Chocolate Protein Pancakes

Before starting this healthy eating kick, I hated breakfast, and I would often just skip it altogether.  However, I learned that it is definitely true that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and now that I've started truly experimenting in the kitchen, it is my favorite meal of the day, especially when I could eat pancakes every day if I wanted to!  Be prepared for many variations on the protein pancake, because I absolutely love experimenting with these.  They don't taste like "diet food" at all!  It's the perfect way to start my day!

I chose to share the Chocolate Protein Pancake recipe first, because chocolate just makes everything better!!  This recipe came from my own experimenting in the kitchen after reading numerous protein pancake recipes online and wanting to eat as much chocolate as possible!

Ingredients:
1/4 c. Oats (I use Bob's Mill Gluten Free Rolled Oats.)
9 T. liquid egg whites
2 T. fat free cottage cheese
1/4 c. pure pumpkin (Be sure to get pure pumpkin in the can not pumpkin pie mix.)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (I used Body Fortress, because it was cheap at Wal-Mart.)
2 T. unsweetened cocoa powder (My favorite is Hershey's.)

Mix all ingredients in a blender until smooth.  I used the single serve cup on my Ninja.

The batter will be somewhat thick or at least it's thicker than some other healthy pancake recipes I've made.  Taste test the batter for sweetness.  The first time I made these, I chose to add some Stevia, because I was wanting something really sweet.  But the second time I made it I did it without the Stevia, and it tasted just as good.

Pour the batter into a small circle in a pan sprayed with cooking oil.  Don't make it too thick as it will take much longer to cook.

When the top starts to bubble up a little bit and the edges lighten, flip the pancake over.

I like to smoosh the pancake down in order to make sure it cooks all the way through.  The cottage cheese will keep the pancake fluffy, but I have found that when you cook with whole foods, they tend to be a little bit more dense.  The texture may throw some people off, but trust me when I say it still tastes amazing!!

My mixture made about 4 medium sized pancakes.  Once they are all cooked, stack them up and top with whatever you want.  I topped mine with a little PB2 dissolved in water.

Other delicious toppings would be fresh strawberries nuked in the microwave to make a sort of compote, Walden Farms chocolate sauce or pancake syrup, bananas, or dark chocolate chips!  I really wanted to top mine with strawberries, but the only kind my parents had in the fridge were full of sugar, and by full of sugar, I mean over 20 grams!!


Macros per one serving without toppings (which is the entire batter mixture, about 4 medium sized pancakes):
355 calories
2.8 grams of fat
30.1 grams of carbs
8 grams of dietary fiber
3.5 grams of sugar
83.1 grams of protein

Yea, I know that's a crazy amount of protein, but when you're trying to build muscle and burn fat, it is more than necessary!  With macros like these, it is a perfect way to start your day.  Personally I love doing some fasted cardio first thing in the morning, eating these babies, then heading off to the gym to lift!  I may try using a version of this batter to make cake at some point in time as well.  Yummy!!!

Enjoy!