Help! I bought Whole Wheat Pancake Mix!
I bought this pancake mix in a fit of hubris at Hy-Vee. It was the NuVal score that made me want to buy it. I tried making regular pancakes with it, but they were super gross. No amount of margarine and syrup could make them palatable. The lesson was learned: if you want a thing, just get that thing. Don’t futz around with the “healthy” version if what you really want is tasty buttermilk pancakes.
However! I have come up with a way to make whole wheat pancakes edible. Make crepes instead!
The first thing you will need is some cream cheese. I like to take home the Panera cream cheese left over after a bagel day at work.
Business tip: A=Always, B=Be stealing, C=Cream cheese.
Mix up your pancake batter in a big liquid measuring cup. Add more water than they say. If it’s too thick, add more water until it’s nice and thin.
This is towards the end of the batch. This is hard to describe but it should definitely not be “blobby.” Make sure you stir it well to mix in all the clods.
Spray your pre-heated griddle (I used “Medium”) with cooking spray. Pour on a generous amount of your crepe batter.
Stop pouring before you need to, because it will keep spreading. If you remembered to use cooking spray, you’ll get some nice crispy edges!
Watch the bubbles pop as the pancake cooks, unless you have a fear of holes. For me, sometimes holes make me feel weird and itchy but these ones aren’t so bad since I know they’re not sinister in any way. If it really bothers you, just turn away for a few minutes. They cook pretty fast since they’re so thin.
This crepe is not quite ready to turn. The middle is still damp.
The edges of this crepe have started to curl up (see shadow) so it is ready to flip!
Continue cooking on the other side until it is done. You can peek at it and make sure it’s not burning. You don’t need to cook very long on this side.
Flip the crepe again, onto a plate.
You can see it just got nicely brown.
Spread on some cream cheese.
Since your crepe is hot off the griddle, it should spread easily. Scrape the excess off your knife, back into the container. If you don’t like cream cheese, you could use peanut butter instead.
Using your knife, put some jelly on there. I like grape. Strawberry, orange marmalade, apple butter, these would all be good too.
Spread the jelly around on one half of the crepe. Then roll it up, jelly side first.
You can stack them on another plate, or you can eat them as you cook them! Don’t forget to turn off the stove when you are done and put your mixing cup in the sink.
Banana Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
recipe by SkinnyTasteIngredients:
- 3 1/2 medium ripe bananas
- 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 1/4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- 1/3 cup of sugar
- 2 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup of chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp confectioners sugar (optional)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.*
In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg whites, bananas, apple sauce, vanilla, and beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt with a wire whisk.
Add flour mixture to bananas, then blend at low speed until combined; do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into muffin tins.
Bake on the center rack for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
If making the glaze, combine confectioner’s sugar and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp water to make a glaze. Drizzle over each muffin.
*The original recipe says it makes 12 muffins but I got a little over zealous and ended up only making 6 hefty ones. Oops.
I also only used 3 bananas just because I was nervous the taste would overpower the chocolate, and it ended up being a perfect balance. The texture is a bit spongy, but I think it’s because the recipe uses applesauce instead of oil (which is the healthier option) but the chocolate chips definitely help with that.
Anyway go make these! They’re DELICIOUS! And if you make the right amount, not that bad for you :)
