Butternut Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups butternut squash, peeled and chopped
• 5 baby carrots
• 1/2 banana
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup vanilla soy milk (can sub any nut milk)
• 1/4 cup water*
• 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax seeds + 3 tablespoons water)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup whole wheat flour*
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 banana, sliced (optional)

*adjust accordingly; exact measurements may vary

Directions:

1. Steam butternut squash and let it cool.
2. Put butternut squash, carrots, banana, cinnamon, salt, oats, soy milk, and water into blender. Blend until almost smooth, then transfer into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add flax egg to the mixture. To make a flax egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of room temp./warm water, and let sit for a few minutes until it thickens up.
4. Add baking powder and mix.
5. Fold in whole wheat flour in 1/6 cup (1/3 cup filled half way) increments. Use enough to achieve a typical pancake batter consistency.
6. Add the 1 teaspoon of olive oil. This little bit goes a long way to ensure that the pancakes stay moist on the inside and non-stick on the outside.
7. Lightly grease griddle or large shallow pan with cooking spray. If you don’t have cooking spray (I don’t), dab a bit of olive oil onto a paper towel and rub it around. Turn heat to medium.
8. Scoop some batter onto the griddle or pan to make round circles.

OPTIONAL: If you want, at this point you can put that extra half of your banana to good use by placing 3 banana slices on top.

10. Flip when edges turn brown or start to bubble a little. If your pancake has the banana slices on top, after flipping it over, press down a bit onto the pancake with your spatula. This will ease the banana slices “into” the batter on the other side. Be careful when you flip the pancake; you don’t want to lose a banana piece or mess up the batter surface.

Original:

Banana on top:

The pancakes aren’t too sweet on their own, so do have fun dressing them up with your favorite pancake toppings!

Makes 6-8 pancakes (2-3 servings)