#WellnessWednesday Recipe Re-Dos: Whole Wheat Berry Pancakes

If there is one breakfast food that needs a makeover, it's pancakes. As fluffy and delicious as they are, calories are one thing they are not short of. Besides that, they tend to give us a super full feeling that leaves you feeling tired instead of energized like a good breakfast should. With that in mind, I figured pancakes would be a fun breakfast dish to re-do in a healthier way. I was skeptical of this recipe at first myself but they passed the taste test with flying colors. 

My trick to making this morning favorite a healthier option was all through substitutions. We can throw a bunch of berries in a typical pancake recipe but it doesn't make it healthy. I swapped out white flour with whole wheat, cut out a lot of butter and used applesauce as a sweetener. I only use a tablespoon of sugar to round out the flavors but it's completely optional. Whole wheat anything gets a bad rap because it's usually bland and dry. These pancakes do not have that problem thanks to the applesauce. 

Whole wheat flour was the best alternative in my house because of allergies but you can even take this a step further and substitute almond flour, barley flour, buckwheat (a personal favorite of mine) or oat flour. There are so many options out there right now so I'd recommend choosing one that works for you and your family and stick with it. 

Whole Wheat Berry Pancakes
Ingredients
1.5 cups Whole Wheat Flour
3.5 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar (optional)
4 tablespoons Applesauce
1 1/4 cups Milk
1 Egg
1 tablespoon Butter, melted
1/4 cup Blueberries
1/4 cup Raspberries, roughly chopped

Directions
Mix together dry ingredients. Add in applesauce, milk and egg. Melt butter and add to batter. Finish combining all ingredients and gently fold in the berries.

Spray a non-stick skillet with cooking spray or rub with a little butter, just enough to keep the pancakes from sticking while they cook. Heat the skillet over medium heat. Ladle four 3-4 inch pancakes onto the skillet. Once they're bubbling, flip to the other side and finish cooking. Cook them about 2-3 minutes per side. Reserve on a warmed plate until done cooking and serve. 

*Trick: Not sure whether your pancakes are done or not? Here's a trick my Papa taught me when I was little. Press the pancake down with the flat part of the spatula. If the pancake pops back up, it's ready. If it doesn't rise back up to it's previous height, it's not ready. 

Yields about 16 pancakes