Pancakes (with a secret ingredient)

 If you have seen my recipes with the description, "with a secret ingredient", you may know that I am typically referring to beans.  Yes, that is right!  Can you believe it?  These pancakes have 1 cup of white kidney beans.  I know that some of you might find that idea fairly gross, but I can tell you that the taste is good - and I just love it when I can make something I like have a bit more nutritional value.  

 The recipe comes from my favourite Canadian cookbook author, Julie Van Rosendaal.  She has a lot of cookbooks and has a cooking blog.  She lives in Calgary and is highly sought after when it comes to food.  I think she is great!  (My "closet dream" would be to co-write a cookbook with her someday.  But she doesn't know this - she doesn't even know me!).  The recipe is in her cookbook entitled, Spilling the beans:  cooking and baking with beans and grains every day.  This was co-written with Sue Duncan.

 You will begin by rinsing and draining 1 cup of white kidney beans.  Add this to a food processor or blender.

 Add two eggs

 Add 2 Tb. canola, olive, or flax oil

 You are going to add 2 cups milk.  Keep in mind that it is better to add a small amount at first.  This will help to ensure the beans get blended really well.  Also, be aware of your food processor.  I have had times where the liquid is too much for the size of the bowl.  Truthfully, a blender would be best.

 Again, you want this as smooth as possible

 For the flour mixture, you can use regular flour (as is the actual recipe) or you can use a gluten-free blend (which I did).  See notes below for gluten-free flour blends.  Combine 2 cups gf flour blend or regular flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, a pinch of salt, and a shake of ground cinnamon (this is optional, but I found it added to the flavour).

The second time I made these, I added one ripe banana to the milk, egg, and bean mixture.  Personally, I think this added to the good taste of the pancakes.

 Add liquid to dry ingredients and whisk until combined

 

 Drop batter onto skillet (spray with non-stick spray if it needs it) and cook approximately 2-4 minutes per side, or until browned.  I used an ice cream scoop and added mini chocolate chips (which I definitely recommend).

 

We served these with warm maple syrup.  They were delicious!  Some were frozen and eaten later by the teenager :)

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour or gluten-free blend
2 tsp. baking powder
shake of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 cup drained and rinsed white kidney beans
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
2 Tb. canola, olive, or flax oil
banana (optional)
mini chocolate chips (optional)

Cook's notes:  For this recipe, I used my own gluten-free flour blend (see recipes under gluten-free).  Make sure that the one you are using uses xanthan gum.  Also, not all gf mixes are created equally.  If you are using a store bought mix, you may need to adjust the amount used.