minutes. Finally, I decided that something had to be done. The trouble with midnight cravings is you tend to want to overload yourself with sugar and butter. I've done enough of that lately with my babka and all so I was determined to find a relatively 'healthier' option.
There's a recipe in Bill Granger's 'Feed me now' for oaty breakfast hotcakes. I didn't follow that particular recipe but it inspired me to make my own version.
These hotcakes are REALLY healthy - almost fat-free and very low on sugar. The fruit is stewed in sugar syrup but it's an optional accompaniment to the hotcakes. I thought the hotcakes also tasted great with just a bit of low-fat vanilla yogurt on the side. It's really up to you.
The recipe looks like it calls for a lot of ingredients but it's simple: a combination of flour and raising agent (baking soda) + wet ingredients of milk, yogurt, egg white and apple sauce. The rest is just flavoring (spices, sugar, salt and vanilla extract) which is semi-optional.
Oat Hotcakes with Stewed Apple and Raspberries
Makes 2 hotcakes
Ingredients:
For the hotcakes
- 2 tbsp wholemeal plain flour
- 3 tbsp self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp rolled oats
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1 egg white
- 1 tbsp apple sauce
- 1/3 cup of milk (I used fat-free soy milk)
- 1 tbsp yogurt (I used Jalna low-fat vanilla yogurt)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 small apple, cut into small wedges
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 2 cups of water
- 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup of raspberries (I used frozen)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
1. Get the apples ready to go first. Bring the water and sugar to boil in a small non-stick saucepan. Add the apple cider vinegar and vanilla extract. Throw in the apple pieces. Reduce the heat to low and let the apple simmer away.
2. To make the pancakes, combine the dry ingredients (wholemeal flour, self-raising flour, baking soda, sugar, salt, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg) in a bowl.
3. Mix together the wet ingredients (egg white, milk, yogurt, vanilla extract, apple sauce) in a separate bowl.4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir to combine. Set aside for 5min.
5. Grease a non-stick frying pan. Let it heat up to a low-medium heat. Pour/spoon in the hotcake mixture to make an even round shape (I made mine BIG - approx 10cm in diameter).6. When the surface of the hotcake starts bubbling a bit and the sides are set, flip it over.
7. The hotcake is done when both sides are golden and the inside is no longer gooey. Repeat for however many other hotcakes you decide to make (I made 2 huge ones).
8. The apples are ready when they sort of fall apart if you poke at the pieces with a chopstick. Turn up the heat to reduce the sugar syrup. Add in the spices and the raspberries. The raspberries go in last because otherwise, they just fall apart in the stew.
9. Serve the hotcakes dusted with icing sugar and with the stewed fruit and some vanilla yogurt.
My verdict is that I'm really pleased with the recipe. I made my hotcakes huge and they were a bit tricky to flip but that's about the only challenge I came across. The recipe is really simple to follow and the quantity of hotcakes produced is perfect for breakfast or snacking.
You can obviously replace the stewed apple and raspberries with maple syrup, yogurt, ice-cream, chocolate sauce... anything that tickles your fancy. You can choose to stew different fruit, depending on what you have lying around the house. Hotcakes are so versatile.
I also loved munching on the hotcakes on their own or with a bit of vanilla yogurt. They're quite filling but I felt guilt-free munching on them because they're packed with good carbs from the wholemeal flour and the oats.
It's really settled my tummy now and I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment