Banana Bread Pancakes with Chia Reduced Maple Syrup and Chocolate Chips

Ready for a super indulgent breakfast that isn't quite as bad for you as it look? 

 

I started with My New Root's Gluten Free Banana Bread Pancakes, modified as follows:

• 1/3 cup coconut milk plus 1/3 cup flax milk instead of nut.
• Extra 1/3 cup oatmeal, not pureed, added to the batter since it was too thin for my tastes.
• No maple syrup in the batter.  Seemed sweet enough to me, especially with the topping.

Make sure to cook the pancakes on really low heat.  I've found gluten free pancakes burn easier.

Topped with chopped banana (no extra walnuts) and my yummy chia reduced maple syrup with chocolate chips.  Recipe:

2 TBL Chia Seeds
6 TBL Water
2 TBL Maple Syrup
1 TBL Dairy Free Mini Chocolate Chips (Enjoy Life brand)

Mix together first three ingredients and let sit for about 10 minutes.  Just enough time to cook some pancakes.  This allows the chia seeds to soak up the water and make a thick gel.  Then puree for a few minutes until you have a really thick sauce.  Stir in chocolate chips and pour on top of pancakes. 

Yum.  Stats per serving of pancakes with banana and syrup topping (makes two)

439 calories
14g fat - 29%
13g fiber - Half a woman's daily goal of 25g
17g added sugar (Only counted maple syrup and chocolate chips.  I don't pay attention to sugars from fruit or grains) 15% sugar which is higher than the 10% or less I aim for.  No more sugar for me today, but totally worth it.
10g protein - 9% (Healthy goal is about 10% of your overall diet coming from protein.  So 9% isn't bad for pancakes. Would be higher if you used the nut milk originally called for but I didn't have any on hand.)

I thought these were possibly the most delicious thing ever.  Rachel loved the pancakes, but didn't particularly care for the "yogurt" as she termed the topping.  Naturally she licked the spatula and declared it "yummy" before I poured it on her pancakes and then asked me to scrape it all off.  That's two year old logic for you. 

It does make a great squishing substance after the pancakes are eaten, which attests to the thickness.  And of course, no amount of "yogurt" is going to stop her from picking out the bananas and eating them.