Make a sweet and filling breakfast without added sugar. Banana adds so much natural sweetness to these pancakes that you won’t need a drip of high-calorie syrup to enjoy them. Ground oats make them filling and full of heart-healthy fiber.

Yield: 5 pancakes

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 medium banana, mashed
• 1 large egg
• ¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp fine ground sea salt
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 5 tbsp non-fat milk
• Chopped banana for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Place the oats in a small food processor and pulse until they are ground fine and resemble a coarse flour.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the banana and egg about 1 minute, until blended.
3. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon. Next add the baking powder and sea salt. Stir well.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the oats and whole wheat flour. Gradually add these dry ingredients, a little at a time, as you continue to stir. Finally fold in the milk to form a loose batter.
5. Preheat a medium-skillet or griddle sprayed with non-stick cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add ¼ cup of the batter to the skillet for each pancake. Cook 1 ½ to 2 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown and the pancake bubbles. Flip and cook an additional 1 ½ to 2 minutes.
6. Serve warm with chopped bananas, if desired.

Lori Rice, M.S., is a nutritional scientist and author with a passion for healthy cooking, exercise physiology, and food photography.