I love experimenting in the kitchen. Sometimes it turns out exactly like I imagined…and other times, not so much. When I set out to make chocolate chia seed pudding, it seemed like a good idea – healthy chia seeds + chocolate. What’s not to love? Yeahh…it was an EPIC FAIL! It had the worst weird, gelatinous texture you could imagine. I wanted to like it. I really did. I managed to sort of salvage it by adding a frozen banana and trying to tell myself that it was a smoothie. It was still only (barely) tolerable, but I just couldn’t bring myself to toss it. In my mind it was so good.
I couldn’t let that ruin chia seeds for me though, so I jumped right back in there and made these pancakes. The combination of orange and chia seeds in these pancakes was definitely a winner – imagine orange poppy seed pancakes but with chia seeds instead =). Maybe there are ways that I will enjoy chia seeds other than in smoothies and as a substitute for poppy seeds in baked good and I’m on a mission to find them. What’s your favorite chia seed recipe?? Enjoy!
Orange Chia Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 1/4 cups low-fat (or fat-free) buttermilk
1 egg
zest of 1 orange
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp chia seeds
1. In a small bowl, crush the orange zest into the sugar to create an orange sugar blend.
2. Whisk together the flour, wheat bran, baking powder, baking soda and the orange infused sugar into a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Stir in chia seeds.
4. Heat non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat. Using a 3 tbsp scoop, portion batter onto preheated skillet. Cook until bubbles form and the edges start to dry. Flip the pancake and allow to brown on other side. Makes 12 pancakes
Nutritional info (per pancake): 59 calories; 1.1 g fat; 10.4 g carbohydrates; 2.3 g fiber; 2.7 g protein.
