Protein Pancakes

One of my favorite things about the weekend is that I have lots of free time to make brunch, the most important meal of the day!!

I usually head to the gym on Saturday mornings so protein pancakes are exactly what I need. Most of the blogs I read use whey protein powder for their pancakes and that’s absolutely fine but you can also get a cheaper, very easily absorbed, high quality protein from your diet. If you don’t use whey protein, these pancakes are perfect for your post-gym brunch!

The protein in these pancakes comes from egg whites and cottage cheese – don’t knock them till you try them!

Ingredients:

This recipe serves 2 – Makes 5 pancakes

3 eggs

45g rolled oats

200g cottage cheese

2 Tablespoons of reduced fat milk (or any other milk you use)

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Pinch of salt

Optional toppings

• Yoghurt
• Mango
• Mixed berries
• Banana and strawberries

Method:

• Add all the ingredients to your blender and blend until you get a batter, it should be as thick as yoghurt.

• Add a little oil to a pan (you can a teaspoon of olive oil, light fry spray or whatever oil you usually use).

• Heat your pan and once you can feel heat over the pan add your batter.

• When you start to see little air bubbles in the batter, see picture below, flip the pancake and cook until light brown on both sides.

• This batter is very light and so take care when flipping each pancake for the first time as they may collapse in on themselves. Both sides of the pancake should be nicely browned. I usually heat the oven and put each pancake in until they are all cooked, this way they won’t be cold when you sit down to eat.

• Serve immediately with your toppings of choice. I’ve used half a mango and some coconut yoghurt for mine. You can also wrap 2 and a half pancakes (one serving) in tinfoil or cling film and reheat the next day for breakfast but they are best served fresh.

Nutritional information per serving (with yoghurt&half a mango):

250kcal; 29g carbs; 4g fat; 21g protein; dietary fibre 3g.

This recipe is low fat, high protein and is a good source of potassium and vitamin C (when mango is added).