I’m one week into my New Year’s “diet” and less than successful having lost -.2 pounds (if you understood what I said there that means I actually gained .2 pounds this week). I mean who wants to restrict what they eat only to gain weight? But let’s not focus on that. I’ve discussed my “diet” extensively with my coworker (who is also on a diet and lost three pounds by the middle of the week!), and I think I need to work a few kinks out of this “diet.” But I will carry on until the end of the month and then reassess.
Side note, it’s hard to “diet” when you are a natural-born baker. I’m making a cake next weekend for my friend Amie’s birthday and there will be nothing dietary about the cake. And, yes, I will eat a slice of the cake!
But I digress. I’m trying to follow a relatively low-carbohydrate diet with no added sugars (except for once a week). The reason I chose a low-carb diet is because it seemed to be the most friendly “diet” of any of the cockamamie ones I’ve tried within the past year or so where I keep losing and regaining the same 7 pounds (I’d like to lose and keep off 10 pounds). On my “diet” you can still eat dairy (full fat dairy to boot.) So I’ve been stalking Pinterest looking for recipes that include lots of veggies and anything low-carb and I came across this post for two-ingredient pancakes.
I loved how straightforward Sara’s blog was. She lets you know that if you’re looking for a traditional pancake taste and texture, you’ll be disappointed but that you won’t be disappointed with the overall dish and hilariously describes how lots of people try to trick you into thinking that a food substitute tastes like the real thing. (Side note, that’s my beef with cauliflower crust pizza. It does NOT taste anything like a regular pizza crust. It still tastes like cauliflower. But if you want a HEALTHY pizza crust that tastes nothing like actual pizza crust with gluten in it, well then by all means I would recommend this crust for you.) So I decided to try these pancakes and test them out on my dad who is always looking for healthy alternatives to really good food and something went awry when I was cooking the pancakes and instead of getting these cute little thin pancakes, I ended up with thick scrambled banana-egg cakes. Just how does that happen, you ask? Read on and I’ll tell you.
ingredients.
- 2 large bananas, mashed well (about 2/3 to 1 cup, mashed)
- 4 eggs
- ½ tsp. baking powder (optional but recommended)
- ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon (optional but recommended)
- 1 T. chia seeds
- ½ T. maca powder
directions.
- Heat a large skillet on the stove top over medium-low or medium heat. You really need to figure out what works best for your stove. I started with medium heat and that’s how I ended up with this type of thick pancake.
- While pan is heating, mash banana well and then mix in eggs, baking powder, cinnamon, chia seeds and maca powder.
- When pan is hot, spray pan lightly with non-stick spray if necessary. I have a non-stick pan that doesn’t really need cooking spray for certain items. Here are Sara’s original directions: Pour 2 tablespoons of batter at a time onto the skillet and cook until bottom appears set (30-60 seconds) flip with spatula and cook additional minute or less. Serve warm with butter and syrup.
Here’s what happened to me: Pour 2 tablespoons of batter at a time onto the skillet until you have four small pancakes. 
Once the bottoms have began to get darker and set, scramble the pancakes together and form one giant pancake of the size and thickness that you desire. 
Form it as you would a large crab cake, I guess. Cook until the bottom appears set (30 to 60 seconds) and then flip with a spatula and cook additional minute or less. Yields three to four 4 to 5-inch thick pancakes. (Keep in mind that if you eat the entire recipe, you’re consuming four eggs and two bananas.)
So there it is. I was attempting to follow the recipe as is, my skillet was too hot and the bottoms of my pancakes got very dark very fast, I had a devil of a time flipping them over, got super pissed and began scrambling them intent to throw them away or feed them to my dogs and start over again. Then as I began forming that big thick pancake it reminded me of the pancakes of my youth (but even thicker) and I decided to keep it for myself (but still try to make small, normal pancakes for the next batch).
But I ended up bungling the next batch too because my skillet was still too hot. For the record, I did get four normal sized thin pancakes that I gave to my dad from the first batch of batter that I poured into the skillet – you can decide which kind of pancakes you want to make and eat, big and thick or thin and tiny.
I served my pancakes with butter and a drizzle of almond butter not wanting to add any more sugar to this recipe than already existed by adding syrup. It was perfect without the syrup but I’m weird. I’ve never really liked syrup anyway (other than nummy golden syrup that I discovered on a trip to London).
You may be wondering why I’m naming this post two-ingredient pancakes when my ingredient list has way more than two ingredients and that is because, according to Sara, you can make this pancake with only two ingredients. It just tastes better when you add more. I added maca powder and chia seeds for more “health.”
Stay tuned for more “diet” recipes later this week as I attempt to make cauliflower mash that supposedly tastes as good as mashed potatoes. I may also try my hand at some eggs Benedict made with zucchini cakes instead of English muffins.
Recipe rating:
Food Snob 
