Let us eat pancakes.
Protein pancakes, that is.
Haven’t heard of them? I hadn’t either until I was perusing Pinterest during commercial breaks (my favorite way to pass the commercial time, BTW) and came across a recipe that involved mixing up protein powder, egg whites, and a banana. And it makes a pancake.
Whaaaaa???
I know. That’s what I was thinking. So I tested them out, vegan style, titillated by the prospect of eating pancakes with no flour.
They were terrible.
In fact, I tried about 5 different variations of them, trying to pinpoint where I was going wrong, determined to make pancake magic. No dice.
The whole point of the protein pancake is to avoid flour, but I caved (out of hunger), and created a version using a little rice flour (only 1/2 cup).
You can make up a batch of these ahead of time, nuke them in the microwave (or eat them cold), and slather them with nut butter. Or in my case, slather them with nut butter and then drizzle some blueberry syrup on top. Cause a pancake is not a pancake without syrup.
Hey, they’re still healthy.
A word about the protein powder: I used Trader Joe’s Vanilla Hemp Protein Powder. This stuff is a little gritty, so I can’t speak to how other protein powders might work in this recipe, but I’d love for you to test it out and let me know! This recipe makes about 2 smallish pancakes, but feel free to double it up for more.
Vegan and Gluten-Free Protein Pancakes
Makes about 2 small pancakes
What You Need
- ½ cup rice flour (I used white rice flour)
- 4 TBS of protein powder
- 2 tsp. of sugar or desired sweetener (If you’re using a liquid, you might have to add a little more of your dry ingredients to even out the texture)
- 1 egg replacer (flax would be good here)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 2 tsp. coconut oil
- 1 cup non-dairy milk
- Pinch of salt
- 1/3 cup toasted, chopped macadamia nuts
Directions
- Mix all ingredients together by whisking in a bowl, except nuts.
- Pour over a hot skillet that’s been lightly greased.
- Sprinkle each with macadamia nuts.
- Cook for about 2-3 minutes on both sides, or until cooked all the way through. (These take longer to cook than regular pancakes, so resist the urge to flip them early–you’ll break them).
- Top with nut butter, Earth Balance, or syrup. Enjoy!