Sometimes I long for pancakes but I just cannot enjoy the flour variety without feeling guilty for choosing such an unhealthy meal. Pancakes wreck havoc with my blood sugar too. They are primarily made of flour which quickly turns to sugar when the body breaks down the flour. Eating flour pancakes for breakfast would cause a very unpleasant hypoglycemic event about 1 1/2 hours after eating them and then I would have to eat more food to bring my blood sugar back in balance.
So when the craving for pancakes does occur, I make cottage cheese pancakes, which are a good source of quality protein and truthfully, I prefer the taste and texture over flour pancakes hands down.
Real maple syrup is the dessert on top of these wonderful pancakes. No imitation stuff, please. Maple syrup is a good source of zinc and manganese. The graph below outlines the nutritional content as published by Maple Syrup of Canada. The darker the syrup the better the taste as far as I am concerned. Maple syrup contains about 50 calories per tablespoon so I carefully measure the amount I want to eat into a small dish and then warm the syrup before pouring over my pancakes. 
I use coconut oil in the recipe and to coat the skillet. A heavy skillet is important for cooking these pancakes because they need to cook slowly. I use an iron skillet, which is one of my favorite types to cook in. When I left home as a young girl, I left with an old iron skillet and a boatload of determination. Both have served me well.
Coconut oil is my oil of choice because of the health benefits and the taste. I use it in place of butter. Coconut oil is considered by some to be the most nutritious oil on the planet. Though it contains saturated fat, the size of the fat molecule is smaller (actually shorter) than the saturated fat molecule in animal fats and some nutritionist believe the body is able to burn coconut oil as fuel more efficiently than animal fat. Thus it provides the body with energy rather than packing the fat away in your arteries.
Coconut oil may even lower the risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease. It's hard to find really quality research on most things these days because there is just too much information published which claims to be solid research. For now, this is my personal stand and until I know otherwise, coconut oil will play a major role in my diet. Any fat, whether it is butter, sour cream, whipped cream and so on, should be used sparingly.
Coconut oil is my oil of choice because of the health benefits and the taste. I use it in place of butter. Coconut oil is considered by some to be the most nutritious oil on the planet. Though it contains saturated fat, the size of the fat molecule is smaller (actually shorter) than the saturated fat molecule in animal fats and some nutritionist believe the body is able to burn coconut oil as fuel more efficiently than animal fat. Thus it provides the body with energy rather than packing the fat away in your arteries. Coconut oil may even lower the risk of atherosclerosis and heart disease. It's hard to find really quality research on most things these days because there is just too much information published which claims to be solid research. For now, this is my personal stand and until I know otherwise, coconut oil will play a major role in my diet. Any fat, whether it is butter, sour cream, whipped cream and so on, should be used sparingly.
Choosing the right eggs will make your pancakes taste better also. I prefer the cage free type, free roaming nesting hens. I really can taste the difference. Also my hope is the hens are free from hormones and antibiotics. You can't be 100% sure, even if the claim is made, however. Use one or two eggs in the recipe depending on how many protein grams you want to eat. One egg contains 6 - 7 grams. If you use two eggs and want to decrease the fat grams, discard one of the yolks. Eggs have been given a bad wrap because of cholesterol but truthfully, they contain a wide array of vitamins and minerals that are important for good health. In fact eggs are one of the few foods with naturally occurring vitamin D.
Even the type of salt I use is important to me. My favorite is sea salt. Sea salt is free of the additives used in table salt to slow moisture absorption. I love the Himalayan sea salts. They are rich in minerals and are pollutant free. They really do taste wonderful.
Here is my Cottage Cheese Pancake recipe:
(I bet you thought I would never get to it)
Heat heavy skillet, lightly coat with oil.
Combine in a blender:
Combine in a blender:
1 egg (use two if you prefer, just add a tiny bit more flour to get the batter to the right thickness)
1 cup low fat or fat free cottage cheese
Dash of salt
Dash of baking soda
3/4 tablespoon oil
2 - 3 tablespoons of flour
Blend on low speed until smooth.
Pour small amount of batter in the skillet and cook at a low temperature. They need to cook at a temperature somewhat less than flour pancakes. Patience is needed because they do need to cook very slowly.
Flip after the surface begins to look dry.
Add fresh blueberries or other fruit as desired.
Top with pure maple syrup.
Nothing taste better on a cool fall morning than cottage cheese pancakes, real maple syrup and a cup of hot coffee. Enjoy!
Check out these informational sites
http://www.saltworks.us/himalayan-salt.asp
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html
Flip after the surface begins to look dry.
Add fresh blueberries or other fruit as desired.
Top with pure maple syrup.
Nothing taste better on a cool fall morning than cottage cheese pancakes, real maple syrup and a cup of hot coffee. Enjoy!
Check out these informational sites
http://www.saltworks.us/himalayan-salt.asp
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html
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