Good Morning.

I have a dilemma with pancakes: I love to eat them.

What’s better, or worse, is that I love to eat them in stacks of four, glazed with melted butter and swimming in maple syrup. 

And 1,000 calories later, I’m feeling really good in a bad kind of way.

Because of my extreme love for pancakes, especially the extra sweet and high-calorie variety (think chocolate chip and peanut butter), I recently went through a brief pancake withdrawal.  I stopped making pancakes because there was a high likelihood/certainty that I would eat myself into a pancake coma.   

And we all know what happens when you go into a pancake coma.  Or atleast I do.

But as you can see, times have changed.  I have a new pancake strategy that allows me to enjoy pancakes, and still have room for lunch and dinner.   And my skinny jeans.  

The very sneaky trick: smother my pancake with (a reasonable amount of) cottage cheese and fresh berries.  A drizzle of honey makes it officially the best way to enjoy pancakes without all the calories.  And I don’t feel like I cheated myself by only eating one.  

Ok, maybe I had two.  But I feel no shame!

On the other hand, let’s be honest: I was raised on chocolate chip pancakes, butter, and syrup (thanks, mom) and I will always hold that near and dear to my heart.  So if you find me with a plateful of pancakes - butter, syrup and all - cut me some slack.  It’s my heritage.

Oh yeah.  In case you didn’t notice, these sweet zucchini pancakes have vegetables in them, so that cancels out all butter.  Obvs.

Sweet Zucchini Pancakes; serves 2 (5-6 pancakes)

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/4 cup water or milk (OPTIONAL)
• 1 zucchini, grated

1. Preheat a nonstick skillet or griddle to medium-high heat (350 degrees).  These pancakes are a little picky about temperature.
2. Whisk dry ingredients together (flour through salt) and set aside.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, yogurt, and melted butter together.   Combine dry and wet ingredients together and mix until just combined.  Fold in grated zucchini.  (OPTIONAL: if the batter is too thick, add water or milk a little at a time, until the batter consistency reaches the desired thickness.  For me, 1/4 cup was enough to thin the batter but keep them nice and fluffy, but you might not need it at all depending on how thick you like your pancakes.)
4. Scoop 1/3 cup of batter onto the griddle and gently spread the batter if necessary.  When you see bubbles rising around the edges, flip the pancakes.  I found that some of the pancakes took as long as 10 minutes to cook (5 minutes per side).  Top with butter and maple syrup!

Light, sweet, perfectly golden… I love these almost as much as the lemon pancakes. 

How do you top your pancakes?  

Syrup?  Berries?  Peanut Butter? …Hot Fudge Sauce?  All are welcome.