Banana Oatmeal Blueberry Pancakes {Baby Led Weaning Recipes}

I've got another baby-approved recipe for you!!! These pancakes are AHHMAZING for everyone because they're super quick and easy to whip up and so healthy AND delicious!! Seriously, Michael and I both loved them almost as much as James (it's hard to compare to the amount of enthusiasm that little guy had for these pancakes. He devoured them in no time flat!) They also freeze great, I made a big batch and then froze most of them so I could easily just take one out and microwave it anytime little man needed his pancake fix.

I just love how healthy these pancakes are, they're mostly just bananas and oats! And you just blend all the ingredients in a blender: COULD NOT BE EASIER. I also added blueberries for my boys and because I'm a grown up and I can-and I don't dig blueberries-I added chocolate chips for myself. These were actually one of the first foods that baby James got excited about (he ate 2.5 pancakes in one sitting) and no one can blame him. You'll love them and feel good about eating them/feeding them to your family!

Multigrain Waffles/Pancakes

This recipe can also be known as "the one that finally made me throw my waffle iron out."

Hold on! Wait! Don't go! It's not the recipe's fault! My waffle iron was sort of broken for a bit and this is just when I realized "Oh hey....the top of the waffle iron isn't cooking at all." which was extremely frustrating because it took me quite a few waffles that ended up all messed up and in the garbage before I realized the problem wasn't on my end-that it was my waffle maker. I did manage to salvage 1 waffle so yay! We got some pictures! And with the remaining batter I just made some pancakes!

So yes...my waffle maker is now dead. BUT the good news is there's only a couple more months until my bridal showers where I will hopefully receive the one I registered for :D.

Anyway. On to this recipe. It is super hearty and full of good for you stuffs. I also folded in some whipped egg whites to make them crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside (which is much more noticeable when they are in waffle form).

The pancakes and waffles are chewy and tasty and pretty and this recipe makes a bunch so you can freeze whatever you don't eat and just pop into the toaster (or microwave or oven) when you're ready for a simple, healthy, breakfast!

Plus--you can totally play around with how you top them or what you add into them. As you probably know by now, I like to add chocolate chips and spread nut butter on top. Michael likes chopped apples and cinnamon in his pancakes, and he pretty much is always a fan of fruit and whipped cream on top of waffles--he's also a fan of the classic butter & syrup combo. How would you eat your pancakes or waffles?

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

My brother was so excited one day. He was like, "Have you ever had chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter on them? They're SO good! And healthier than like butter and syrup." "I know," I responded, "that's the only way I eat pancakes." And he was all like, "Oh." And then he wanted me to make him pancakes. Healthyish ones. And then, after I'd purchased all the necessary ingredients....he cut out carbs.

*facepalm*

After I ensured that he was, in fact, not going to be eating pancakes in the immediate future, I bit the bullet.

I made pancakes for myself. And only me. (Michael doesn't love pancakes.)

And it was glorious.

You're probably all, "Kayle! It makes so many pancakes! You couldn't eat all of them!"

You're half right, I couldn't eat all of them at once. Leftover pancakes are easy-peasy. You just heat them up in the oven (250F-300F degrees, usually) for 10-15 minutes and they're all warm and crispy again, just like when they're fresh!

I would take 2 pancakes, heat them up, slather them in peanut butter, and then go work out. Perfect system.

And yes-these pancakes ARE fairly healthy! They're made with whole wheat flour and filling/heart healthy oats. Throw in some Greek yogurt for protein + fluffiness. Minimal other stuff. Plus you can totally customize what you do with them--I chose to use chocolate chips and top with peanut butter. Maybe you want to put some chopped up apples + cinnamon in them. Or bananas. Or nuts. Really...you can have a lot of fun with these lovelies. And they are super thick, hearty, soft, filling, and just....my new favorite pancakes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes-Guest Post with The Messy Baker

Thank you all so much, again, for hanging in for all the guest posts! I promise by July we'll be back to 100% me all the time-seriously though, I feel like I may be a disappointment after all the awesome bloggers I've had swooping in to help me out. Like today's!

Jennie is back! One of my best bloggy buds-Jennie (AKA The Messy Baker)'s photography skills are amazinggg, her food is delicious, and she's also genuinely a gal that I would be-and am-friends with! My current obsession is trying to convince her and her hubby (affectionately referred to on her blog as "Squirrel") to move to the Cleveland area. (JENNIEMOVETOCLEVELAND). I'm super subtle about it, though.

I should just let Jennie show you the depths of her perfection:

Hello again, Cooking Actress fans!

I’m here to fill in while Kayle settles into her new home in Ohio and adjusts to life in the country. Well, it’s the country in comparison to New York.

My name is Jennie. I’m gal who makes a mess over at The Messy Baker. This isn’t my first rodeo at The Cooking Actress. I wrote a guest post back in October for Kayle while she was celebrating a relative’s wedding. Being the cookie queen that Kayle is, I made a batch of Pumpkin Cheesecake Cookies.

I decided to go a different route this time and make a breakfast item. How does Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes sound?

Like breakfast to your ears, right?

I don’t know about you, but I can manhandle a stack of pancakes with no problem. I don’t make them very often because Squirrel poo-poos them (the weirdo), so when I get my hands on a plate of hotcakes, you bet I’m going to go a bit overboard.

I like my pancakes crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The secret to crisp edges is adding a little canola oil to the bottom of a non-stick pan. Once the canola oil is hot, you’ll ladle in a scoop of pancake batter. I cook my pancakes until I see bubbles form, then I give ‘em a flip and cook the other side for 30 seconds to a minute.

We can’t have a stack of pancakes without syrup, am I right? I prefer all-natural maple syrup. Call me a syrup snob, but there’s no way maple-flavored corn syrup is even going to look in my stack o’ cake’s direction. 

Today I decided to raise the bar and make homemade blackberry maple syrup to drown our pancakes in. Lemon and blackberries just make sense.

The blackberry maple syrup comes together in under 10 minutes. Add 7 ounces of fresh blackberries to a saucepan. Add ½ cup of pure maple syrup, ¼ cup water, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch. Whisk to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat. Mash the berries using a fork or potato masher, and then bring the mixture to a gentle boil, allowing the cornstarch to thicken the mixture. Once the mixture thickens, take it off the heat and allow the mixture to come to room temperature. Strain the syrup through a mesh sieve and store in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. Heat in the microwave for 30 seconds before drizzling over your hotcakes.

Viola, homemade berry-infused syrup.

The pancakes are perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The combination of lemon and poppy seeds is a classic combination that’s sure to impress. Drizzled with homemade blackberry maple syrup, and these hotcakes are irresistible.

Cinnamon Streusel Pancakes

These are the first pancakes that I have eaten in a very long time that didn't have chocolate chips and peanut butter. Because....streusel. Yummy. Wonderful. STREUSEL. So it's like a merger between pancakes and coffee cake: breakfast power couple. What I'm saying is...the pancakes are Shiloh Jolie-Pitt.*

*just kidding. They're pancakes. DELICIOUS pancakes.

I don't know that I've ever before bitten into a pancake and just marveled at how buttery it tasted. And then the delicious crunch and flavor of brown sugar and cinnamon....mmm it's enough to make your mouth water.

Look, ok, let's just say....if I were to open a restaurant, or host a brunch...

...these would certainly be made! Even Michael liked them, and pancakes are like his 3rd favorite of the sweet breakfast carbs (for him the order goes french toast, waffles, then pancakes. For me it goes waffles, pancakes, then french toast. Clearly no one can ever be satisfied).

There's only 1 downside...

The sheer QUANTITY of pancakes this recipe makes. If you have the skills to make large ones (which I do not) it'll yield 6, if you're like me and making medium ones, you're looking at 12-14 pancakes. That's a lot for 2 people to eat. It makes me long for the days when I'll have a whole family to feed. Or ya know...this fall when my brother will probably be living with us for a bit. Pretty sure that kid will eat everything in his path. This recipe would definitely be no problem for him to help demolish. In the meantime, freezing a few helps keep it manageable. 

Now, to serve these: I actually like them as is, or just with a little butter. The streusel adds plenty of sweetness and butteriness, in my opinion. Michael had syrup too, though, so it's really up to you! If you wanna be fancy with a little mound of butter like in these pictures, use a melon baller to scoop out some softened whipped butter.

And then you, too, can feel like you're fancy whilst in your pj's and watching Charmed on Netflix.

Peanut Butter Coconut Flour Pancakes (Edward & Sons Review)

Names. 

What is in a name? 

They're funny little things. Take my name for instance: Kayle. It's a weird name. For one thing, you may not be aware, but it is pronounced Kay-lee (rhymes with Hayley). My mom heard it when she was pregnant with me, and liked it. But at the time it wasn't a common name. The main spelling she knew of was the traditional Irish spelling, Kayleigh. But my mom thought that would be too difficult for a kindergartner to attempt to spell. She'd also heard of it being spelled Kaylee. But my mom's middle name is Lee, and her sister's middle name is Kay, so she didn't want people to think it was 2 names (like Bobby Jo or Mary Ann)-she wanted to be clear it was one, fluid name. So she took off the extra "e". She didn't anticipate how many people would call me "Kale". Or "Kyle". Or Kayla, Kylie, Callie, etc. etc. Don't even get me started on how many ways my name gets misspelled...there are like a bjillion ways to spell Kayle. (And let's not even get into my last name...oh boy. For the record, it's pronounced Bolone-ya...like the city in Italy, Bologna.) Now, let's think about Michael. My boyfriend. His name is Michael. NOT Mike. When people call him Mike I get very confused and weirded out. Some people are Mike's. Some people can be Mike's AND Michael's, but my Michael is just...Michael. For some reason shortening it to one syllable entirely changes my perception of him and his name. And then there comes naming a post, naming a recipe. You want the name to be descriptive, and really tell you what it is...but you don't want it to be too long. It's a tricky line to walk. Names have so much meaning on so many different levels, that can completely alter how we perceive something...if my name had that extra "e"...I wouldn't feel like the same me. Mike is not my boyfriend. And these pancakes are delicious...whatever you call em.

Now...do they taste like a peanut butter cup? Um absolutely not. They taste like pancakes with a faint hint of peanut butter...and if you use chocolate chips then chocolate. Anyway, I've never used coconut flour, but when I found myself with some amazing Edward & Sons Organic Coconut Flour at my disposal, I knew I needed to play with it! I'm looking forward to using it more, so if you have any recipes using coconut flour, share away! I'd love some ideas!

Coconut flour is awesome for a few reasons: one of which is it's a great gluten free replacement for wheat flour. It's also low in fat, high in fiber, and generally tasty and healthy!

The texture of these pancakes, due to the coconut flour, is definitely different and something to get used to. They're a little thicker and more...grainy isn't quite the word but something like that. It also is delightfully hearty and imparts a nice, subtle, coconut flavor. Which lends itself really well to the subtle sweetness of these pancakes. Because generally, these pancakes are pretty darn good for you: low in fat and calories, the amount of sweetness or sugar is entirely up to you (they can even be sugar free if you don't have much of a sweet tooth), and ya know. All that good stuff. Of course then I need chocolate chips and to smother them in peanut butter but...I mean...would I be me otherwise?

Whole Wheat Brown Butter Pancakes

These are some of the best pancakes I've ever made. Certainly the prettiest.

I'm pretty sure they're Michael's favorite too (even though he's not generally a big pancake fan). He's totally on the browned butter bandwagon.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

My girl, Kristin, of Baker Bettie, (remember her?) has this amazing Back to Bake-sics series that is just...revolutionizing how I make things. I suck at science so making my own recipes has always seemed confusing/intimidating but she breaks it down in a way that makes SO much sense and it has taught me SO much! Anyway, as soon as I saw her basics recipe for pancakes I knew I had to use it immediately. Wanna know why? She said I could use any liquid fat...which made my brain go: BROWNED BUTTER PANCAKES ARE HAPPENING! And I knew brown sugar would be a perfect partner, and I thought the nuttiness of whole wheat flour would complement the recipe too. So that is what I did.

Such a great idea.

These pancakes had such a great, different, flavor. They were soft and fluffy. Pretty much overall deliciousness in pancake form. You can also get crazy and throw in some fruit or chocolate chips or whatever (which of course I added chocolate chips to mine, but I actually think they distracted from the delicious browned butter flavor. Michael's were chocolate chip-less). Whatever. Bottom line is you just need these in your life. For breakfast. Or dinner, hey, whatever floats your boat.

4 Ingredient Chocolate Chip Pancakes

First of all-hurray! The blog is now parked at it's new domain www.cookingactress.com but don't worry, if you type in the old cookingactress.blogspot.com that will still work, it'll just redirect. As of right now if you type in just cookingactress.com (no www.) that will not work, but I'm hoping to rectify that. Anyway, if anything doesn't work normally, if you're not getting my posts in your RSS feeds, emails, etc. or if any links stop working, just let me know, drop me an email (cookingactress@yahoo.com), whatever! Thanks guys :)

Update: putting in just cookingactress.com should work now! Yay! Again, let me know if there are any problems!

If I told you you could make healthy, tasty pancakes using only eggs, banana, and baking powder, you'd be like "Oh my crap! Let's get on board!" right!?

Um...well...you can make healthy pancakes using only eggs, banana, and baking powder.
It won't be easy. And it's gonna taste very strongly of...well...eggs and banana, but...you can do it.

Unfortunately for me, I actually don't like eggs. So end of the day, these poor pancakes didn't get eaten (Michael wasn't home, plus he doesn't like bananas). Luckily-I didn't use many ingredients to make em. 

Anyway, let's rewind. I'm not saying you should write these guys off. You just need to know what to expect. If you're cool with bananas and eggs, then we're off to a great start. You also just need to be very careful when cooking these, letting them cook a little slower and fully before flipping (and making sure to make small pancakes and using 2 spatulas, because these are very fragile and flipping is difficult). 

Once you follow those steps, you do have some pancakes that are pretty good-and you can feel good about eating! They're definitely worth trying. Like that dress you see at the store that normally wouldn't be your style but something about it is like clicking in your brain-you might as well try it on.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Breakfast recipes on a Monday, oh how I missed thee.

Right now, I'm probably giggling and having a cartoon-worthy wonderful time with Hayley from The Domestic Rebel, today is her last full day visiting here. Perhaps we're even having breakfast, maybe making it together. Perhaps we are making these pancakes.

Who knows?

Now, if you're familiar with my pancake habits, you know that I eat chocolate chip pancakes (or waffles) with peanut butter spread on top. That is the way I like it. I also like for my breakfasts to be pretty healthy, though, and that is where a recipe like this comes in. These pancakes are made entirely with whole wheat flour and they are fluffy and fabulous. You don't even have to put chocolate chips in em if you want, you could pull a Michael and chop up some apples and throw those in these with a little cinnamon. Really it's up to you.

I just like the chocolate chips.

The first time I attempted to make these pancakes it was a bit of a disaster. After making the entire batch, Michael complained about them tasting funny, to which I replied that there was nothing particularly weird in these. Then he went to have a drink of milk-and it was apparently very bad. The same milk I had just used to make these pancakes. So...into the trash they all went. And I was stuck starving, with a sink full of dishes, and no food. I was a sad Kayle.

The second venture into these pancakes went much better, although I was sort of gun shy this go round, made paranoid by my previous traumatic experience. I worried for naught. These tasted delicious. Fluffy, yet hearty, and full of chocolatey goodness. Then, I was a happy Kayle.

Moral of the story is: make these pancakes and you'll be a happy Kayle too. :)

Whole Wheat Greek Yogurt Pancakes

Happy Labor Day-bor!

Ohhhh it's time for another breakfast recipe on this loovely Monday morning! (imagine that I sang that to you, because I did.I wanted you to know that. And hear it....I'll wait.....)

...You done? My voice is pretty, huh? Thanks :) Anyway! Pancakes! YOU GUYS! I made pretty(ish) pancakes! This never happens! The only pancakes I've ever made that looked nice were those healthy ones! That is also why those are the only ones I've ever shared on here. Also, when it comes down to it, given the choice between waffles and pancakes, Michael and I both usually prefer waffles. But..sometimes..I don't want to mess with the waffle-maker. Sometimes all I want is a stack of fluffy pancakes.

There are a couple things that make these pancakes special.

They're not super unhealthy and fattening! These are made with whole wheat and Greek yogurt (which I will talk about more on Wednesday), and absolutely no oil or any other sort of fat. So-yay!

The Greek yogurt in these (which I subbed in for the originally called for sour cream) makes these pancakes super moist and rich. It's quite lovely.

And, I also discovered I like using mini chocolate chips in pancakes. They're cute. Plus, they seem to work better. Obviously, you do not need to use chocolate chips. I am just crazy and need to eat pancakes/waffles with chocolate chips and peanut butter spread on top. It's dark chocolate and natural peanut butter though, so, still healthy!

(HEALTHY) Chocolate Chip Cookie Pancakes

Sometimes I make pancakes.

Not often.

I'm concerned they're not super healthy for breakfast.

I've never shared any recipes with you because....

my pancakes always turn out ugly.

Apparently I am unable to cook pancakes and have them look pretty.

Or at least-I was!