Do you know how much ‘Free sugars’ kids consume today? ‘Free sugars’ are "all monosaccharides and disaccharides" added to packaged foods by food or drink manufacturers. It does not include natural sugar found in fruits or vegetables. We should be eating a maximum of 5% of our daily calories from added sugars. The reality is far from it and kids today are getting almost 12-16% of their daily calories from added sugar. Eating too much sugar often means we're eating too many 'empty' calories and if unused, our body will store them as fat. This leads to weight gain and if it happens to our children, they will probably carry it into their adult years, becoming overweight or obese.
Obesity in kids, coupled with rising diabetes is predominant in our urban settings. But just removing this one ingredient isn’t always the only solution. We should encourage our children to eat plenty more whole fruit and veggies, healthier snacks and drinks too.
Keeping this in mind, I put together this nutritious breakfast idea which is gluten and sugar free. Eating the right breakfast is very important for everyone, not just kids alone. Banana is one of natures finest 'whole' fruit and the best time to eat it is in the morning. Swapping a few ingredients here and there, doing away with processed junk get's you that much closer to achieving a balanced diet for your family. This recipe is really simple and I have broken it down for you, so even if you have just the key ingredients, you can comfortably make yourself a delicious batch of these pancakes. Double it up if you are hosting a breakfast/ brunch at home.
Key Ingredients
1 really ripe banana
2 large eggs
1/2 cup desiccated Coconut
coconut oil for cooking
Optional Ingredients
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 cup Glutenfree flour (store bought or home-made)
1/2 cup dairy of your choice
pinch of salt
Toppings
agave necter
honey
date syrup
dark chocolate chips
fresh cut fruits
chopped walnuts or pecans
Mash up the ripe banana in a large bowl. Crack the two eggs, add the desiccated coconut and mix this along with the banana. This is the basic 3 ingredient recipe. I have also added cinnamon powder with a pinch of salt in this batter. If you wish for a smoother texture to the batter, add the gluten free flour, dairy and blend this well. Feel free to blend all the ingredients together in a blender, this ensured a smooth and creamy batter.
On a heated skillet add a 1/4 cup of pancake batter and drizzle some coconut oil around the pancake. Cover with a lid and let this cook on a medium flame. In about 5 minutes you will see a few bubbles form on top of the pancake, that's when you flip it over and cook the other side, uncovered for another 2-3 minutes. Once you finish cooking up the entire batch of pancakes in this manner, serve them warm with any of the above toppings. My batch here are topped with Agave nectar and mini dark chocolate chips
Tip- Ripe bananas are naturally sweet and doesn't require any other sweetener. Incase your banana isn't ripe enough, then add a tablespoon of date syrup to the batter. Kids can play around with the toppings of their choice, fresh fruit is always the best. All of the toppings listed above are naturally sweet and not processed in any way.