A great family breakfast all-rounder. These banana pancakes with berry compote have ingredients that can be made gluten and dairy free and packed full of protein. These work well made in advance and double up as a great weaning finger food.

The Nutrition Bit

With 7 grams of protein per egg combined with a powerful combination of fat, iron, vitamins A, D, E, choline and folate, eggs really are a bit of a superfood for everyone from babies (after 6 months) through to pregnant women. In this recipe, eggs are combined with oats, chia and flax seeds, which not only contain a significant amount of soluble and insoluble fibre to keep your bowels moving and gut bacteria happy but also help balance hormones.

Ingredients

(Makes 12-14 small pancakes)

• 2 ripe bananas
• 4 eggs
• 50g oats (gluten free if needed)
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 50ml milk (any)
• Coconut oil for cooking 
• 1 handful spinach (optional- not pictured)

Optional topping:

• 2 cups mixed frozen berries 
• 1 tsp cinnamon 
• Maple syrup to taste (optional) 

Method

1. In a blender (I use a Nutri bullet) add the oats, flax and chia seeds and blend for a few seconds till a coarse flour consistency. If you don’t have a blender you can mix ingredients in a bowl, it will just be a slightly different texture, but still very tasty.
2. Add bananas, eggs and milk to the oat mixture and blend again till all mixed. If you would like you can add a large handful of fresh or frozen spinach. If you do, add before the milk and then only use as much milk as needed to get a runny pancake batter consistency. It also makes the pancakes go green which can be fun (or not!) for little ones.
3. Whilst you wait for the frying pan to heat up, add two cups of mixed frozen berries to a pan on a medium heat, add a splash of hot water and heat with the lid off, occasionally squashing the berries with the back of the spoon, until you get a delicious syrupy consistency. You can add maple syrup if needed but the berries tend to be sweet enough by themselves. 
4. Heat a frying pan on a medium heat, sightly cooler than you would use for more traditional pancakes. Add at least 2 tsp of coconut oil, making sure the oil doesn’t get too hot and smoke.
5. Pour the mixture in to the pan carefully creating small pancakes about 12cm across. I tend to fit 3 in the pan at once. Too big and you won’t be able to flip them so err on the conservative side.
6. Once you start to see the pancakes crisp slightly round the edge, gently flip over. They will still be quite raw on top so you do need to do this carefully. Cook on the second side for a few minutes. You want a light golden brown appearance.
7. You can either keep the cooked pancakes warm in a cool oven under foil whilst you prepare the next round, or serve up and eat hot straight out of the pan. 
8. Once ready, stack up on a plate and pour over the purple syrupy berry compote and enjoy. These pancakes are also delicious with natural yoghurt or just by themselves. 
9. These store in the fridge in an airtight container for 3 days. They reheat in the pan in a few minutes or can be eaten cold on the go. They cut well into finger shapes for baby-led weaning.

If you liked these pancakes why not try a savoury egg breakfast next? My breakfast egg muffins are so versatile and full of veggies. A good on-the-go breakfast you can make in advance.