Enjoy every warm, sweet, and fluffy bite.

You may be wondering how pancakes can fit into a healthy diet. Well, we are happy to say that they CAN and DO! At least– these pancakes with roasted strawberries do. By now we all know that “whole grain” is always better for us than fully milled flours. So, that part shouldn’t be a surprise. But, “whole grain” options also provide important fiber (think happy gut, skinny tummy!), as well as great texture and a nutty taste. I’ll get back to the pancakes in a minute, but I’d like to address the scrumptious roasted strawberries, first!

Roasted Fruit?

Easy…by now you probably know that roasting vegetables brings out their natural sugars, right? Well, the same is true of roasting fruit. Natural sugars are concentrated and the flavor is deepened during roasting. So, instead of giving our pancakes a sugary, liquid blast of syrup, we are going to sprinkle fresh strawberries with coconut sugar and roast them, allowing the roasting process to create a naturally sweetened, ultra-strawberry fruit topping to complement our wheaty pancakes.

Why Coconut Sugar?

Perhaps you’ve never heard of coconut sugar? Well, let me tell you about it: coconut sugar is a natural sugar made from coconut palm sap. There are some studies that suggest coconut sugar is better for you than regular sugar, due to the small concentration of minerals and fiber. That said, these amounts are so small that you’d have to eat quite a bit of coconut sugar to get a signifcant amount of nutrients. Obviously, we don’t advise that. There are much healthier, lower-calories ways to meet those nutritional needs. Nevertheless, coconut sugar appears to be slightly more nutritious than white table sugar. So, if a recipe calls for sugar, you might as well choose coconut sugar!

A Better Pancake

So, on to those pancakes. We are going to combine some great ingredients to make a wholesome, whole wheat-based pancake, using ingredients you’d expect to see in “normal” pancakes. That said, we’ve lightened things up a bit with an extra egg white instead of two whole eggs, used baking powder for “fluff,” and added some coconut oil to our batter, as well. As a note: the honey is optional in the batter and you can feel free to substitute non-dairy “milks” for the low-fat, as needed or desired.

Once your batter is all prepped, cook your pancakes on a heated griddle or skillet until the first side shows bubbles, before flipping and finishing to a golden brown. Once cooked, keep your pancakes warm in the oven until all the batter has been used up. Then, top your hotcakes with the roasted strawberry mixture and serve immediately. The warmer, the better!

I’m guessing you can’t wait to make these for your next breakfast or brunch! If you do, let us know how they were in the comment section. We’d also love to hear what you think about roasting fruit as a pancake topping? Or would you use them as a topping on something else? Share your ideas with us!

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