whole wheat blueberry pancakes

so cute!

This recipe comes from Rocco DiSpirito's book Now Eat This! these are made with whole wheat pastry flour, which i have used a few times now and really like! It's protein content is lower than whole wheat flour, which enables it to acheieve that lighter, fluffier texture that you'd want for say, pancakes or a muffin. Whole wheat flour is still fine for more heavy duty breads and doughs, and I have even used it in my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies--it was delicious!

one note about this recipe--i would probably add a bit of cinnamon to really perk the flavor up, and at the time I didn't have stevia, so i kind of threw in a random (not enough) amount of Splenda, so they were quite as sweet as i would have liked. i think this can be easily solved, and i have invested in Sweet Leaf stevia. (i first tried it in my coffee at work, thanks A&F cafe!!) it's sweet and natural, but does have a slight aftertaste. Katie, from dashingdish.com recommends NuStevia, which she says she likes best of all the varieties she has tried. I will try that next, you can find it on Amazon if you're interested. (Stevia is an all natural, no calorie sweetner for those of you who don't know what I am talking about)

serves 4 (8 mini pancakes each)

you will need:

    3/4 cup maple syrup (calls for Walden Farms which is calorie free, I used light Log Cabin)
    1 1/2 cups fresh/frozen blueberries
    1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
    3 1/2 tsp baking powder
    4 packets stevia (or you could try 1-1 1/2 tsp sugar too, as a guesstimate)
    1/2 tsp salt
    1 1/4 cups skim (i like 1%) milk
    1/2 cup liquid egg substitute (i measured 1/2 cup of egg, i think it was only 1 though)
    3 T canola oil

to prepare:

in a small saucepan, heat syrup and 1/2 cup of blueberries. heat over low heat, and mash the blueberries with a spoon to release their juices. warm through, set aside.

mix together flour, baking powder, stevia (or sugar), and salt.

whisk in milk, egg, and oil, just until combined. stir in remaining blueberries

heat your griddle or frying pan over medium/high heat (if water drops sizzle, its ready!) drop tablespoon-fulls of batter onto the pan surface, flipping once edges appear dry and bubbles form on the surface. this happens very quickly since they are so tiny so be watchful.

serve with blueberry syrup and a tall glass of iced milk! (which is the only way to drink milk with proper breakfasts!)

i'll include the nutrition info since it's in the book:

per serving:

calories: 292, fat: 12 grams (1g saturated fat, 7g monounsaturated, 3g polyunsaturated)., 1.5 mg cholesterol, 830 mg sodium, 39 g carbs, 5g fiber, 10 g protein