Baby Cakes

Let's face it. Pancakes are awesome. They are a treat in this household and I always look forward to our local farmer’s market pancake days (strawberry pancake day, pumpkin pancake day... you get the idea). On Christmas Eve I wanted to make red pancakes for Jasper to try and I thought that beets might be a wonderful way to get the festive hue into the batter naturally.  I prepared several, adorable, pinkish little pancakes (I froze most of them). You can imagine that I was a little sad when my baby would not eat them.  I have been casually adding them as an option at several of Jasper's meals over the past few weeks and have tried not to make a big deal about the fact that he refused them. When he refused, I did not mind doing my share to prevent food waste, these pancakes are quite tasty! My persistence paid off. One week ago he started gobbling them up and I decided to create another veggie pancake (spinach and broccoli) for him to enjoy (and he does). 

My hope is that your little ones (or you) will enjoy these baby cakes as well! 

Roasted Beet Cakes and Broccoli Spinach Banana Jacks

 

Ingredients

·         1 cup whole-wheat flour

·         3/4 cup all-purpose flour

·         2 tablespoons light brown sugar

·         1 tablespoon baking powder

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         3/4 cup beets (roasted and pureed with cinnamon--I used frozen) OR 3/4 cup broccoli and spinach (roasted and pureed with 1/2 a mashed banana and cinnamon--I used frozen broccoli and spinach)

·         1 1/4 cup milk (I used soy milk)

·         1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (low-fat)

·         1 large egg

·         3 tablespoons canola oil

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preparation

    1. Sift the first 5 ingredients into a bowl.

    2. Place the rest of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk thoroughly to combine.

   3. Add the dry ingredients into the wet and stir until just combined (you don’t want to overstir the batter — some lumps are good).

   4. Drop about 2 tbsp. of the pancake mixture onto a greased griddle or pan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes or so on each side.

  5. Serve with toppings if you wish... (the beet pancakes are yummy with frozen berries, thawed and heated, and the broccoli ones might be good dipped in hummus)--I usually just serve them to Jasper as is.

      * To freeze: Place the pancakes in labeled zipper bags and freeze for up to 3 months