I was almost too lazy to get out my mixer to make these ricotta pancakes, but I am so glad I did. Even with several modifications, including whole wheat flour, fat free ricotta, and skim milk, they were still the best pancakes I’ve had in a long time. Separating the eggs and beating the whites makes the pancakes so light, with a texture similar to a crepe. I topped them with sliced bananas and syrup, although I am sure the pecan syrup in the original recipe would be great. You don’t need to wait for a special occasion to make pancakes for breakfast, or for dinner!

No, I am not eating ice cream for breakfast, but this does look a little like an ice cream sundae, right? It’s just a sliced banana topped with plain yogurt, some high fiber generic O’s and a drizzle of peanut butter. It’s perfect for either breakfast or lunch, and you can make it pretty in a bowl at home or go for the portable container version. Who needs those fast food yogurt parfaits?

This pancake reminded me a little of the Baby Apple at a well known breakfast chain (a much healthier version of course!) but you can decide for yourself. It’s a thin fluffy pancake, which totally covered my Santa plate!

OK, it’s not really that difficult to scramble an egg in a frying pan, but I did like this trick from Hungry Girl. Although the original recipes call for liquid egg substitute, I used 2 eggs. This is the classic version with Laughing Cow Light. A nice hot breakfast in less than 5 minutes!

I made these pancakes not too long ago with peanut butter swirls. But this time, I took it up a notch. I used this whole wheat banana pancake recipe, because I had ripe bananas on hand and they are great for making pancakes naturally sweet. This was a simple pancake recipe that could easily stand on it’s own. While I was working on the pancakes, my Mom was putting together the swirl mixture, and found the peanut butter jar almost empty. A quick scan of available ingredients yielded leftover hot fudge sauce, and well, it was destiny.

We mixed 1 T peanut butter and 2 T hot fudge sauce in a small bowl, and microwaved at low power until smooth. Then we poured the mixture into a sealable bag, and cut the corner in order to pipe the swirls into the pancakes as shown below. A decadent breakfast!

One of my favorite on-the-go breakfast combinations is a skim latte and banana. I tried to recreate the flavor here in a new oatmeal variation. You don’t need to brew a fresh pot of coffee if you have a little leftover from the day before. This was a great bowl, complete with a caffeine kick!

1/2 c. oats
1/2 c. coffee
1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 banana, sliced
1/2 t vanilla
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of cocoa powder

Cook oats, coffee, and milk in a saucepan on medium heat, mixing in banana, until it reaches the desired consistency. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and garnish with cinnamon and cocoa. powder.

I’ve made peanut butter pancakes before, but this recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows looked so cute with the swirls baked right in. Although the original recipe is vegan, I used egg and skim milk in my version. I didn’t have coconut oil, so I just used regular syrup. Piping the swirl into the pancake was a lot of fun, and this was a great weekend breakfast.

I was excited to use my newly purchased flax, and wanted to try this recipe from Angela at Oh She Glows. I substituted 3/4 c. canned pumpkin for the banana because, well, all the bananas had been used to make ice cream! My sister added the chocolate chips which was a nice touch.

You really can make your own donuts! Angela at Oh She Glows tempted me with this recipe and I knew I had to try it out for myself. Now, these don’t taste like something you’ll find at Dunkin’, but they are much healthier and still a fun treat. The texture was more like a muffin than a donut, but I’ll try again with a fresh can of baking powder and see if they rise just a little more. We frosted them with a simple mixture of powdered sugar, milk, and maple syrup, and then sprinkled walnuts on top.