Crunchy Salty Sweet

When I think about what my dream Saturday breakfast or brunch would look like, 95% of my thoughts immediately head in the direction of savory and salty things like bacon, eggs, hash browns, and anything cheesy. However, every once in awhile, I’ll catch myself off-gaurd and crave fluffy, delicious pancakes.

Usually, for me, pancakes just don’t satisfy my weekend breakfast goals: filling and hearty. I rarely crave sweets in the morning, so that immediately takes them off the radar. Also, I absolutely must have some protein in my breakfast. I’m not talking a few grams from the flour and egg, but some actual protein that’s going to prevent me from gnawing off my own arm before 11am.

So, in an attempt to fill this very specific need for a protein-packed, not too sweet pancake – I came up with these. The thing I really love is that these pancakes are SUPER flexible.

(Hi Baxter!)

Start by preheating your oven to 250 degrees. This will allow you to finish all the pancakes without worrying if the first ones are still warm! Also, get a griddle warming over medium-low heat. Or you can choose to be like me and forget you have a griddle, and spend all morning cooking each pancake individually in a small pan 🙂

Mix together the flour, protein powder, baking powder, salt, sugar with a whisk. These will work just as well if you don’t want or have protein powder, and the protein is still higher than traditional pancakes (ingredients for either option listed below). In a separate bowl, mix together milk, yogurt, butter, and eggs (coffee was consumed, not part of the recipe!). Now, take the wet ingredients and slowly add them into the dry, until you get a thick, incorporated batter.

I actually don’t like bananas (except in banana bread, nom), but Andrew does…so after the batter comes together, I take 2 cups (half) of the batter in a separate bowl, and mix with 1 mashed banana. If you want banana throughout, now is the time to add the mashed bananas to the batter.

Now, turn the heat up to medium and dab a small amount of butter in your pan. Scoop your batter with 1/2 cup measure (or 1/4 cup for small pancakes) into the pan. If you’re feeling fancy, now is the time to add chocolate chips, blueberries, strawberries, or whatever your heart desires to the pancakes. Cook pancake for about 1 minute and then sprinkle your addition into the wet batter.

The lesson I learned when I was about 12 and began making pancakes on my own, is once all the bubbles around the outside have popped, it’s time to flip. I find it to be about 3 minutes on the first side.

Cook for an additional minute on the second side, then transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven. Once all the pancakes are done, simply stack on a single plate (for an instagram picture), douse with maple syrup and inhale!

Side note: these are also delicious with peanut butter. If you know me, you know that my peanut butter/maple syrup pancake ritual started at a young age, so this combo is deep-rooted. Just be warned that if you try it, there’s no going back.

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Prep: 15 minutes, Cook: 30 minutes (if you forget you have a griddle and cook them one at a time in a small pan) OR 15 minutes with a griddle, Total: 30-45 minutes

Makes: 8 large or 16 small pancakes

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 scoops (about 1/2 cup) vanilla protein powder, I use GNC Pro Performance Amplified Gold – optional (if omitting, just use 2 cups flour)
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup 2% Greek yogurt, I use Fage
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus more for cooking pancakes
• 1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, beaten
• 2 bananas, mashed (optional)

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees and get a griddle warming over medium-low heat.

Mix together the flour, protein powder, baking powder, salt, sugar with a whisk. In a separate bowl, mix together milk, yogurt, butter, and eggs. Now, take the wet ingredients and slowly incorporate them into the dry, until you get a thick, incorporated batter. Now, add the mashed bananas to the batter, or don’t…in the words of my favorite blogger Joy the Baker – choose your own adventure!

Dab a small amount of butter in your pan and scoop your batter with 1/2 cup measure (or 1/4 cup for small pancakes) into the pan. Cook pancakes for about 3 minutes on the first side, or until the bubbles around the outside pop.

Cook for an additional minute on the second side, then transfer to a baking sheet and place in the oven.

Once complete, serve pancakes with butter, maple syrup, and peanut butter if you’re smart.

Nutrition: I normally don’t include nutritional information, but wanted to share the info for these – Per pancake: 198 calories, 7g fat, 22g carbs, 13g protein, 5g sugar