My battle with refusing to purchase pricey cereal rages on, and I’ve been on the lookout for other breakfast options. This week I tested a new one: whole wheat peanut butter pancakes.
We eat a lot of toast with peanut butter and jelly for breakfast in our house, as well as oatmeal, eggs and pancakes. A while back I began cutting down on the amount of cereal I purchased because it’s so darn expensive, and it usually only lasts a week at the most. With a family of three breakfast eaters, it’s simply not something I can afford. So I only purchase it when sales and coupons allow me to get it for $2.50 a box and under, and I supplement our breakfast stash with other options.
Finding healthy options isn’t always easy, though. For instance, my daughter and I loooove pancakes and waffles, but how good is that for us, really? You don’t have to answer… I already know. But I be always be sure to serve it with sliced fruit in an attempt to make myself feel like it’s semi-healthy, so that’s cool, right?
It’s easy to buy boxed pancake mix at the store, but this week I decided to try a homemade recipe and I not only saved money, I also created something far more nutritious.
I ran across the recipe for whole wheat peanut butter pancakes in a post from The Money Saving Mom (recipe originally from HeavenlyHomemakers.com). She suggested making a big batch and freezing them, so you can just pull them out and microwave them when you need a quick breakfast – sounds good to me!
Verdict:
First of all, I feel really good about eating these because (1) they are loaded with protein from the peanut butter, (2) they use whole wheat flour, and (3) it calls for all natural peanut butter (which basically means no added sugar or salt). The worst ingredient is 5 Tbs of butter – but that’s for an entire batch.
Second, they were satisfying. Because the peanut butter is all natural (therefore, no sugar), the pancakes weren’t as rich as I was expecting so I didn’t feel like I just ate a pie instead of pancakes for breakfast. Beware that they are really dense as opposed to the light and fluffy pancakes you may be used to. But combine these with some sliced bananas or strawberries, and you’ve got a filling, healthy breakfast (save you don’t go overboard with the syrup…). All in all, I wasn’t over the moon for them (I mean, I didn’t drool over them and desire to eat 7 in one sitting), but they were pretty tasty.
Third, they were affordable. I made them with ingredients I already had in the house, and the batter made about 15-20 small pancakes. Considering two are enough to satisfy me in one sitting, the batch goes a long way. Now in the morning I just grab a couple and microwave them for 1-2 minutes and breakfast is ready.
Get the recipe for whole wheat peanut butter pancakes from Heavenly Homemakers.