That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

Fritella di Biscotti di Burro, Banana, Formaggio Cremoso & Mandorla

Butter-Cookie/Banana, Cream Cheese & Almond Pancake

Another quick and easy "sweet nothing" for a Sunday morning from me. A sweet little nothing indeed, for as sinful as it may look, this is a heavenly little delight that will have you start your day happy, guilt-free and full of sunshine- and that's a promise!

I made the batter for this pan-sized pancake using just 1 egg, 3 tablespoons of low-fat cream cheese, half of a small banana and just 5-6 of those very simple, flat, butter cookies. You know the ones... those that snap in half the second you dip them into your coffee ;-) My advise... don't! Crumble them into your pancake batter instead :-)

Ok- try not to blink for a few seconds, or you might miss how I made this! First off, I turned on the oven to get it hot and then I got cracking- quite literally, with that single egg, which was the first thing to go into my mixing bowl. Next came the cream cheese- I used Quark which is wonderful (cheese curd) and easily available here in Germany, but you could use ricotta or Philadelphia for example. I chose to use a low-fat version, but that is entirely your choice of course... just let it be said- it tasted wonderful and it is entirely up to you if you think eating more fat than necessary is necessary- haha! In any case, I added 3 generous tablespoonfuls and to that I added 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Next came 1 tablespoon of vanilla custard powder, a pinch of salt, a teaspoon of Stevia and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Oh- and last, but most definitely not least- one half of a small banana, which I first mashed down with a fork. I whisked everything together thoroughly and then crumbled in the butter cookies and mixed once more. And then I let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes, for the cookies to fully dissolve and the baking powder to start doing it's thing... In the meantime, I sliced the other half of the banana and prepared a handful of slivered almonds to go on top, grabbed my squeezy bottle of honey and got my coffee brewing!

So now I was ready for action! On went the broiler, and on went my frying pan onto the stove top. I added just a small pat of butter and as soon as it was melted and starting to bubble, began to spoon in the pancake mix a little at a time, over and over, from the middle of the pan, so that it spread out evenly and cooked as it went. As soon as it began to become a little firmer, I sprinkled the banana and almonds on top and added a drizzle of honey. After 2-3 minutes on the stove top, I moved the pan into the oven to finish off the pancake by baking on top.

And 3 minutes later, it was finished! Fluffy, golden and delicious! Nothing that is going to change your life or rock your world of course... but it will make for a yummy breakfast and put a smile on your face- and that's a good place to start! The rest is up to you!