Real Ingredients Make A Huge Difference
Let’s face it, traditional pancakes are more like a dessert item than a nutritious breakfast. Store bought pancake mix is full of processed flours and thickeners, not to mention added sugars and colorings. And the artificial syrup available on store shelves? It’s loaded with unhealthy ingredients like high fructose corn syrup and artificial flavoring. The fact is, as delicious as pancakes are, they generally contain no nutritional value.
On the other hand, by changing up the ingredients and using real whole foods, you end up with a far more nutritious counterpart that is just as tasty, if not more so, than store bought pancake mixes. Bananas are a terrific replacement to use as a pancake base. A single banana contains only about 105 calories, made up mostly of water and carbs, and it’s full of healthy vitamins and minerals. They’re an excellent source of potassium, dietary fiber, and they even help stabilize blood sugar levels. Using a single egg with this recipe adds a decent amount of protein and fat as well. As you can see, using even just a single banana in this recipe ends up being far healthier than consuming the wheat flour and sugar combination that is commonly found in regular pancake mixes.
Not only that, but the other ingredients in these banana pancakes all come with their own health benefits as well. Raw honey makes a great replacement for syrup, as it’s loaded with antioxidants and is quite tasty as well. Blueberries are low in calories, rich in antioxidants and are also a good source of fiber, not to mention it adds a pop of color to your dish. This recipe calls for almond butter, which contains healthy fats and protein unlike regular butter or margarine which have no nutritive value. Finally, to tie it all together, the pancakes are cooked in coconut oil to tie all the flavors together. Coconut oil is a good source of medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) which are easily converted to energy, rather than stored as fat.
As you can see, switching to a paleo diet doesn’t necessarily mean you have to give up all of your favorite foods. It’s still possible for you to enjoy classic breakfast staples like pancakes but with a healthy paleo twist. By replacing generic pre-made pancake mixture and syrup with healthier alternatives like bananas, blueberries, almond butter and raw honey, while also cooking your pancakes in a pan greased with high quality virgin organic coconut oil, you can enjoy a healthy breakfast while satiating your sweet tooth at the same time.
More Paleo Pancake Recipes You’ll Love:
- Lemon Poppy Seed Paleo Pancakes
- Easy Paleo Banana Bread Pancakes
- The Best Paleo Banana Pancakes with Fresh Strawberries
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana, cut into large pieces
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup almond butter
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tsp coconut oil (for greasing)
- For serving (optional)
- 1 tbsp fresh blueberries
- ½ tsp raw honey
Directions
- Using an immersion blender, blend banana, almond butter, egg, baking powder, and pure vanilla extract.
- Add blueberries and stir.
- Heat the pan over medium heat.
- Grease with 1 tsp coconut oil.
- Pour in 1/4 cup of the mixture for each pancake.
- Cook until small bubbles appear on the surface, for about 2-3 minutes.
- Turn carefully, and cook another 1-2 minutes.
- Remove the pancakes from the heat.
- Top with fresh blueberries, drizzle with honey and serve
Can we use reg blender if we don’t have an immersion blender? I know immersions often add air so I didn’t know if this would still work if it gets over blended and under whipped.
I have the same question, can I use my blender instead of immersion blender?? Thank you
Hey Rachel and Patti-
To be honest, I have never tried this banana pancake recipes in a regular blender, but I believe it would work just fine 🙂 They may be less fluffy when using a regular blender, but they should still turn out delicious!