Low Sugar Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

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Oh, about 30 years ago, I was making pancakes from scratch and I messed up the recipe. I was a kid, what can I say?! The pancakes that I made ended up being super fluffy and delicious, fast becoming my family's favorite. I wrote down my new recipe and it has stuck around as “Jennifer's Famous Pancakes” ever since, with family and friends who come to visit asking for me to make pancakes. Since we went paleo (or really, paleo-lite), we haven't eaten pancakes too often because they're loaded with sugar and carbs. My family has a history of type 2 diabetes and when we get together for holidays like those coming up here at the end of the year, they don't want to eat just my paleo foods. I created these gluten-free low sugar apple cinnamon pancakes with Glucerna for my family and kids to enjoy without feeling guilty about added sugar – because there isn't any!

My family is full of diabetics and pre-diabetics at every generation. And in my generation, we have people who are pre-diabetic but no diabetics… yet. Luckily, I am not pre-diabetic but I am very aware of the issues around it and I try to control sugar intake, have a healthy diet, and be active. You'd think at my weight I'd be pre-diabetic but the main reason I am not is because I have changed my diet to cut out sugar and other troublesome foods and I go on regular doctor visits to check my labs. It's estimated that 57 million people have pre-diabetes in the US, and 35% are estimated to be Hispanic.  I think as Latinos it's a struggle because so many of the traditional foods we love to enjoy are full of carbs and sugar. I mean, my grandma used to douse her baking ham in soda! Both of my grandmothers were diabetic and they “managed” their diseases in different ways. I couldn't say that either did a great job at it, sadly, as they both passed away due to complications from diabetes. My maternal grandmother (white) was always reading health books and making a daily effort to manage her disease, though I don't necessarily agree with all of her methods. She was always on crazy fad diets but some of her advice and practices were healthy and I think that's why she lived a good 20 years longer than my Mexican grandmother. My Mexican grandmother did not get to see all of her grandkids born and never saw any of us graduate from high school or college. She never saw any of us get married and never saw any of her great grandkids. It's a scary reality that when diabetes is left unchecked or not managed well, that it affects everyone in the whole family.

My maternal grandmother had a lot of tips that helped me stay at a healthy weight when I was in the Army, like skipping syrup and adding applesauce to the top of pancakes or waffles. This lesson stuck with me and I still enjoy putting apple sauce on waffles and pancakes even now as it's a great way to cut the sugar, especially with the kids. Another way to cut sugar from your diet is to use Glucerna, which has CARBSTEADY®, slowly digestable carbs designed to help minimize blood sugar spikes, without a prescription. CARBSTEADY® is designed to help manage blood sugar response compared to high-glycemic carbohydrates.

I picked up a 4 pack of Glucerna Vanilla in the Pharmacy area at our local Walmart, right off the shelf. Glucerna is available in bars and shakes so I chose Glucerna Vanilla because I thought it would be an easy replacement for the milk and sugar in my traditional pancake recipe. Here's how to make low sugar apple cinnamon pancakes with Glucerna:

Gather all of the ingredients: 1 egg, 2 TBSP vegetable oil, 1 – 8oz bottle of Glucerna Vanilla, 1 cup of almond flour, 1 tsp each of salt, baking powder, and baking soda. I sliced apples from my mom's orchard and added those on top but you can skip those if you like. You can also add applesauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon to the top. Pin this tutorial below and check out the printable recipe at the end of this post so you can make these low sugar pancakes for your own family:

Click the recipe below to print it so you can make these low sugar Cinnamon Apple Pancakes today!

Low Sugar Cinnamon Apple Pancakes

Jennifer's Famous Pancakes adapted for a low sugar alternative.

• Author: Jennifer Priest
• Prep Time: 5 min
• Cook Time: 10 min
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 12 pancakes 1x
• Category: Breakfast
• Method: Stove Top
• Cuisine: American

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 1 – 8oz bottle of Glucerna Vanilla
• 2 TBPS vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Whisk together the wet ingredients in a bowl. Add dry ingredients and mix until blended. Heat a griddle to medium heat. Pour 3″ circles of the pancake batter onto the griddle. When the pancakes bubble and puff at the edges, flip to cook the other side. Serve stacked on a plate, drizzled with apple sauce and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 3 pancakes
• Calories: 401
• Sugar: 7
• Sodium: 928
• Fat: 18
• Saturated Fat: 2
• Unsaturated Fat: 15
• Trans Fat: 0
• Carbohydrates: 25
• Protein: 4
• Cholesterol: 47

Keywords: diabetic, low sugar, pancakes

For more ideas on how to manage diabetes and incorporate a low sugar regimen into your diet, check out these links:

Be sure to check out more information about Glucerna and the amazing array of shakes and nutritional bar options at Glucerna.com. What is your favorite tip for cutting sugar from your diet?