Fruitful Maple Syrup

With the big holiday weekend coming up, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's going to celebrate with a fabulous breakfast somewhere along the way...oatmeal pancakes, french toast, something in need of syrup.

Here's how we "health it up" (thanks to Ellie Krieger, who has a new healthy cooking show on the Food Network, "Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger").

• 1 lb of fresh fruit, or 1 bag (2 cups) frozen fruit
• 2 T maple syrup (the real stuff)
• Ellie adds a tsp a lemon juice, I don't think it needs it

Take most of the fruit, defrost if necessary, and whiz up in blender, it'll still be a little chunky.  In small saucepan over low heat heat heat fruit until nicely warm (don't boil), add maple syrup and lemon juice if desired.  Serve with reserved whole fruit for garnish.

I've made this with fresh strawberries and most recently with frozen blueberries, which I always have on hand.  Both turned out great.  I LOVE maple syrup, but I don't think I'll ever go back to the straight stuff...no need when I can get a tasty and satisfying "syrup" that also gives me a fruit serving! 

Bonus? This makes a lot of syrup.  You know how you're always wishing you could have a little more but you don't want all that sugar & calories?  A good sized serving (we're syrup pigs, I figure this recipe makes 3 generous servings) of this fruitful syrup is only 90 calories.

Happy Holiday Weekend to everybody!

Your recipe sounds delicious! I live in Maple Syrup Land, so can offer some insight into the significant variance regarding quality of maple syrup.  

There are a lot of articles out there that say Maple Syrup (the real stuff) is one of the best natural healthy foods. Quality of maple syrup will vary depending on how long the sap is boiled, how much water is added, the weather and quality of the sap run.

Here on the island where I live, maple syrup harvest is a big event when the snow starts to melt. I get the highest quality maple syrup I can find from a farmer that I know and volunteer to help with the harvest. Because I help, I get the best of the best in exchange for pay for the work I contribute. I get to see the entire process and have confidence in knowing that I am receiving a quality product. I receive the maple syrup in recycled quart sized jelly jars. He also keeps the best for his own personal use, and then sells the rest for about $68.00 CDN per gallon. It's best to get directly from a farm, even the best quality commerically sold maple syrup is significantly lower in quality, with many fillers. There are many farms out there in Internetland that sell their product online, both in the US and in Canada.

A sign of good maple syrup is a rich amber colour and is very thick, almost as thick as honey. It should come in glass jelly jars vs. a plastic jug.  

Yummm...  I know this is an old May 2006 post for you.  I hope you are still tracking this.  Because I would adore hearing a really good healthy oatmeal pancake recipe, please?  I bet you have one?    ~ Lost Artist
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What a great idea!  There is nothing like the taste of real maple syrup.

Lost artist, I searched recipes and found this

http://www.calorie-count.com/calories/search. php?s_order=score&search_type=recipes& ;searchpro=oatmeal+pancakes

Some are lower calorie and healthier than others.  I just mix leftover, cooked oatmeal into my usual whole grain pancake batter.

hey, lost_artist.  Here's my recipe (just had these this past weekend, officially our favorite breakfast!). These are NOT light, fluffy, air-filled, empty calorie pancakes, no, no, no. These babies are hearty, luscious bundles of goodness (but not hockey pucks!). They're healthy, but not low cal (believe me, you won't be hungry for hours!).  This is the recipe I make for my husband and me, he's a big eater and I stuff myself on these. That makes it, what, 3 servings? 4?

• 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 1 1/4 cup skim milk + 1/4 cup for thinning out if necessary (note, when I was off dairy, I used 1-3/4 cups soy or oat milk instead of the yogurt & milk, still came out ok)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 1/4 cup rolled oats (not instant! the real stuff! organic Bob's Red Mill if you can get it)
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (sub with A/P if you don't have ww pasty; or use all whole wheat but they'll be denser)
• 2 T flax seed, ground (optional, but ups the health factor)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 eggs, lightly whipped (omega 3 eggs makes it healthier!)
• 1/4 cup walnut pieces, chopped (I throw mine in the food processor for a few secs)

combine yogurt, milk, honey & oats. add flours, flax, salt & soda. stir to combine. add eggs & walnuts. batter will be thick, but shouldn't be dry. add more milk if necessary (I usually whip up the batter 30-45 minutes ahead of time, so we usually end up adding another 1/4 cup milk right before cooking).  Cook on dry nonstick surface. We use an electric skillet, at 350. Like other pancakes, turn when bubbles break on top surface.  These WILL take longer to cook than regular pancakes.  Serve with a fried egg on top and cover in strawberry sauce! YUM!

Nutritional stats (assuming 3 servings) WITHOUT any syrup:

• Calories: 426
• From Fat: 130
• Total Fat: 14g
• Sat. Fat: 2g
  most of the fat is mono or polyunsaturated, the good kind, from the flax, walnuts, and eggs
• cholesterol: 151mg
• sodium: 1255 mg
• carbs: 50
• fiber: 9
• sugars: 11
• protein: 23g
• vit a: 10%; vit c: 3%; calcium: 26%; iron: 8%

WITH syrup (2 cups frozen strawberries, 2 T maple syrup):

• calories: 500
• from fat: 130
• total fat: 14g
• sat fat: 2g
• cholesterol: 151mg
• sodium: 1257 mg
• total carbs: 70g
• fiber: 11g
• sugar: 26g
• protein: 23g
• vit a: 10%; vit c: 63%; calcium: 28%; iron: 11%

::big ole monkey grin::   Thank you for the recipes.  I will definitely enjoy.

I like seeing the Yogurt used instead of buttermilk.  I see Buttermilk called for quite often in bready type recipes.  Is Yogurt a standard substitution?  I know the Apple sauce for Oil trick.  Is this like that?  ~ Lost Artist
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You can substitute yogurt for buttermilk in most recipes.  When you make pancakes or bake, the combination of the slight acid in the buttermilk or yogurt, and the baking soda or powder makes the the product light and fluffy.

Thank you Clairelaine. ~ Lost

We use light buttermilk in our pancake recipes. It's got the same  nutritional value as 1%, but all the great qualities of buttermilk!