Sunday, March 22, 2009

Bananagram Pancakes


We love breakfast in this house. Pancakes are the No. 1 request, and they're a great way to experiment with different ingredients to use in oven-baked cakes, being, as they are, little flat cakes cooked on a pan.

I'm always on the lookout to make the calories count and not all my experiments have made the cut. But this one did, and I (lacking any tall DNA to bequeath my offspring) find it supremely satisfying that the children have started their day with a protein-packed meal.

The surprise ingredient - which I didn't immediately reveal to the family for fear of clearing the table too quickly - is gram flour, which comes from chickpeas or garbanzo beans. Proteinous gram flour is commonly used in South Asian-style savoury pancakes and works well with them, so I figured, why not?
  • gram flour, 1/2 cup
  • soy flour, 1/2 cup
  • wholemeal flour, 1/2 cup
  • ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup
  • eggs, 2
  • milk, 1 1/2 to 2 cups (as needed for a thickish batter)
  • salt, pinch of
  • orange zest
  • sugar, 1 tsp
  • baking soda, 1 tsp
  • baking powder, 1 tsp
  • bananas, chocolate chips or toppings of choice
  1. In a separate bowl, sieve together the flours and baking powder and soda
  2. Then, in bowl 2, cream the eggs, sugar and cheese with a handheld mixer
  3. Add the ricotta, zest, salt
  4. Lower the speed and add the milk and blended flours in gradual succession
  5. You are looking for a batter of a thickish consistency that will coat the back of a spoon
  6. Ladle a scoop onto your Pam-ed pancake pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips or banana slices. Chocolate goes beautifully with the oranginess of this pancake, but the yummy pancakes didn't make as picturesque a photo :)

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