Gluten-Free Protein Pancakes

I admit that it’s pretty cliche to start the new year off with a recipe blog based on health and fitness; however, if it could help anyone on their health and fitness journey, whether it’s continued, like mine, or part of their new year resolution, then it’s the perfect time to share in my opinion!

It wasn’t my intent to start the new year with a post like this, but I’ve been reflecting on my fitness journey as I started my third coaching program with my Tempo coach in conjunction with the start of the new year. It’s time for us to also catch up via video check-in, so thinking about insights I can give my coach has led to more in-depth introspection on that journey.

First, this is a recipe post, so let’s get to the recipe before I get too in the weeds (I can’t stand scrolling through a novel to get to a recipe!).

Nora’s Gluten-Free Adaptogen Protein Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 bag King Arthur Gluten-Free Pancake Mix

6 scoops Four Sigmatic Protein Powder (Vanilla or Chocolate)

2 1/2 cups Almond or Oat Milk

3 Eggs

4 tbsp. Melted Butter

Optional - add-ins like blueberries, chocolate, nuts, etc.

Directions:

Follow the directions on the King Arthur Gluten-Free Pancake Mix, except in step 1, add the Four Sigmatic protein powder while whisking in the mix. Be sure to check the batter's thickness depending on whether you’re utilizing almond milk or oat milk - you may need to add a tiny bit more milk if using a thicker oat milk like Trader Joe’s Oat Milk.

As you can tell, it’s a pretty simple recipe with some slight adjustments when adding milk with the addition of protein powder. So why did I decide to go ahead and write a blog about this? Well, as someone who was diagnosed with Celiac in 2015 and was a HUGE baker, cook, and foodie, that diagnosis was bigger than I expected it to be because, at the time, while gluten-free and paleo diets were a huge trend, there were not a lot of good substitutes for baking and cooking like there is now. As a result, I essentially gave up on some foods, and cooking, especially baking, wasn’t as fun. I'll go into that more in another post since things have changed, thank goodness!

So, the problem came into play at the end of November when we had a nice little cold snap the week before Thanksgiving, and while we live in North Florida, when it gets cold here, it gets COLD. The humidity can make anything from 65 down to 40 feel like you‘re waiting for snowfall. It’s STUPID. Trust me. Add that in with our shower not being able to regulate temperature, our landlord not willing to fix the problem, and drinking post-workout protein smoothies before or after a cold shower, when it’s also bone-chilling cold outside isn’t my idea of a fun time. Even with the heater on and layers, I would be cold for hours and feel like I couldn’t get warm. So I tried adding protein powder into oatmeal, like I used to do when I had trained in the past - NOPE. The gluten-free oatmeal and gluten-free protein powder I utilized were not palatable, and the texture was awful enough for me not to try with different flavors either. So, I took to TikTok to vent and see what other options people suggested in terms of adding protein powder to breakfast food - I tagged Tempo and one of the coaches, Alex, for better visibility.

Alex got back and responded, “Pancakes!”. Well duh! I can and can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that, as pancakes were one of those foods I'd written off a few years ago. So I was also hesitant, having not tried to make them in a while due to the underwhelming outcome, and add on top of that, I am adding protein powder. Luckily I found a King Arthur Gluten-Free Pancake mix at my local store to test out right away - and they did not disappoint! Not only did they not disappoint, but their consistency and flavor were that of regular pancakes. Like Gluten-filled, non-protein pancakes you’d get at a good breakfast spot. I was behind excited. Since then, I have refined the recipe and even experimented with Four Sigmatics’ Chocolate Protein - SO good!

And not that anyone asks for this, and not that I'm tracking this info for myself, but I'll also include nutrition information in most of the recipes I share here because my husband has Type 1 Diabetes. So when I make smoothies, cookies, etc., that need to have nutrition info worked out, I do so because not only does he have T1D, but he's a brittle diabetic (I'll explain more about that in another post), so guessing in regards to carb count doesn't work for his needs.