• Mayo Clinic Minute

    Mayo Clinic Minute: Tips to make healthier pancakes using flax

Flaxseed is a great source of fiber, minerals and nutrients. A small amount can pack a nutritional punch. They have a light, nutty taste and can be added to any number of foods, especially breakfast favorites.

Jen Welper, an executive chef with the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program, shows step-by-step how to use flaxseed to make a healthier version of banana pancakes:

Watch: The Mayo Clinic Minute

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Please courtesy: "Mayo Clinic News Network." Name super/CG is Jen Welper/Executive Chef/Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program.

Read the banana flaxseed pancake recipe.

We're going to make banana flax pancakes. We're using all-purpose flour, but we’re mixing it with flax, so we can get the fiber benefits from the flax. But we get the texture benefits of the all-purpose flour. Then we're getting the best of both worlds.

[Add] some baking powder, a little bit of sugar just to kind of bring all the sweetness together. We have some ground flaxseed, and then we have all-purpose flour so far. Then, add a little bit of salt.

You really want to make sure you get some really nice, ripe bananas. Add our two eggs. You could just use all egg whites if you'd like. You could add nonfat, plain Greek yogurt, as well. Now we'll add in some of our milk [and] a splash of some pure vanilla extract, just to give it some good overall flavor.

This a portion scoop. Portion it in. Probably fit about two pancakes in here. If you are trying to cook with a health focus, you want to do it a little bit lower heat. And it'll take a little bit longer but not much.

So [here is] another one of my favorites. This is strawberries, put in a blender [with] some milk, oats and flax and a little bit of ice, just kind of depending on how cold everything is.

These are our guests' favorite pancakes.

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