Pancakes are an easy meal idea for teething babies and hungry toddlers. Toddler Friendly Zucchini Pancakes are the perfect meal idea and an easy way to incorporate veggies! With the option to serve for breakfast, lunch or dinner, this recipe will become your go-to for years to come!
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WHY ZUCCHINI PANCAKES?
Pancakes and eggs are two of the first "solid" items to introduce to growing babies and toddlers. To explain, we tried several variations of pancakes that fit Willow's needs with where she was in her development. In general, these Toddler Friendly Zucchini Pancakes have become a hit in our household!
In this case, this recipe is a basic buttermilk pancake recipe, I've found that adding grated and squeeze dried zucchini makes for the perfect hot cake. As a matter of fact, these pancakes are good for adults too. When I make a batch for my little, no need to make separate batches, we enjoy them too!
With this in mind, there are a few staple ingredients that go into this recipe. Most I'm certain you have on hand already and I'll also provide a few substitutions too! If you enjoy zucchini bread, consider this the perfect version in pancake form.
WHAT INGREDIENTS ARE IN TODDLER FRIENDLY ZUCCHINI PANCAKES?
- All Purpose Flour-What I had on hand, whole wheat works perfectly too!
- Sugar- Just a small amount, you can omit this.
- Egg- Room temperature works best.
- Butter- Melted
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda- Fresh is best!
- Buttermilk- Room temperature works best.
- Vanilla- Of course, adds so much flavor!
- Zucchini- Peeled and grated.
- Maple Syrup- optional, these cakes are good as is!
Tips for grating and drying zucchini!
First thing to remember, when working with zucchini in a recipe like this, there are a few tricks to keep in mind.
- Peel the zucchini
- Grate the zucchini
- Strain the moisture by using a towel or cheesecloth
- Let grated mixture sit for 5-10 minutes and drain again
Don't have buttermilk? To clarify, mix whole milk with vinegar and allow to sit for five minutes. For this recipe, you'll need a little over a half cup so utilize one cup of milk with one tablespoon of white vinegar.
Furthermore, interested in more toddler friendly recipes? Check these out below.
Toddler Mango Strawberry Popsicles
Comparatively, one of my foodie friends makes the best chocolate zucchnni muffins, try these out!
Toddler Zucchini Pancakes
Equipment
- Grater
Ingredients
- 1 Zucchini
- 1.5 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- ½ cup Buttermilk
- 1 Egg
- 3 tablespoon Butter
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Instructions
Preparing Zucchini
- Wash and peel zucchini.
- Using a grater, grate zucchini on a flat surface using a cloth or paper towel.
- Transfer zucchini to a thin towel or cheese cloth and drain zucchini of access moisture.
- After draining zucchini, wait about five minutes and drain access moisture again.
Pancake Instructions
- In a large bowl, sift and add dry ingredients.
- Stir with a whisk or fork until combined.
- Pour in buttermilk, vanilla and egg, whisk until combined.
- Add in dried zucchini and whisk until combined.
- Slowly pour in about two tablespoons of butter temping the batter being careful not to cook the eggs.
- In a medium sized skillet, add a small amount of butter and pour in about a ⅓ cup of batter.
- When bubbles start to form, flip hot cake and cook an additional 30-60 seconds.
- Serve warm with syrup and enjoy!
Joanne Edmonds says
Why did you peel the zucchini? The removed peel eliminates most of the food value in the zucchini. Can you make these using unpeeled zucchini
Carita says
Thanks so much for pointing that out Joanne! When I first developed this recipe, my daughter was still an infant and I deemed it unsafe for her to attempt to consume the skin. She's now two with teeth and loves the entire zucchini. I'll add a few notes in the post write up to reflect this helpful and nutritional info! 🙂
Tania says
I used whole wheat flour and needed 1 cup of buttermilk. But my 2.5 year old is sitting on my lap eating these without syrup so huge hit - thank you!
Frances Brown says
These were a great hotcake consistency! Im surprised to see sugar in a toddler recipe though - I left this out.
Carita says
The sugar is certainly optional! You can absolutely omit it to fit your needs. 🙂