Chocolate Protein Pancakes

Gluten free breakfast can get a little boring on the weekend since I usually just have eggs of some sort.  I keep gluten free pancake mix in my pantry, but I know it’s not the healthiest option and it’s pretty expensive.

I started making these Protein Pancakes before I found out I needed to go gluten free because they seemed like a good option for fast, but healthy breakfasts.  I don’t need sweet pancakes with syrup, so these are the perfect vehicle to get peanut butter and banana slices in my mouth.  Once I went gluten free, these turned into the easiest and healthiest “bread-y” breakfast foods I could make, but I haven’t been making them nearly often enough.

You can use whatever protein powder that you have available, or if you don’t have/don’t like protein powder, cottage cheese is a great substitute. The cottage cheese version is even more neutral tasting, since it doesn’t have any sweetener, so you can use the pancakes like you’d use bread.  If you want them to be more pancake-like, add a little sweetener to the batter and top with syrup.  I used chocolate protein powder in this batch and they were very good.  I froze them two per sandwich bag and took them into work as needed for breakfast.

Protein Pancakes

• 1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal (certified gluten free oats if you have an allergy)
• 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese OR 1 scoop protein powder instead
• 4-6 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Mix together the oatmeal, cottage cheese, egg whites, vanilla extract, and cinnamon to make a batter.  I used a bullet blender, but if you don’t mind larger chunks of oatmeal, you could stir together. Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Add the batter and cook over medium heat until both sides are lightly browned. Use your choice of toppings.  The flavor is more egg-y than typical pancakes.

Add some honey or sugar to make it sweeter like pancakes. If you want them thicker, add more oatmeal. If you use old fashioned oats, you will need to use a blender to make the batter.

Kitchen Tip: This picture is blurry, but you know that pancakes are ready to flip when bubbles start appearing across the top.