A few weeks ago was National Pancake Day - better late than never, right? Here is me finally uploading a wonderful pancake recipe. I can't take all the credit, however, my wonderful boyfriend cooked the pancakes, I only helped!!


Actually, a long time ago, my boyfriend was making me pancakes and started adding lemon juice...I was mildly concerned. As it turns out, he knows a secret about making the  fluffiest, lightest, best pancakes - adding lemon juice and baking soda! The chemical reaction between these two ingredients causes bubbles aka fluffy lightness.

Don't worry, this isn't going to cause an explosion or anything. Just make sure you mix the lemon juice and baking soda into the batter when you're ready to make it (i.e. don't mix the ingredients, then let the batter sit on the counter/in the refrigerator for an hour).


And yes, in case you're wondering, my boyfriend is wonderful and loves making pancakes for us for breakfast (I definitely lucked out). My contribution to the pancake making is adding fruit or other delicious ingredients to the pancakes and, occasionally, whipped cream.

Strawberries and Cream Pancakes

Yield: 5 servings | Prep time: 5 minutes | Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups low-fat baking mix (like Bisquick)

• 1 cup almond milk

• 2 eggs

• 1 Tbsp. sugar

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

• 1 cup sliced strawberries

• 1/2 cup homemade whipped cream

• 1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Who doesn't love blueberry pancakes? They're light and spongy, golden brown and a little crunchy, and bursting with sweetness and tanginess from the blueberries. In fact, they're made perfect with some real maple syrup...and maybe a few strips of bacon.


One of the reasons why I adore pancakes is because I welcome any chance to eat dessert for a meal. While eating a slab of chocolate cake (a slice just won't cut it) for dinner is typically frowned upon, pancakes covered in maple syrup for breakfast is fairly common.


Another reason why I love pancakes is because I have such fond memories of eating pancakes growing up. I remember waking up on the weekend when I was younger to find my mum in the kitchen whipping up a batch of homemade pancakes. She'd even let me help, flipping the pancakes on the griddle and eating any batter drips that cooked (the "mini pancakes" I'd call them).


And while "homemade" pancakes sounds like a lot more work than pancake mix (like Bisquick), it's really not! Homemade pancakes only require a few ingredients, and they're things you already probably have in your kitchen anyway. Added bonus: pancakes freeze well! Just pop them into the toaster when you want to reheat them and they'll get warm again AND have that crunch you get when they're fresh off the griddle!

Homemade Blueberry Pancakes

Yield: 4 servings | Prep time: 5 minutes | Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups flour

• 2 Tbsp. sugar

• 2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 cup milk (add up to 1/3 cup more if your pancakes are too thick)

• 1 egg

• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup blueberries

What better way to start your morning with some healthy and delicious pumpkin pancakes? These pancakes are adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe from my mum - only 1 WW point per pancake!! Another great benefit of these pancakes - they only take about 15 minutes to make!

Pumpkin Pancakes

(Yields 12 pancakes)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup low-fat baking mix (such as low-fat Bisquick)
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup fat-free milk (I used almond milk but dairy milk works well too)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Maple Whipped Cream