High Iron Pancakes for Baby — Melinda Lamarche

These little pancakes, chock full of iron, are great for little ones. Around 6 months of age, babies are ready for eating solid foods. They become interested in what family members are eating and start to show signs of being ready to sit up in a high chair and join in on the family meal. Many parents start baby off on a variety of purees and move forward with different tastes and textures, including finger foods, as baby gets older. While other parents might go straight for finger foods to start (baby led weaning) and some might do a combination of the two. Despite which route you take, feeding your baby foods that are high in iron right from the get go is a great idea. Around 6 months of age babies iron requirements increase and its at this point that their iron reserve from being in utero start to deplete. Iron is essential for baby’s growth and cognitive development. Iron deficiency anemia is common among little ones and complications such a delayed development may not be reversed. So ensuring baby is getting enough iron is essential. To do so, aim to include a source of iron in each meal, some examples include meat, fish, chicken, beans, lentils, tofu, eggs and iron fortified infant cereals.

These pancakes are great for babies who are doing baby led weaning and for those starting to experiment with finger foods. Feel free to switch up the fruit or vegetable puree here to add variety and different flavours to your little one’s meals. Here I used mashed banana, but applesauce, pear puree, pureed beets or spinach could be other add ins. Some might be wondering why I use water instead of milk in this recipe. Milk or a plant based milk alternative would work just fine here and add additional nutrients but the calcium content in these milks or milk alternatives compete and interfere with the absorption of iron. Therefore, using water in this recipe would result in more iron being available for absorption. Serving these pancakes with a source of vitamin C will help to boost the absorption of iron too. Some sources of vitamin C include, citrus fruit, kiwi, strawberries, papaya, mango, pineapple, broccoli, red bell pepper and tomato, just to name a few.

Check out my post on Starting Solids for more information on feeding baby.

High Iron Banana Pancakes for Baby

Makes 14 small pancakes

Dry ingredients

1 cup Iron fortified infant cereal (I used an oat cereal)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

sprinkle of salt

½ tsp cinnamon

Wet ingredients

1 banana, mashed

1 egg

1.5 cups water

Directions:

Heat a skillet on the stove top and grease with vegetable oil to reduce sticking
In a medium sized bowl, combine infant cereal, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and stir to combine
In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir to combine, be careful not to over do it on the stirring
Dollop a few at a time, by the tablespoon into the hot skillet
Once bubbles start to form on the surface your pancake is ready to flip
Cook for another two minutes on the next side
Serve with a favourite high in vitamin C fruit or vegetable as a meal or snack