Pancakes

I came up with a pancake recipe the other day which is adapted from some others to make pancakes for my little one which are free from added salt or sugar.  Not completely healthy (they contain butter) but hey, kids need fat and they're very handy for breakfasts, snacks and freeze well.  There is also an adult adaptation at the end.

Banana or Apple Pancakes

225g, 8oz (just short of 2 cups) Self Raising Flour (or plain / all purpose flour and 2 tsp baking powder)
Knob (about 15g, 1/2oz) unsalted butter or use non dairy spray oil
2 eggs
300 mL, 10fl oz (1 and a quarter cups)  Full Fat Milk or use water and a few drops of vanilla extract if avoiding dairy or low on milk!
2 eating apples or 1 large (or 1 and a half small) ripe bananas


To serve for adults and older children
Granulated sugar
Cinnamon
Butter

Or golden or maple syrup

Or a knob of butter and a drizzle of honey (over 1 year only)


Method

Peel and grate the apples if using, peel the bananas if using.  If you're making the banana pancakes; good news, this can all be done in a blender.  Put everything in, blend, done.  If you're making apple pancakes, use an electric whisk to mix the egg into the flour then gradually add the milk then add the apple at the end.

Take a piece of unsalted butter in some greaseproof and rub it over the surface of a warm, non stick pan or use spray oil. Pour or spoon blobs of batter on (often the first one is rubbish but don't worry).

Cook until bubbles appear on the surface and burst then flip over.  You might need to adjust the temperature to get it right.  Cook until the other side is brown.

To make a syrup, put some sugar (as much as you want to eat really) in a saucepan with a little water and a bit of powdered cinnamon.  Heat until fully dissolved and bubbling.  When it reaches the consistency you want, add a knob of butter.  Serve warm but don't keep warm for too long as it will thicken too much and start to crystallise again.  (Only serve syrup for older kids or adults.)  Alternatively serve with golden or maple syrup, honey (over 1's only), cream, chocolate sauce or ice cream.

To freeze, take the cooled pancakes and layer them up in a plastic tub interleaved with non stick silicone baking paper (greaseproof does work but it does stick a little bit).  To use, take one out, defrost in the microwave and allow to cool before giving to a baby.  No idea how long they'd last frozen, they've never lasted longer than a week in our house before being eaten.

Great for breakfast but also great for puddings and snacks for kids.

Update (8/11/11), Just added in some pictures (finally).  To think I almost gave up blogging!  
Update (23/3/14), Just put in some new, improved photography, ounce and cup measures.

Like these?  Why not try my cherry pancakes?

I also made some for my new blog using frozen cherries which were lovely pink pancakes!