Published 24 Jun 2022

This month in #FoodFriday we have a sweet and delicious lunch, snack or (common in the Netherlands) dinner for three to four people. 

What: Dutch pancakes with banana ice cream. In the Netherlands pancakes are mostly eaten for dinner. It is often mistakenly thought that pancakes are unhealthy. With the right ingredients it can be a very nutritious meal and a delicious treat at the same time. Usually ice cream is far from healthy, but this banana version you can eat without feeling guilty!

Why: The main ingredients of pancakes are milk, eggs and flour. In this recipe we use whole grain flour instead of white flour. Whole grain flour is much more healthy. It contains three times as much fibre, copper and vitamins E, B2 and B6 than white flour. And even five times more magnesium, iron, zinc, vitamin B1 and B3! The carbohydrates and nutrients from the whole grain flour combined with the proteins and nutrients from the milk and eggs make a perfect combination! Bananas, just as whole grain flour, are a good and healthy source of carbohydrates. If you freeze them and then puree them in the blender, they make a creamy and delicious ice cream!

How: It takes about 50 minutes to prepare (plus time to freeze the bananas).

When: Pre training, post training, as snack or - as a real Dutchie - for dinner.

Who: For those runners with a bit of a sweet tooth.

Nutrition:

Per serve                          3 persons           4 persons                                      

Energy (kcal)                   500                      375                                                 

Carbohydrates (g)          66                        50                                                   

Protein (g)                       24                        18                                                   

Fat (g)                               13                        10                                                   

Saturated fat (g)             3                          2                         

Fibre (g)                            9                          6

Ingredients for the Dutch pancakes:

  • 200 grams whole grain flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • Two eggs
  • ½ litre low-fat milk (or soy or almond milk)
  • Sunflower oil, coconut oil or butter

Ingredients for the ice cream:

  • Two ripe bananas
  • 130 gram of low-fat quark

How to prepare?

For the ice cream:

  1. Peel the banana and chop into small, evenly sized pieces.
  2. Put the bananas in an airtight container and freeze the pieces until they are solid (at least 2 hours, but ideally overnight).

For the pancakes:

  1. Mix salt and flour in a bowl, make a hole in the center and break the eggs above.
  2. Add ca. 2 dl milk and mix with a whisk or hand mixer until smooth. Keep stirring while adding the remaining 3 dl milk.
  3. Let the batter rest for about 30 minutes. The starch of the flour will absorb the milk, which will make baking more easy.
  4. Heat a teaspoon of butter or oil, wait till it is hot and spoon enough batter into the pan to cover its bottom (1 soup ladle). Distribute the batter over the bottom by turning the pan.
  5. Bake the pancake over medium heat until the bottom is lightly browned. Then turn the heat to low and wait for the top of the pancake to dry (2-3 minutes). Turn the pancake with a pancake knife and bake the other side on a medium heat until light brown too (1/2 - 1 minute)
  6. Slide the pancake onto a plate and bake the other pancakes in the same way.
  7. If all pancakes are ready, continue with the ice cream: get the bananas out of the freezer.
  8. Blend (or pulse) the frozen banana pieces together with the quark in a small food processor or powerful blender. Keep blending until it has a creamy, soft-serve ice cream texture.
  9. You can eat the ice cream immediately, but it will be quite soft. You can also transfer it back into the airtight container and freeze it until solid, like traditional ice cream.
  10. Serve the pancakes together with the ice cream or serve the pancakes first and the ice cream for dinner.
  11. If you have a sweet tooth: serve the pancakes with sugar, syrup, honey or jam.

Tip:

  • Raisin pancakes (more carbohydrates): Mix 100 gram of raisins into the batter before baking
  • Apple pancakes: Mix a pinch of cinnamon into the batter. First bake some slices of apple in the butter/oil for two minutes and then add the batter.
  • Cheese pancakes (more fat and calories!): After turning the pancake, turn the heat down, put thin slices of cheese on it, put a lid on the pan to melt the cheese, remove the lid and bake the pancake for another ½-1 minute on medium heat.
  • Bacon pancakes (more fat and calories!): Per pancake: bake some slices of bacon light brown and crispy in the butter or oil (ca. 1 minute), add the batter and bake as described in the recipe.
  • For the ice cream: you can make without quark if you like. It’s also nice to add some pieces of frozen strawberries or mango to the banana for a different taste. Or (less healthy) to add chocolate chips once the bananas have an ice cream texture.