Pancakes...Round 3! We have a winner!!!!

In my attempt to make sure the kids have some "comfort foods" in their lives, I have tried three versions of Paleo pancakes.  Let's face it, grains are what makes pancakes, pancakes!!  It is very hard to match that consistency, crispy outside, fluffy inside, golden yumminess.  I knew I wasn't going to match Aunt Jemima in any way, but I tried.

The first one I tried, I found the recipe in a Paleo cookbook I have.  I don't remember which one because nobody like them, so I didn't mark it a "keeper".  They were a banana base, really thin and runny.  Wouldn't flip well and nobody like them.  Oh I said that, well it's worth saying again, nobody liked them.

The next one I tried was the recipe on www.thepaleomom.com.  Hers have a plantain base which I thought would make a stiff pancake, easier to flip, not so banana-y, etc.  I thought they were ok, the kids hated them.  This loathing of the pancake was actually a turnaround in many of our food conversion issues.  It created a major fight with one of the kids, which meant a lot of words being flung around.  Never a good thing, except when one child, who desperately needed this diet change comes to you and says, "Thank you mom, I really appreciate all you are doing for us and ME.  I'm sorry I don't say it enough.  I'm happy for the change, I feel better."  And the offending child, also coming back with a new heart and willingness to "try harder". THANK YOU LORD!!

So today were were going to celebrate Koltin's birthday over breakfast.  I said I would make pancakes.  Everyone kind of groaned.  These have not been super successful and I was altering the recipe itself so anything could happen.  I kept it in the back of my mind that if everything was a flop, I'd just take them to IHOP and regret it later.

The recipe came from Against All Grain.  I used the nut-free version with sunflower flour.  This did take a bit longer because I had to MAKE the sunflower flour!!  Thankfully, Justin has been eager to help in the kitchen during recent weeks.  After I ground the sunflower seeds in the food processor, he stood with the flour sifter and made sure we had a fine flour, adding the larger pieces back into the food processor as needed.  He also sliced up the bananas and helped me add them to the pancakes, along with the chocolate chips.  I made some modifications to her recipe, I did add a teaspoon more of honey, per the nut-free directions.  I also added a few drops of lemon juice to counteract the chemical reaction between the sunflower seeds and baking soda.  We did have a few green spots in the pancakes but not many, so this must have worked!

Bacon came out of the oven and I started dishing up pancakes...

I had to quickly mix up a 2nd batch because Ethan and Dawson ate FOUR a piece!!!!  Everyone loved them!!  Except Matthew.  Matthew has decided that all pancakes are gross except Aunt Jemima, so he took one, ate one small bite, dug the bananas out and ate them and said they were gross.  *insert eye roll here*  The child HAS no idea what he missed out on!!

You don't need syrup, but I did add a bit of pure maple syrup to mine.

The bananas definitely add that magic touch.  I would slice them thinner next time.  Several mentioned they'd like to try them with blueberries, so we may try that.  When I do, I will increase the honey by another teaspoonful.

Thanks to my friend Kirstin, who introduced this recipe to me!  We have a winner!!!!!