Healthy Oat and Banana Pancakes

I really love pancakes, all sweet breakfast foods actually, but I don't love how sweet and full of sugar they usually are. Although, I did cover these pancakes in maple syrup, they have no added sugar whatsoever. They are made from ground rolled oats, bananas and almond milk, and that's it! The oats are a complex carbohydrate full of fibre that keep you full, and the bananas add the perfect amount flavour and sweetness. They are really easy to make, taste just like a regular pancake, and best of all, they are a not so guilty pleasure you can eat every day if you like. 

Here's the pancake recipe 
2 cups oats blended into oat flour (could substitute with whole wheat flour, quinoa flour ) 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 cup almond milk (any liquid will work) 
2 ripe bananas (easily substitute with 1 cup of other fruit or veggie - apples, pears, sweet potato, squash)  Water (to your desired consistency, depending on how thick you like your pancakes) 
Coconut oil 

Directions 
Blend the oats until flour consistency, place in mixing bowl and mix in baking powder. Blend your banana or fruit with milk and mix with dry ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together and add water until you reach the consistency you like (the oats tend to absorb the water and bulk up so I sometimes need to add water half way through cooking the whole batch).  Heat a pan and use a small amount of coconut oil to oil the pan. Fry the pancakes the same way you would a regular pancake, they are ready to flip when you see bubbles. 

Strawberry Sauce 
10-15 frozen strawberries (can use any fresh or frozen berry)
a little water 
1 tablespoon of chia seeds (great fibre!)

Directions
Heat the frozen berries over medium heat with the water until they are soft and warm. Since the strawberries were pretty big, I threw them into the blender to make a smoother sauce, but this is up to you. Then take off the heat and add the chia seeds and allow the sauce to sit for a few minutes. The chia seeds will absorb some of the liquid and firm up the sauce (this is a great way to make chia seed jam!) 

**Since I knew I would be topping these pancakes with maple syrup I didn't add any sugar to the pancakes or the strawberries. This is a great way to control the sugar content, and a great alternative to the sugary jams you can buy at the grocery store, or the traditional pancake recipes.**

^^ this is what the oats will look like once you have blended them up, a food processor would work too ^^

^^ blend the bananas and almond milk together ^^

^^ whisk it all up and add water to get your desired consistency ^^

^^ all you need to make the strawberry sauce ^^

^^ I eat mine with maple syrup and little plain yogourt ^^

**I'm going to post again about how to make a Valentines Day variation of these! ** 

Enjoy 

-M