These low-FODMAP pancakes are easy and quick to make, gluten-free, and are naturally sweet due to the inclusion of a banana…

It’s a new year, a new decade, and a time of writing resolutions and bucket lists. This societal cliché is brought up every January, and mocked as waves of optimistic dieters and hopeful gym-goers are expected to lose motivation after a week or two. While I agree that some goals can be a little too ambitious, I believe that the start of the year is an ideal opportunity to reflect on our way of life and consider how we can make the upcoming year our best one yet.

Rather than setting particular resolutions, I have instead been pondering over some general goals or aspirations that I would actually enjoy achieving. Therefore, the focus is less on restrictive agendas for what I should be striving for, and more on inspirational goals that will enrich my life. And near the top of my list, was cooking. While I did some here and there last year, I haven’t experimented with recipes or tried new combinations for quite a long time, and my last post on here was nearly 2 years ago!

Of course, I have been busy with work, deadlines, and day-to-day life.

However, upon reflection I have come to the conclusion that there can always be time for hobbies as long as they are prioritised so that time can be set aside for them. Cooking is an outlet for me, a time to enjoy being creative and to relax (as well as the added bonus of the taste-testing afterwards!). Combined with my passion for writing and photography, adding recipes on here is a way of practicing three hobbies at once (four if you count the eating!), and I can incorporate them into my daily life by discussing what I am cooking anyway. This brings me to what I have realised about why I haven’t posted for so long: the feeling of obligation.

A hobby should evoke inspiration, natural motivation and enjoyment.

But when a goal is set, and expectations made, a feeling of obligation creeps over that enjoyment and smothers it like a fire blanket over a roaring pan. It often leads to resentment, and a loss of motivation to pursue that hobby. And I think that is what happened when I began to set a deadline for each post, a standard for each photo, and a word count for each write-up. I would usually try to think up new recipes, tried to make them all as ‘healthy’ as possible, and thought they weren’t worth posting if there were already hundreds of recipes for the same thing online. This added a lot of conditions, and considerably narrowed down the choice. When added to the fact I often had little time due to workloads, the whole thing was placed on the back-burner altogether.

For this year, I have decided to take a new approach.

Firstly, I will include things that I was cooking that day anyway, even if they are simple and generic. Then, if there are new creations that I feel inspired to try, I can add those too. Secondly, I will be more lenient with how ‘healthy’ each recipe is, or how much it caters for different dietary requirements. Of course, I am still interested in seeing how recipes can be adapted to cater for different people, but many of you are so familiar with the available substitutes now that you’ll benefit more from having a recipe you can adapt, rather than no recipe at all! And finally, I will not spend so long on the blog posts, and just try to write what pops into my head, even if it’s just a few sentences.

I can’t wait to get back in the kitchen and try out some new recipes – we shall see how it goes! Meanwhile, enjoy these low-FODMAP pancakes… Happy new year everyone!

THE RECIPE:

• 200g gluten-free flour (plain/all-purpose will work, for a non-gluten-free version)
• (3tbsp granulated sugar)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 375ml milk (I used lactose-free. Dairy-free equivalent will work)
• 2 eggs
• 1 banana (overripe; at least yellow-brown)
• 3 tbsp butter (optional – helps prevent sticking to pan)
• ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)

THE METHOD:

1. Crack 2 eggs into a mixing bowl or large jug. Add the milk and whisk until smooth.
2. Separately, mash a banana until as smooth as possible, then add to the mix.
3. Add the vanilla extract (if using).
4. Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.*
5. Melt the butter (10 seconds in the microwave) and add (if using).
6. Once the batter is thoroughly mixed, place a small or medium pan on the hob, and turn the heat to medium-high. Allow it to heat up for a minute or two, then add a small amount of butter (or oil).
7. Ladle/spoon about ½ a cup of mixture into the pan, and allow it to spread into an even circle.
8. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes on that side, and check the underside every so often by lifting the edge with a small spatula. Once golden, it is ready to flip over.
9. Use the spatula to flip the pancake, and cook on the other side for 2-3 minutes or until golden.
10. Transfer onto a plate**
11. Add fillings, and enjoy!***

*You can sift it to make stirring easier, but I found that most of the lumps disappeared once I had stirred the mixture thoroughly.

**You could place the plate in the oven at a low temperature, to keep them warm if you are making a large batch. I didn’t, and they were still warm enough! 

***Batter can be stored in a sealed container in the fridge, for up to 2 days after making.