Whole-Wheat Pancakes with Pear Sauce

A spritz of no-stick spray adds only 2 calories and just a trace of fat to this recipe. Compare that with the tablespoon of butter you would use to grease the griddle. Butter contains 102 calories and 11.5 grams of fat per serving.

You can make a really nice, low-fat sauce for all sorts of pancakes and waffles by cooking pears with pear nectar. For variety, try apples with apple juice or cider or combine peaches with peach nectar.

Per serving:

Whole-Wheat Pancakes with Pear Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

SAUCE
1 cup cored and chopped pears
1 can (6 oz) pear nectar
1 tsp packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

PANCAKES
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached flour
2 tsp packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup skim milk
4 tsp canola oil
2 egg whites

For the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine the pears, pear nectar, brown sugar and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat. Cover and simmer about 3 minutes or just until the pears are tender.

In a cup, combine the water and cornstarch, then stir into the pear mixture. Cook and stir until the mixture thickens and begins to gently boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and cover to keep the sauce warm.

For the pancakes: In a medium bowl, stir together the whole-wheat flour, unbleached flour, brown sugar, baking powder and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, stir together the milk and oil. Add to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined.

In a clean small bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into the batter.

Spray an unheated griddle or large skillet with no-stick spray. Heat the griddle or skillet over medium heat. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the griddle, spreading the batter to about a 4″ circle. Cook until the pancakes are bubbly and dry around the edges. Then turn over and cook until golden brown.

To serve, arrange 2 pancakes on each plate. Serve with the warm sauce.