Healthy Whole Wheat Pancakes

The close of 2012 and the start of 2013 have been wonderful. My husband and I have been spending time with our family and friends and substantial time with just each other. Vacation euphoria is a good way to describe this feeling. We rang in the new year with some good friends, Cards Against Humanity, and a delicious dinner. There have been many rich, indulgent meals during this break: squid ink pasta with a seafood ragu at Marea, duck breast at Gramercy Tavern, the traditional Christmas ham with my family, and a questionable number of desserts.

On New Year's morning, we turned our attention to more balanced eating [and exercise!]. I made whole wheat pancakes with apples and you should too. You can skip the syrup and get in a serving of fruit before heading to the gym to use that new membership. The batter makes about 10 medium-sized pancakes and they reheat well.

Ingredients & Tools

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 2 apples
• 1/4 brown sugar
• cooking spray
• frying pan
• small saucepan

Combine the dry ingredients and mix.

In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients including the eggs and vanilla. Add them to the dry ingredients and mix.

The batter may be a bit thinner than traditional pancake mixes, but it cooks just like the pancakes you may be used to. Set the batter aside and prepare the apples.

You could use other stone fruit for this part of the recipe. The apples release some of their own sweetness and with the brown sugar, I think this is far better than the artificially flavored syrups.

Peel, core, and cut the apples into bit-sized pieces. I had a fancy tool for the job.

Add the apples and the brown sugar to a small saucepan. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes or until the apples are tender and the sugar has created a simple syrup. Stir occasionally.

As the apples cook, prepare the pancakes. Spray a large frying pan with cooking spray. I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup to control the size of my pancakes. As you can see, they still decided to kiss in the middle of the pan.

Cook over a low flame on one side for 3-4 minutes. Look for bubbles to form on the outer edge of the pancake. This tells you when it's time to flip.

The second side cooks quickly, in under 2 minutes. When the pancakes moves easily with a slight tilt of the pan, they're ready to eat.

Spoon the apples and syrup over the pancakes. Cheers to a healthier start to the new year!