Adding syrups to the pancakes is essential. They enhance the flavor of the pancakes. But we all know that adding too much sugar to the pancakes does not make them healthy. It increases the fat. Maple syrup is considered essential because of its rich taste and sweetness. Maple syrup comes from the sap of maple trees. It is then converted into sugar that makes a sweet sap.
If you do not like maple syrup on your pancakes, then there are some alternatives that you can use. You can use these healthy and nutritious toppings and syrups instead of using maple syrup.
Alternatives of Maple Syrup
You can use these alternatives for your healthy breakfast of pancakes. They are not that much sweet but they are healthy and nutritious.
Fresh Fruits
You can use fresh fruits for your pancake toppings instead of using maple syrup. You can use fresh fruits as following:
- Seasonal berries
- Bananas
- Strawberries
- Apple-cinnamon
- Pineapple
- Coconut
- Caramel banana
- Blueberries and lemon
If you want to have a warm and gooey fruit flavor in your pancakes, then add the small pieces of fruit directly into the pancake batter. It will give you plain pancakes with fruity flavor or you can do the topping of fruits. Fruits make your pancakes healthier than using maple syrup.
Agave Syrup
Health-conscious people prefer fewer sweeteners and avoid sugar. Using too much sugar and sweets is not good for your health. Agave nectar or Agave syrup is adding to healthy foods and is referred to as a diabetic-friendly sweetener. It does not raise your sugar levels as compared to the other syrups used in pancake toppings. Agave syrups are marked with high-fructose and great for health and diabetic-friendly syrup.
Agave syrup is having a low glycemic index. Glycemic index means that how quickly the sugar in a food enters your bloodstream. The reason that agave syrup is having low GI is that the sugar in it is fructose. The glucose in agave syrup is less than regular sugar. So, you can use it for your pancakes rather than using maple syrup.
Jams, Compotes, and Preserves
If you are having a jam, preserves, or compotes in your home, if homemade or brought from the store, the preserves ad flavor and sweetness to the pile of the pancakes. You can use any preserve according to your taste. The best and recommended are apple butter and rhubarb compote. The thinner preserves are more like syrup, while the jams are thicker and can be spread on the pancakes with a knife.
If you want to make jam syrup, then add jam or compote or preserves with a splash of water in a small pan. Heat it at medium heat. To make it smoother, add more water until you get a syrupy jam. You can also add a bit of Swedish flair, or strawberry jam to your pancakes. Any flavor of am, marmalade, or jelly would be a perfect maple syrup substitute.
Honey
If you love a sweet drizzle, then instead of choosing maple syrup, choose honey. It is slightly milder and thicker than maple syrup. Pancakes that are served with honey, fruits, nuts, and butter are delicious and healthy. If we compare honey with maple syrup then both are the most popular sweeteners in the world. They are healthier than cane sugar. Honey is nutritious and contains calories, carbohydrates, proteins, sugar, and fiber.
Honey does not contain fibers but maple syrup does with a little amount. The glycemic index of maple syrup is lower than honey. You can choose it as a syrup for your healthy breakfast of pancakes with low fats diet, whereas, maple syrup is a low-calorie and carbs diet.
Chocolate Chips
If you have been using maple syrup for your pancakes for a long time, then you should try to switch it to chocolate chips. Who does not like chocolate chips? You can sprinkle a handful over the batter of the pancake before flipping it. the chocolate chips will melt into the pancake giving you a delicious and chocolate flavor in each bite.
The secret ingredient that you can add to your pancakes is buttermilk. The best pancakes are made with buttermilk.
Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt
You can add some savory to your pancakes. You can simply add some tangy dairy to draw out the sweetness in your pancakes. If you are trying to cut down the sugar or sugary components, then adding sour cream with preserves or fruits would be the best option. If you are wondering that you can use buttermilk subs for sour cream then you can add milk with sour cream for great consistency.
Sour cream or Greek yogurt pancakes are fluffy and light. It is recommended that you should use a full-fat sour cream rather than fat-free or low-fat sour cream. When you heat the low-fat sour cream, it liquefies and turns the recipe of the pancakes.
Powdered Sugar
If you are craving a truly decadent pancake then try a dusting of powdered sugar over the pancakes. The finely powdered sugar will melt in your mouth as you take a bite. You can use it along with fruits, nuts, jams, preserves, and chocolate chips. Powdered sugar is simply granulated sugar that has been crushed finely into a powder. Cornstarch is sometimes added to powdered sugar to prevent clumping.
If you want to make powdered sugar at home, then you can simply do it from granulated sugar. Simply crush it and add cornstarch until it becomes a fine powder.
Toasted Nuts
Another savory topping is toasted nuts. they enhance the sweetness of the pancakes. Toasted nuts give a crunchy taste to every bite. Using toasted nuts adds and boosts the proteins in your healthy breakfast. They keep you energetic for the whole day. You can try walnuts or pecans for pancakes topping. Also, you can add them straight in the batter of pancake. It gives you crunchy bites and tastes better with fruits.
Dulce de Leche
Dulce de Leche is a Latin American specialty made from sweetened condensed milk and dulce de leche. It is delicious enough to eat straight from a jar. The rich, caramel-colored, and creamy sauce is extra sweet and looks luxurious on the pancakes. A drizzle is enough on the pile of pancakes. It gets its brown color and flavor from a non-enzymatic browning.
In Spanish, dulce de leche means candy of milk. Apart from pancakes, you can use dulce de leche on brownies, cookies, ice-cream sandwiches, and s’mores.
Whipped Cream
A swirl of whipped cream makes a festive, and cheery topper for pancakes. It is a perfect topping for occasional eating of pancake rather than using maple syrup. Whipped cream on the topping of pancakes can be used with fruits and chocolate chips. Whipped cream used as a single topping does not look or taste delicious only if it is used with another topping such as rainbow sprinkles.
Verdict
If you are not willing to use maple syrup anymore on the pile of pancakes then you can these alternatives for delicious and healthy syrups and pancakes. Apart from the mentioned alternatives, you can use biscoff spread, homemade compote, Nutella, peanut butter, blueberry syrup, ice-cream sundae, etc. All of these alternatives will change the taste of your daily routine pancakes.