Pancake Day • Gestational Diabetes UK (2024)

Pancake Day is almost upon us (Tuesday, 13th February 2024), and many ladies are craving pancakes! So, which pancakes and toppings would be best for gestational diabetes?

You don’t have to go without, but if it is going to cause a binge, pancakes may be best left until your baby has arrived. Only you can make that decision, but I will share as many tips with you to having a successful Pancake Day with gestational diabetes!

Traditional pancakes

The two issues with pancakes as a suitable GD food are that they are high in carbohydrates dueto the flour used in making them, and they lack protein and natural fats to help pair them.

Add additional sweet, high-carbohydrate toppings or fillings, andthe total carbs can be very high, which can push blood sugar levels way too high.

Tips:

• Eat your pancake as a ‘snack or meal’, rather than as a dessert following a meal. As a dessert, it is too many carbs to process
• Tryto make your pancakes as thin as possible, like crêpes
• Cook your pancakes in real butter or coconut oil rather than low-fat cooking sprays such as Frylight to increase the natural fat content
• Decide which type of flour to use based on your tolerance to carbs (see table below)
• Think carefully about the topping or filling, ideally adding additional foods to help pair the carbs, which are high in protein and natural fats

Traditional Lower-Carb Pancake Day Pancakes!

Basic pancake recipe (not low-carb)

This recipe is a basic traditional pancake recipe. This recipe can be used on a GD diet, but the pancakes should be made as thin as possible, and adding additional toppings that are high in protein & natural fats will help them be tolerated better.

Ingredients: 100g plain flour, 2 eggs, 300ml milk (whole milk, almond milk, soya milk all work well and help with pairing), 1 tbsp oil (coconut oil or butter), plus extra for frying and a pinch of salt.

Recipe: Weigh out your chosen flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and add the 2 eggs, 1 tbsp of oil and a splash of milk. Mix ingredients into a smooth paste. Keep adding the milk bit by bit, mixing well until you have a well-combined runny batter that would coat the back of a spoon.

Wipe some oil around a frying pan on a piece of kitchen towel, then heat it to moderate heat. Once hot, ladle the batter into the pan and tilt the pan around to spread the batter evenly. *Remember, thin pancakes will be better to tolerate. After 30 – 60 seconds, you can flip the pancake to brown on the other side.

Spelt flour pancake recipe

Spelt flour is still pretty high in carbs, much like plain wheat flour, but it does contain more protein and fibre and has not been as processed, meaning it takes longer to digest and, therefore, can be slightly better for blood sugar levels. These spelt flour pancakes taste the same as traditional pancakes but mean youhave a better chance of not causing a rapid spike in blood sugars.

Ingredients: 75g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 egg, 150ml whole, almond or soya milk and 1 tsp of butter or coconut oil for frying

Recipe: Add the spelt flour into a bowl. Make a hole in the middle of the flour and add the egg. Mix ingredients into a smooth paste. Add a splash of milk, mix, then keep adding the milk bit by bit, mixing well until you have a well-combined runny batter that would coat the back of a spoon.

Wipe some butter or coconut oil around a frying pan on a piece of kitchen towel, then heat on moderate heat. Once hot, ladle the batter into the pan and tilt the pan around to spread the batter evenly. *Remember, thin pancakes will be better to tolerate. After 30 – 60 seconds, you can flip the pancake to brown on the other side.

Toppings

This is the chance to make your pancake more tolerable as you can add things that contain protein and natural fats to help slow down the release of glucose from the carbs in the pancake (this is GD Food Pairing):

• whipped double cream, or M&S real spray cream, melted dark chocolate and nuts
• GD UK Nutella
• yogurt, berries and seeds
• yogurt and sugar-free syrup such as NKD Living NKD syrup
• Peanut butter, peanuts and a scoop of OPPO ice cream
• strawberries and real cream (NOT Elmlea)
• Chocolate cream (Melted dark chocolate in double cream) or ganache
• cinnamon and natural sweeteners (such as Pure Via, xylitol, NKD Living erythritol, Natvia, Sukrin)
• natural granulated sweetener (such as Pure Via, xylitol, NKD Living erythritol, Natvia, Sukrin) and lemon
• streaky bacon and sugar-free syrup

Pancake Toppings to avoid

• Nutella – with a carb content of 57.6g per 100g (that’s 8.6g of carbs or over 2 tsp of sugar per 15g serving!)
• sugar, honey, maple or golden syrup
• ripe banana
• high fructose fruits (see my main dietary page for info. on fruit)
• chocolate or caramel sauce
• fruit sauces, jams and compôtes
• Crêpes Suzette
• additional starchy, sweet or higher-carb vegetables

Comparing flours

Flour can be very high in carbohydrates, and with 90-100% of carbohydrates turning into glucose in our bloodstream, it is the flour that can cause high blood sugar levels that we struggle to process.

Flours that are wholegrain or wholewheat contain more fibre, and take longer to break down and convert into glucose, therefore the spike in blood sugar levels can be slowed and decreased compared to highly refined flours such as white flour where much of the goodness has been stripped out.

Nut or soya flours are even lower in carbohydrates and often much higher in protein and fat (which helps food pairing). These specialist flours can be expensive and so a good widely available alternative is ground almonds. Ground almonds are much lower in carbs but have a more dense and grainy texture.

For traditional thinner pancakes likecrêpes, ground almonds are not fine enough in texture (even when using finely ground almonds or ‘almond flour’). Ground almonds work well as a substitute flour in cakes or thicker pancakes like American-style pancakes.

Gluten-free flours

Some ladies pick up gluten-free flours and products, thinking they will improve blood sugar levels. Gluten-free flours have high amounts of carbohydrates and should only be used for other dietary requirements, not to control blood sugar levels.

For gluten-free pancakes, look at the pancake recipes below, many of which are naturally gluten-free!

Choosing a gluten-free flour or product will not help your blood sugar levels

Savoury Pancakes (Galettes)

Savoury toppings or fillings can change a pancake into a meal and can really help with food pairing, making them more tolerable. Adding cheeses, meats, fish, tofu, avocado, Quorn or eggs, and creamy sauces can increase the protein and natural fat content and make a pleasant change.

You can add herbs, spices and cheese to the batter to infuse more flavour into the pancake and don’t forget to bulk up the meal with salad or vegetables too.

Buckwheat & Flaxseed Galette recipe

Traditional French galettes are made from buckwheat or a mix of buckwheat and other wheat flour. To help make these galettes more tolerable, I add flaxseed into the recipe to increase the protein and fat content.

Add the filling of your choice to the middle and fold the edges to create an envelope. Finish in the oven if you add cooking ingredients, or flip the galette over in the pan to finish.

The longer the galette is left to cook in the oven, the crisper it will become!

Vegan Buckwheat & Flaxseed Galette recipe

For a vegan version of these galettes, make a couple of tweaks to the recipe…

Low carb pancakes

You can make pancakes easily by omitting the flour element, but the texture of these ‘pancakes’ is very different to the traditional British pancakes eaten on pancake day. These types of pancakes will not spike blood sugar levels as high, but you should still be careful with toppings added to them.

Coconut Flour Pancakes

These sweet coconut flour pancakes are low-carb, sugar-free, nut-free and gluten-free. Perfect as a thick American-style pancake to serve with berries and yoghurt or crispy streaky bacon and some sugar-free syrup! Yum

Banana Pancakes

These are Gestational Diabetes UK Mums’ favourite breakfast!

Ingredients: 1 small or ½ a large slightly green to yellow banana (this is important as it contains less sugar!),2 large eggs, butter or coconut oil,Greek full-fat yoghurt, a few berries, almonds, seeds

Spelt flour Pancakes with clementine syrup & pistachios

A lower-carb take on the French classic Crêpes Suzette.

Almond and Flaxseed Pancakes

Basic ground almond pancakes

My breakfast burrito wraps

These wraps are soft, light, and fluffy, much like pancakes. Here’s the recipe for making 1 large wrap.

You don’t need to miss out. Make a good choice and enjoy!!