This pancake recipe is an old one my mom found in her recipe notebook. She said it had been given to her by their ‘gourmet group’ years ago. My mom and dad have been meeting with their “gourmet group’ for over 30 years, planning menus, having dinner and taking trips together. The collected stories and recipes from these folks could write a book.

When I was around 5, my mom was hosting gourmet and had slaved away all day on a perfect beef tenderloin. She had the beautiful platter all set out on the dining room table and my beloved poodle, Fitz, jumped upon the table and helped himself to the platter of meat before anyone could dig in. She was furious but to this day Fitz and the tenderloin is a much laughed about story.

Recipe:

2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

2 eggs

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour or a combination

pinch of salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Combine first six ingredients mixing well. Fold in blueberries.

Heat griddle or large pan over medium-high heat. Spray generously with oil spray and melt 1 tsp butter. Drop spoonfuls of batter and spread out a little. The batter is very thick so these take a little longer to cook than a regular pancake. Usually about 5-6 minutes per side.

Notes:

These pancakes a full of protein and only have a small amount of flour making them a great low carb breakfast.

I usually substitute all whole wheat flour in the recipe but if you don’t like whole wheat flour or aren’t familiar with it just use half regular flour and half whole wheat .

When the temperature drops, my visits to Starbucks increase significantly for my daily dose of chai lattes. In the summertime, the southerner in me wants iced tea but since I am southerner living in Ohio – it’s cold and I need a hot drink!

So on my frequent trips to Starbucks, I stumbled upon a new obsession – petite vanilla scones. Bite size and buttery, I knew I needed to figure out a way to lighten these babies up or I would have a little extra ‘winter padding’ to work off.

Recipe:

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup sugar

2 tbsp butter, unsalted and at room temperature

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 egg

1 whole vanilla bean, use half for scones

In a large bowl combine flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Drop in room temperature butter cut into small cubes and combine using a fork or pastry cutter. The mixture will become crumbly when the butter is incorporated.

Cut a whole vanilla bean and cut in half. Take one half of the bean and cut a slit down the center. Fold back the sides and then run a knife down the inside of the bean to scrape away the vanilla bean paste.

In a small bowl combine beaten egg, buttermilk and vanilla bean paste from half of the vanilla bean. Pour the mixture into the flour and lightly mix together. Batter will still be a little crumbly.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly a few times until a dough ball forms. Then roll out to 3/4″ thickness, creating a rectangle shape with the dough. Cut into 24 small triangles.

Place scones on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Transfer scones onto a wire rack and let cool a few minutes before topping with vanilla glaze.

For vanilla bean glaze:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tbsp low-fat buttermilk

other half of vanilla bean

In a small bowl, add powdered sugar and vanilla bean paste from other half of vanilla bean. Add buttermilk one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition making sure glaze doesn’t get too thin.

Dip the top of the scone in glaze and place back on wire rack to let harden. There will probably be some leftover glaze, wait until the first layer of glaze has hardened and then drizzle remaining glaze over scones.

Notes:

I always try to use some whole wheat flour when baking. It seems to be a bit drier than regular flour so a little extra liquid may be needed especially when making muffins or breads.

Curious about the calorie content of these little gems, I used the recipe builder on My Food Diary, each scone was roughly 80 calories and 2 grams of fat.

Elaine had a million dollar idea when she became obsessed with muffin tops on an episode of Seinfeld. She insisted that you had to bake the whole muffin and break the top off the stump to get the muffin top. Little did she know that muffin tops would take on a whole new meaning.

A few years ago I mentioned that my jeans were giving me a muffin top and one of my male friends gave me bewildered look. I had to explain just exactly what that was – you see the jean makers of the world got together with the personal trainers of the world and came up with the crazy idea to sell really low-rise  jeans. The result, no matter how flat of a stomach you have those low riders are gonna push that extra fluff right up over that waistband!

So muffin top and all, I decided to make a healthy muffin that won’t add too much fluff to the waistline!

Recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oatmeal (quick cook oats), rough cut in a blender

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/4 cup applesauce, no sugar added

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a blender or food processor, pulse oatmeal a few times for a rough cut – not to0 fine. Combine flours, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, mash bananas. Then add the egg, sugar, buttermilk, applesauce, oil, vanilla and stir together.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and fold together. Do not over stir.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 18-20 minutes. This will make 12-15 medium-sized muffins.

Notes:

I made extra-large muffins using Panettone paper baking molds from Sur La Table. The cook time for an extra-large muffin will be about 20-25 minutes.

When I punched in this recipe to My food diary’s recipe builder. The calorie count per muffin was around 170 calories with 5 grams of fat.

My Grandaddy called me short stack. He was not so tall himself but he was the friendliest person you would ever meet. He was larger than life and never met a stranger. I think he prided himself on being a good teacher of life, you know street smart skills. He taught us all to play golf, taught my mother how to burn rubber in all 4 gears when she started driving and showed me how to make pancakes.

On Sunday mornings at Nana and Grandaddy’s they would have the coffee brewing, the intercom radio playing through the house and Grandaddy would have his griddle ready to go. He would pour the batter on the griddle as I stood and watched him explain that the pancakes had to bubble perfectly before you could flip them.

So to this day I credit him on my love of making pancakes on the weekends, how to golf and how to be a good friend!

Recipe:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 egg

2 cups low fat buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Mix together all dry ingredients. Then add egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir well and then fold in blueberries.

Heat a large skillet or griddle to medium heat. Coat with canola oil spray. Pour 1/4cup of batter onto griddle for each pancake.

When bubbles appear around the egdes and middle its time to flip. Cook about a minute or two per side or until golden brown.

Makes 12 4″-5″ pankcakes.

My pancake taste tester gave his stamp of approval for this recipe!