Breakfast Tongue Twister

Hello, blog world, long time no see! I've been really busy with school and work, so I've mostly just been posting my photos on Instagram because it's just much more convenient. It's been sort of same old, same old for me these days, but I have been lucky enough to have the time to try out some new recipes! Those of which have included soups, pastas, salads, and, my favorite, breakfast recipes.

Since today is Sunday and I usually like to relax and get work done today, I enough a nice breakfast, preferably one that I can share with my whole family. I should note that certain members of my family are, how shall I say it, stuck in their unhealthy ways? *Cough cough* DAD! But I do try and expand as many food horizons as I can.

All weekend I have been dying to make pancakes, and today was the prefect occasion to take my time and try out a new recipe I had been working on. I got inspired by a recipe I found and decided to combine it with another recipe from one of my favorite food blogs. Then I put my own spin on it and viola! Whole Wheat-Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes (say that ten times fast!):

(I topped mine with coconut butter :) )

Serves 1 (can easily be doubled or multiplied to any amount)

• 1/4 c. Whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. Old fashioned rolled oats 
• 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Brown sugar, packed, but broken up after measuring
• 1/2 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice (I just did a few good dashes)
• 2 Egg whites (or one whole egg)
• 2 Tbsp. Milk (I just used a little splash of almond milk)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2-4 Tbsp. Pumpkin pure (4 Tbsp= 1/4c. I just did it to eye)

1. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and sift together.

2. Add wet ingredients and whisk with a fork until smooth.

3. Spray your griddle or skillet with oil and put on medium heat. 

4. Spoon batter onto heated griddle and let cook until bubbles have formed in the batter (about 1-2 minutes), then flip. 

5. Reduce heat to medium low and cook for an addition minute or two. DO NOT FLIP PANCAKES MORE THAN ONCE! Doing so will flatten your pancakes, and your want them to be light and fluffy. 

6. Once fully cooked, place pancakes in a stack and top with your favorites (butter, syrup, PB, fruit, anything!) and enjoy!

The oats in the batter give the pancakes a chewy texture, which I enjoyed. But If you would rather a more traditional version, you can use 1/2c. of whole wheat flour instead of adding the rolled oats. That's actually what I did when I made a new batch for my parents this morning. As I mentioned earlier, my father can be a toughie when it comes to try new things, ESPECIALLY health foods. But he really enjoyed the pancakes! He even asked for seconds! Small wins, people, it's all about the small wins.