Breakfast: best meal of the day, right? It sets us up for whatever lies ahead. I always think that a day that starts with a good breakfast just goes better, somehow. All the experts agree that starting the day with a mix of whole-grain, slow-burning carbohydrate, protein and healthy fats is the best way to power up for the hours to come. America’s most high-profile cancer specialist, David B Agus (he treated Steve Jobs) cites eating breakfast as one of the key ways to live a long and healthy life. Which is what we’re all about at Kale and Cocoa, of course. A Harvard study last year found that men who skipped breakfast have a 27% higher risk of heart disease. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/features/skipping-breakfast-may-increase-coronary-heart-disease-risk/ And what’s true for adults is true for children too. With the school year starting this week (with the usual mixture of relief, sadness and a huge bill new shoes in our house, at least), it’s worth remembering that children who eat breakfast perform better in class http://www.healthychildren.org/English/healthy-living/nutrition/Pages/The-Case-for-Eating-Breakfast.aspx And this week – well timed for the back to school hysteria – researched revealed that kids who skip breakfast are 25% more likely to be insulin resistant. High insulin resistance increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. http://www.nhs.uk/news/2014/09September/Pages/Missing-breakfast-linked-to-type-2-diabetes.aspx
But when everyone is in a rush, and they’ve lost those overpriced new school shoes/pencil cases/phones it’s easy to shove a box of cereal at the children and hope for the best. A beautifully prepared feast that ticks all the nutritional boxes is a distant aspiration some mornings, but on others we try to make eggs or porridge or our new favourite thing – porridge pancakes. I LOVE this recipe – it’s packed with all the good things listed above – low GI oats, eggs and natural yoghurt for protein and healthy fats. PLUS the pancake batter can be prepared in a couple of minutes the night before so you can swan down in the morning feeling like a smug parent, knowing that you are about to fuel up your child, and yourself, for a perfect day ahead…
PORRIDGE PANCAKES
Serves 6
200g porridge oats (not jumbo)
2tbs ground flax seeds
400ml natural yoghurt
200ml water
1tsp cinnamon
3 eggs
2tsp baking powder
Coconut oil (or butter) for frying
Berries and/or banana slices
The evening before….Mix the yoghurt and water in a large bowl. Stir in the oats, flax seeds and cinnamon. Leave in the fridge overnight. And before you go to bed, put 3 eggs (unbroken) in a small bowl by the hob, along with a fork, baking powder and a measuring teaspoon. It sounds anal, but trust me, you’ll thank yourself in the morning (or you will if your mornings are anything like mine). Next morning, Grab the oat mixture from the fridge and slap a (preferably non-stick) frying pan on the hob. While it’s heating, beat the eggs. Mix into the oats with the baking powder. You should have a stiff-ish mixture. Melt a little oil or butter into the pan, then dollop in heaped tablespoons of the mixture into the pan – if it’s really stiff you might need to squash it down a bit. Don’t have the heat too high – the secret is to let the mixture start to cook through before the outside gets too browned. When bubbles start to appear on the top, carefully turn each pancake – they are more fragile than regular pancakes. Serve with fruit and more yoghurt and cinnamon if you’d like.
PS if I want to make a smaller amount, I halve all the ingredients and use just one egg. It makes 7 pancakes – perfect for one adult and two children.
Susan
Every morning I have a bowl of porridge with dried fruit and seeds, but these looks far more inviting. Looking forward to trying some of your recipes. Jeanmarie x
Thanks so much Jeanmarie – do give them a try, and enjoy your healthy mornings!
A hit!! Got my son to wolf them down this morning before heading off for a full day of both rugby then cricket! They are delicious and I hate porridge normally!
So glad they are a hit – these pancakes are the perfect fuel for sporting heroes!
We have these most mornings now before school and they are amazing! We eat them with apple and raspberry compote, yoghurt and a drizzle of agave syrup. I would recommend these to everyone as they are so delicious!
Thanks so much Bryony!
This got a big thumbs up from my husband. I’ll definitely be serving these pancakes to my family next time they come over for brunch. I didn’t have any flax seed to hand but used milled chia seeds instead and that worked fine – held together nicely.
Thanks so much Laura – great idea to use milled chia seeds for a nutritional and textural boost!
I tried making this recipe up as waffles instead of pancakes. They were very nice, served them with a topping of berries and crème fraîche. There’s only my husband and me, so scaling down recipes can be a fiddle. I just made up the full batch and froze the leftover waffles. I tried popping one straight from the freezer into the toaster. This worked well as a quick snack, nice with jam.
Great idea to freeze them – most recipes seem to be for between four to six people and I am only one!!
Do these pancakes freeze like normal pancakes?
Hello Angela
I have never actually tried to freeze them – they always get scoffed in our house! But I can’t see why not – would be a really good idea for busy mornings.
Recently discovered this website. Having been recommended a book called Grain Brain when my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s I’m very interested in how to improve my family’s diet, but with a 10 year old daughter it’s a challenge. When she saw the porridge mix her initial comment was ‘Oh no Mummy you’ve gone crazy again!’ but when she smelt them cooking she decided she’d give it a try–and now the pancakes are in demand whenver possible! Delcious with homemade compote/banana and blueberry/yoghurt and agave syrup. Thye’ve been a real hit so thank you!
Hi Caroline, so pleased you like the site and the pancakes! They are always a big hit in our homes too. What did you think of Grain Brain? We tend to favour a whole food diet with lots of whole grains but the strict paleo approach of Grain Brain is interesting.
Thanks for your reply Susan. I think the whole gluten thing is interesting and I think a lot more people have an intolerance than diagnosed but I think sugar is probably the main ‘enemy’–although apparently wholemeal bread does have a very high GI (I think!) Like all these things you have to have a diet that’s sustainable so I’m trying to tweak where I can. Certainly seem to be links between Alzheimers and diabetes which suggests a sugar/carbs link. What are anyone who’s read the book’s thoughts?
Love these before school or a sports match so filling and supplies lots of energy
Susan, thank you so very much – tried the above (too much for us will be cutting recipe in half) I tried these out on my 82 year old husband (!) didn’t tell him what the were made of and he loved them – and said can we have them again – so today finished off the batch with apricot conserve on them (!) – and some strongish coffee to drink. Have filed this away for future reference. Yes, you can teach an old dog to change tack!! Thanks once again. Regards Angela – Kent
So glad they were a hit – thanks for letting me know! And yes a batch – or half a batch – can last a couple of days