I love pancakes...or anything sweet in the morning but tend to feel super guilty (shocker!) if my breakfast is lacking in some serious and satisfying nutrition. I had some extra time on my hands Tuesday morning, thanks to a certain toddler waking up at 4:50 am, and thought it would be extra special if I whipped up a hot breakfast. I recently picked up some chia seeds and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to mix-em-in. And since I love to use seasonal produce, I knew the apples in my crisper would fit in perfectly. Double snaps for me! The finished product was so much better than I had anticipated and everyone, husband and toddler gobbled them up. If you hesitant about chia seeds....don't be! For just a tablespoon, they pack in 5 grams of fiber, heart healthy omega-3s, zinc, calcium magnesium and iron. That’s a lot of healthy stuff before 9 am! Now you can brag to your friends.
You will need:
1) One large apple
2) 1 tsp butter
3) 1 Tbsp brown sugar unpacked
4) Cinnamon
5) Pancake mix (enough to make 6 pancakes, follow package instructions)
6) Chia seeds
7) Vanilla extract
8) Apple spice seasoning (or a mix of your favorite spices)
To Start:
1) Remove the skin from the apple and dice into small chunks
2) Heat butter on low-medium heat in a pan and add the apple chunks sprinkled with cinnamon and brown sugar
3) Heat apples for a few minutes until they soft
4) Mix chia seeds, cooked apple chucks, spices and vanilla extract into pancake batter
5) Cook according to mix instructions
6) Drizzle on some honey and enjoy!
Makes 6 pancakes. Nutrition for each pancake: 116 calories, 3 grams of fat, 18 grams of carb and 3 grams of protein.