More smoothie recipes you may enjoy

If you love this raspberry smoothie, try blending some of our other delicious smoothie recipes:

• Try a fruity strawberry smoothie, or a tropical mango smoothie, pineapple smoothie or piña colada smoothie.
• For a unique and surprising sweet treat, fans love our grape smoothie.
• To sneak in some extra veggies, a carrot smoothie or broccoli smoothie are fantastic choices.

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Perfect Strawberry Smoothie

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Mango Smoothie

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Grape Smoothie

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Carrot Smoothie

Tips for cooking chocolate pancakes

Alex and I have made dozens of pancake recipes, from banana oatmeal pancakes to cottage cheese pancakes. Here are some best practices we’ve learned:

• Use a large griddle: a non-stick surface is helpful. Some griddles have uneven heating, so use a quality griddle or skillet. A non-stick surface is a plus.
• Experiment to find the right heat level. Medium low heat is ideal. If the heat is too low, the pancakes don’t puff up and brown on the outside. If the heat is too high, it burns the outside before the interior cooks.
• The batter can become very thick while cooking the first batch. If this happens, add a teaspoon or two of milk until the batter is pourable. 

Tips for cooking silver dollar pancakes

If you want to make silver dollar pancakes, here are a few keys:

• Cook the pancakes in 1 tablespoon-sized circles of batter. It might seem like it won’t be enough batter, but this size is perfect and easy to make. It does come out slightly bigger than an actual silver dollar, but hey—we doubt anyone will complain!
• Use a large griddle: a non-stick surface is helpful. A large griddle is nice, because it takes quite a while to cook so many pancakes! A non-stick surface is a plus.
• Experiment to find the right heat level. Medium low heat is ideal. If it’s too low the pancakes don’t puff up and brown on the outside, but if it’s too high it burns the outside before the interior cooks.

Ingredients in this breakfast skillet recipe

The breakfast skillet is a pretty loose concept: it could include just about anything! This one we customized to taste hearty and savory like you’d expect from a restaurant, but make it easy enough to make at home. Many breakfast skillet recipes include breakfast sausage, but since we eat mostly vegetarian around here we went the meatless route. Here’s what’s in this tasty skillet:

• Hash browns: These form the base; we like using frozen (see below).
• Eggs: Cook them until just set and the yolks are runny.
• Cheese: Cheddar or feel free to customize: smoked mozzarella or gouda would be fantastic.
• Spices: Chili powder, garlic, cumin, and fennel seeds.
• Green onion: Onion adds a little savory zip and green color.
• Salsa: It’s not required, but it makes a great garnish.

Sides to serve with it

This vegetarian breakfast skillet is so hearty, you don’t need to serve much else alongside. But if you’re cooking up a fancy brunch or breakfast for dinner (brinner!), here are some great options:

• Muffins: Add these stunning strawberry cream cheese muffins or banana oatmeal muffins
• Salad: For brinner, add celery salad or arugula salad as a crisp counterpoint
• Quick bread: Try banana nut bread or applesauce bread.
• Biscuits: Add a few homemade biscuits.

Variations on healthy banana muffins

There are lots of ways to mix up these healthy banana muffins with oatmeal! Here are a few ideas:

• Allspice, ginger or cloves: If you’d like, add ½ teaspoon allspice to add even more flavor to this muffin. You can also add ½ ground ginger or ¼ teaspoon cloves for a bigger spice kick. 
• Nuts: You can add up to ½ cup chopped pecans, walnuts or nuts of your choice to this recipe.
• Blueberries or apples: This recipe also works with blueberries or apples: go to Healthy Blueberry Muffins or Healthy Apple Muffins.
• Zucchini or applesauce: You can also make Healthy Zucchini Muffins or Applesauce Muffins using this concept.

More healthy muffin recipes

Over the years, we’ve found readers love the healthy banana blender muffin concept. So of course we had to create a few variations on this recipe! Here are a few different flavors using the same blender muffin idea with rolled oats:

• Add blueberries for Healthy Blueberry Muffins.
• Use applesauce and oat for these .Applesauce Muffins.
• Try it with zucchini for Healthy Zucchini Muffins or Apple Zucchini Muffins.
• Make Apple Gluten Free Muffins or Healthy Apple Muffins instead.

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Healthy Blueberry Muffins

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Favorite Applesauce Muffins

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Healthy Zucchini Muffins

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Apple Gluten Free Muffins

Ingredients for this banana smoothie

Now that you’re convinced it’s worth a whiz in the blender, here are the ingredients you’ll need for this banana smoothie! It’s just 4 ingredients:

• Ripe bananas, at room temperature: No need to freeze a banana here! You can whip up this banana smoothie on the spot.
• Ice: A hefty quantity of ice counteracts the need for frozen bananas.
• Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt gives this recipe a protein boost and helpful probiotics. It also makes for a perfect creamy texture.
• Milk: Just the right amount of liquid makes this smoothie blend up perfectly. You can also use non-dairy milk (see below).

Add-ins & variations

You can mix in whatever you’d like to customize your healthy banana smoothie! But if you want it to be perfect, you’ve got to use flavors that work. Here are some ideas on mix-ins that pair well with banana:

• Peanut butter: A classic combination! Use 2 tablespoons (it will turn the smoothie a little more brown, and you may want to add a bit of honey to balance). Or go to Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie.
• Cocoa powder: Make a Chocolate Banana Smoothie.
• Vanilla: Use ¼ to ½ teaspoon vanilla to heighten the flavors.
• Cinnamon: Add ¼ teaspoon cinnamon to add spice.
• Strawberries: Make a Strawberry Banana Smoothie.
• Blueberries: Make a Blueberry Banana Smoothie.
• Mango: Make a Mango Banana Smoothie.
• Avocado: Make an Avocado Banana Smoothie.
• Pineapple: Add ½ cup canned pineapple to the mix.
• Oats. Add a handful rolled oats to make the smoothie even more filling.
• Coconut or toasted coconut. Coconut pairs well with banana. Especially tasty is toasted coconut, which heightens the flavor and takes only 3 minutes. (You’ll see it as the garnish here.)

Peanut Butter Banana SmoothieStrawberry Banana SmoothieChocolate Banana SmoothieAvocado Banana Smoothie

Ways to serve sunny side up eggs

There’s not much that doesn’t taste better with an egg on it! You can literally add an egg to anything and it’s a fantastic boost of protein (per Healthline, one egg has 78 calories and 6 grams protein.) And eggs aren’t just for breakfast! Here are our top ways to serve sunny side up eggs:

• With potatoes. Try with homemade hash browns, oven Hash browns or pan fried potatoes.
• With toast. Add toast or avocado toast and it’s a quick breakfast.
• Sandwich. Make a fried egg sandwich with smoky mayo (yum!).
• Rice bowl: Use it to top Korean bibimbap or bibimbap with quinoa.
• Noodle bowl: Make a meal out of soba noodles.
• Salad: Try it on a Caesar salad or kale salad.

Variations and mix-ins

There are so many ways to dress up pumpkin banana muffins. We almost made them with our favorite maple glaze, but wanted to keep them basic and let you add your desired mix-ins or toppings. Here are a few other ideas:

• Mix-ins: Add ½ to ¾ cup dark chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or chopped pecans.
• Pumpkin seed topping: Top each muffin with a sprinkle of pepitas (we like roasted salted best).
• Streusel topping: Combine ¼ cup rolled oats, 2 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, ¼ cup turbinado sugar and ¼ cup salted butter cut into pieces. Cut in the butter using a pastry cutter or fork until a crumbly streusel forms. Sprinkle on top before baking.
• Glaze topping: Make 1 recipe of this Maple Glaze and drizzle it over the muffins with a fork. Or, use the Salted Caramel Glaze from this Brown Butter Banana Bread recipe.

Ingredient notes for this pumpkin bread recipe

There are many ways to make a great pumpkin bread. Alex and I created this one to be ultra moist, with the perfect sweet, cozy spiced flavor and soft, tender crumb. Why is it easy? There’s no need for a mixer or waiting for butter to come to room temperature: you can mix it all up in one bowl! Here are a few ingredient notes for this recipe:

• Pumpkin puree: Use canned or homemade; the most consistent brand we’ve found is Libby’s (we’re not affiliated).
• Eggs: These bind the bread together. For egg-free, go to our Vegan Pumpkin Bread.
• Granulated sugar: You can substitute the solid sweetener of your choice; we don’t recommend using maple syrup here.
• Neutral oil: Oil makes a moister quick bread than butter; it also allows the recipe to be made in a bowl with no stand mixer.
• Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice (or ginger, allspice, and nutmeg): Individual spices make the boldest flavor, but you can also use pumpkin pie spice.
• All purpose flour: You can substitute up to ¼ of the flour with whole wheat flour. For a gluten-free option, go to our Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread.

Try it with a maple glaze

This easy pumpkin bread is delicious plain, but we like it best with a glaze! This maple glaze is simple to whip up and has a sweet, maple-forward flavor.

• Using maple glaze adds a pop of maple-forward flavor. It’s easy to find at the grocery store and it’s worth buying. However, the glaze tastes delicious without it!
• Butter is helpful for storage. One advantage of the maple glaze is that the butter helps to make for a more solidified glaze that holds up better over time.
• Use our even simpler variations. You can also use this 1-Minute Powdered Sugar Icing or Vanilla Glaze for topping.

More pumpkin recipes

When it’s pumpkin season, you’ve got to taste test them all! Here are a few tasty pumpkin recipes you might enjoy:

• Try classics like pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, or pumpkin cake.
• Mix up pumpkin bread pudding, pumpkin pudding, or pumpkin ice cream.
• Start the day with pumpkin French toast, pumpkin baked oatmeal, or pumpkin pancakes.
• Go savory with pumpkin chili or pumpkin risotto.

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Pumpkin Cookies

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Pumpkin Bread Pudding

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Perfect Pumpkin Cake

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Easy Pumpkin Bread

More pumpkin breakfast recipes

There are so many fun pumpkin breakfast recipes to make your fall morning cozy. Here are a few ideas:

• Start with a bowl of Pumpkin Oatmeal or a pan of Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal
• A creamy and delicious Pumpkin Smoothie
• Enjoy a slice of Healthy Pumpkin Bread, a stack of Pumpkin Pancakes or Pumpkin French Toast, or a tasty Pumpkin Muffin

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Cozy Pumpkin Oatmeal

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Pumpkin Smoothie

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Pumpkin French Toast

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10 Pumpkin Breakfast Recipes

Tips for cooking these chocolate chip pancakes

We’ve created a lot of pancake recipes over here at A Couple Cooks, from blueberry pancakes to cottage cheese pancakes. Here are some best practices we’ve learned:

• Use a large griddle: a non-stick surface is helpful. Some griddles have uneven heating, so use a quality griddle or skillet. A non-stick surface is a plus.
• Experiment to find the right heat level. Medium low heat is ideal. If it’s too low the pancakes don’t puff up and brown on the outside, but if it’s too high it burns the outside before the interior cooks.
• The batter can become very thick while cooking the first batch. If so, add a teaspoon or two of milk until the batter is pourable. 

More pancake recipes

There are so many fun flavors of pancake recipes: we’re just getting started! Here are a few more of our weekend favorites:

• Try family favorite Oatmeal Pancakes or Cottage Cheese Pancakes
• Go for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, Chocolate Pancakes, or Silver Dollar Pancakes
• Mix up decadent Brown Butter Pancakes with Maple Caramel Syrup
• Make Almond Flour Pancakes or super simple 3 Ingredient Banana Pancakes

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Best-Ever Oatmeal Pancakes

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Brown Butter Pancakes with Maple Caramel Syrup

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Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

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12 Healthy Pancakes Recipes

The best egg substitute for pancakes?

There are lots of foods to use as an egg substitute for pancakes…but what’s the absolute best sub? Usually when we make vegan pancakes or baked goods, we substitute a flax egg. A flax egg is ground flax seed mixed with water, which makes a gel-like substance that works as a binder. But we don’t always have flax seed on hand. But here, we wanted to make a pancake recipe without eggs using a substitute that’s always on hand in the pantry.

The best egg substitute for pancakes? Peanut butter – or any nut or seed butter! This substitute does a few things: it replicates the richness of eggs, the moisture content, and works as a binder to hold the pancakes together. Even better, it adds a subtle nuttiness to the flavor that makes them irresistible! The substitution ratio? 1 egg equals 2 tablespoons nut butter.

Notes on nut butter

You can use any type of nut butter or seed butter in these pancakes without eggs! Peanut butter is what’s most often on hand in our pantry, but we stock several types of nut butter. Make sure to use creamy nut butter in all cases: this allows it to meld into the texture of pancakes. Here are a few nut butter options:

• Peanut butter: Peanut butter has the strongest nutty flavor! Try it homemade.
• Almond butter: Almond butter is slightly more neutral. Try it homemade.
• Cashew butter: Cashew butter also has a mild flavor! Try it homemade.
• Pecan butter: Pecan butter works too! Try it homemade.
• Sunflower butter: Sunflower butter is a great option for nut allergies!

Ingredients for pancakes without eggs

This pancake recipe without eggs we developed especially to use ingredients you’d likely have on hand at home. Because if you don’t have eggs and can’t run to the store…you probably aren’t stocking some other unique ingredients. Here’s what you need for these pancakes without eggs:

• All purpose flour
• Whole wheat flour: this is important for the texture and color
• Cinnamon
• Baking powder
• Light brown sugar: You can substitute granulated sugar, but keep in mind the color of the pancakes will be lighter
• Salt
• Neutral oil: use organic vegetable oil, canola oil or grapeseed oil
• Nut butter: peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter or sunflower butter
• Milk: 2%, oat milk or almond milk

Another recipe without eggs? Try our Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Tips for cooking: low and slow is key!

Last thing to remember for these pancakes without eggs: a few tips for cooking them! Because the texture is a little different from a standard pancake, you’ll want to make sure the heat is not too high. Here’s what to know about cooking these flapjacks:

• Low and slow is key! Make sure the heat is on low to medium low! These pancakes without eggs can burn more easily than the standard pancake. Cook them too high high and they’ll be brown on the outside and gooey on the inside. But go low and slow and they’ll come out perfectly.
• When to flip? When bubbles form and pop. When’s the right time to flip a pancake? Wait until bubbles form on the surface and start to pop. Sometimes it seems like you’re waiting too long, but trust us! This trick works every time.

Ingredients in this pumpkin muffins recipe

These pumpkin spice muffins are a straightforward spin on the classic muffin, using a hefty dose of pumpkin spice. They’re not overly sweetened or rich, relying on pumpkin and applesauce for much of the moistness. Here are the ingredients you’ll use:

• All purpose flour
• Pumpkin pie spices
• Baking soda, baking powder and salt
• Brown sugar
• Pumpkin puree
• Eggs
• Neutral oil
• Applesauce

There’s not much to this pumpkin spice muffins recipe: it’s made like a classic baked good. Mix the wets, mix the dries, combine, and bake! It takes just 25 minutes and these bake up like a charm: they come out moist and cozy scented.

More pumpkin spice recipes

When you’re in the mood for pumpkin spice, here are a few more pumpkin spice recipes to use it:

• Mix up Pumpkin Banana Bread or Perfect Pumpkin Bars
• Bake up a Perfect Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Bread Pudding or other Pumpkin Desserts
• Go for classic Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Spice Coffee or Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte
• Try a Pumpkin Martini or Pumpkin Old Fashioned Cocktail
• Start the day with Pumpkin Pancakes, Pumpkin Waffles or Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal

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Pumpkin Banana Bread

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Pumpkin Spice Latte

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Pumpkin Waffles

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Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes