Flax and Oat Pancakes

You groggily open your eyes one Saturday morning. Spring is here; this fact is made evident by the warm sun streaming through the blinds and the cheerful songs of the birds outside your window. You hear your children and spouse giggling down the hall, you smell the freshly brewed coffee, with a light and happy heart you head to the kitchen and…pour the same tired, old, strangely-reminiscent-of-cardboard cereal for breakfast?! No! Such a perfect spring Saturday morning calls for pancakes! And, believe me, these hearty and healthy pancakes will have everyone around the table full, happy, and ready to enjoy their spring break adventures without a sugar crash.

Makes about 12 pancakes, depending on size.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour (could be made gluten free by substituting GF flour)
• 1 cup of old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup of coconut sugar
• 2 tbsp of whole flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup of unsweetened almond milk
• 3/4-1 cup of water
• Optional toppings:
  • butter
  • coconut oil
  • maple syrup
  • honey
  • chocolate chips
  • unsweetened coconut
  • chopped fruit
  • chopped nuts

Directions:

• Heat your skillet over medium-low heat, and grease with desired cooking oil
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour through salt)
• Add egg, oil, and almond milk, stirring until combined
• Add water about 1/4 cup at a time, until it makes a fairly thin batter
• Spoon batter (your desired pancake size) into hot pan
• Once bubbles form and pop, flip and cook on the other side
• Repeat with remaining batter
• Serve warm with desired toppings
• Store leftovers covered in the fridge – they reheat fine in the microwave, good to grab and go!

I hope you and your family can enjoy a slow Saturday morning breakfast together; I’d guess that these pancakes could rouse even the most sullen teen out of bed 😉 For more breakfast ideas, check out my Whole30 Breakfast Hash, Turkey Sausage Breakfast Bake, Fruit and Nut Granola, Cinnamon Apple Oatmeal, or Peanut Butter and Chocolate Overnight Oats. I hope this season, in all of its newness, starts off wonderfully for you. Have some quality time at breakfast…and enjoy your pinch of crazy!

 

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Molasses Cookies

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The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It’s that time of year for Christmas cookies! Cookie exchanges, cookie decorating, full cookie jars almost daily; it’s certainly the most wonderful time of the year! If you’ve kept up with my blog thus far then you know how detrimental my sugar *monster* can be; if I eat too much refined sugar, I get headaches, my anxiety shoots up, and my ability to sleep goes out the window right along with my racing heart. You can read more about my journey with anxiety and trigger foods in this post, but, basically, I can’t be eating Christmas cookies every day. Sigh.

However, with this recipe, I can still enjoy a Christmas cookie…or two…or three, without all the side effects that come from refined sugar. These Molasses Cookies are refined sugar free, made with hearty whole wheat flour, sweet but not too sweet, and have all the warm Christmas-time spices; the texture is great, too: crunchy edges, slightly chewy, with a soft center. My friends and family, 22-month old included, loved these; my husband and dad could hardly stop eating them! I promise you won’t be disappointed in these cookies, but you may be disappointed by how quickly they’ll disappear.

Molasses Cookies

Makes 33 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1.5 tsp of cinnamon, plus 1/2 tsp set aside
• 3/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup coconut sugar, plus 1/4 cup set aside
• 1/2 cup room temperature coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of molasses (that is my favorite brand; dark, but not too strong tasting)
• 1 tsp of vanilla

Directions:

• Combine first 7 ingredients (flour through cloves) in a small mixing bowl
• Whisk until combined
• In a separate large bowl, beat together the coconut oil and coconut sugar until fluffy
• Add in eggs one at a time, combing well after each egg
• Add the molasses and vanilla, mix until combined
• Add the flour mixture in three parts, mixing well after each addition
• Place bowl with dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes, until dough is firm enough to handle
• While dough is freezing, heat oven to 350 F
• Prepare three baking sheets with non-stick spray or, my favorite baking tool, these silicone mats (which would make a great stocking stuffer 😉 )
• On parchment paper, combine 1/4 cup coconut sugar and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• Once dough is firm, roll into tbsp sized balls, roll balls in cinnamon sugar mixture, and place on baking sheet 1 inch apart
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges are dark brown
• Let cool on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to let cool completely
• Store in covered container for up to a week

If you need a decadent hot coco to go along with your molasses cookies, check out my Death by Hot Chocolate for the ultimate chocolate fix, and for more cookies to stuff your cookie jar with, bake up a batch of my Wholesome Chocolate Chunk Cookies, or bar cookies like Dark Chocolate Paleo Brownies or Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookie Bars. Let me know what your favorite seasonal cookie is! Keep those cookie jars full this season…and enjoy your pinch of crazy!