Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

 

Hi, my name is Stephanie and I blog at Food and Fitness 4 Real. As a busy working mom with two young kids, I blog about trying to balance real life with healthy living while encouraging my family to eat real food! This week I am excited that I am able to guest post for Heather.

Heather and I met at the Healthy Living Summit in Philadelphia in 2011 and I have also featured her on my blog. We have several things in common; like being New Orleans Saints fans, healthy living bloggers and we both are runners!

Today I am going to share my recipe for Pumpkin Protein Pancakes with you. When I started training for my first half marathon with Team in Training last spring, we would often have pancakes as our post-run meal. While in training, I learned that after long training runs it is important to have a recovery meal that includes protein, carbs and fat. This pancake recipe combines vanilla protein powder, pumpkin puree and chopped walnuts for a filling and delicious breakfast. It is lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup and can be topped with pecans, yogurt, fruit or agave.

The batter for these pancakes can be mixed the night before your long run and stored in the refrigerator. Once you get back from your training run, just stir it a few times while you heat up your griddle or pan the cook as instructed below.

Every Sunday morning, I make pancakes for my family before we go to church. Unfortunately, my kids only want me to make PLAIN pancakes and I have yet to entice them with my Dutch apple pancakes, peach pancakes or coconut-pineapple pancake stackers. This pumpkin pancake recipe makes two servings, so I end up eating one serving by myself and freezing the second serving for later in the week.

Although I am not currently training for a long distance race, I still crave pumpkin pancakes this time of year. You should whip up a batch of these pancakes this weekend and share them with your family. Hope you enjoy!

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes

Servings: 2 (four pancakes each)

Prep time: 5 minutes, Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all purpose (or whole wheat) flour
• 1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice*
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or agave or honey)
• 1/2 cup almond milk (or low fat milk)
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
• *If you do not have pumpkin pie spice, use 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 

 

Directions

• Heat a griddle to 350 degrees or a pan to medium high heat.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, protein powder, baking soda and pumpkin pie spice. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin, egg white, vanilla extract, maple syrup and milk.
• Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well. Allow mixture to rest for 2-3 minutes.
• Coat your cooking surface with non-stick spray. Spoon batter onto a hot griddle or pan and spread into a circle (about 4 inches across). Cook for 2-3 minutes or until edges are set and bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Flip and cook for 1-2 minutes more.
• Continue with the remaining batter until all pancakes are cooked. (Batter makes about 8 medium size pancakes).
• Top pancakes with 1 tablespoon chopped pecans and agave or maple syrup.

QOTD: Do you like Pumpkin? What is your favorite pumpkin flavored food?