By michael - March, 4th 2014

When you’re making pancakes from scratch they can have a lot of healthy qualities. First, you can make them with whole grains like whole-wheat flour, which will add heart-healthy filling fiber. You can also add extra-healthy toppings, like fruit to boost vitamins and fiber- and protein-packed nuts to transform them into a nutritious breakfast that will help you stay full through the morning.

Given their simplicity and spartan ingredients, it is unsurprising that pancakes are present in almost every food culture, from Russian blinis to Vietnamese banh xeo. So which are the best?

Pancake Day is big business. Waitrose is forecasting a 500% rise in frying pan sales in the week leading up to 4 March, while Sainsbury's expects to sell enough batter mix to make three million pancakes. Last year, topping de nos jours Nutella sold nearly one million jars in the week preceding Pancake Day. It is all quite ironic, given that Shrove Tuesday is meant to be about using up rich foods before the start of Lent, not buying new ones.

People have made pancakes for millennia. The Romans called them alita docia, meaning “another sweet”. There is archaeological evidence that “varieties of pancakes are probably the earliest and most widespread types of cereal food eaten in prehistoric societies,” according to Martin Jones in …

Watch your portion size when eating pancakes, as even if you make healthier versions of pancakes they can be relatively high in calories. Making your pancakes more flavorful limits the need for topping your pancakes with lakes of butter and syrup. For example, pureed pumpkin along with pumpkin pie spices make such flavorful pancakes that you can eat them plain without even missing the usual toppings. If you still want a topping for your pancakes, consider using fruit, either chopped or pureed into a sauce. Should you find plain fruit isn't quite sweet enough, you can add a small amount of sweetener to the puree. It will still be a healthier option than syrup and butter, which are mainly sugar and fat and don't provide many essential nutrients.

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