Venus Crossing with Liss: Protein Pancakes and Almond Butter

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Protein Pancakes and Almond Butter

I have been on a kick lately with the nut butters. Been making my own from scratch, saves a little money and you can pick what goes into it. Bad thing is that nut butters can get really high cal, really fast!

My nut butter calling to me

Tasty little nut butters, and they do keep me full for a long time. So I was trying to think of a vehicle to carry them with a little bit more protein to aid satiety and volume.

And one day last week, the heavens sang, "protein pancakes!" And I made them. And it was good.

On a side note, I got in some new workout gear from Fabletics (by Kate Hudson)... soooo cute! I am so impressed. Ran in them Saturday morning, and they wore like a champ! I am so in love with this seamless Oula top in cobalt- so soft and gorgeous color. The Salar leggings (in blue lava) have such an eye catching pattern, and are THICK.

So if you have never tried Fabletic's stuff, you might do so with caution! Haha! It is an addiction. They put you on a monthly membership. You can skip the month, but invariably there is something I find that I need!

So back to the recipe this week. One batch of protein pancakes makes 3 soft taco sized pancakes. So I double the batch to make enough for the week which is what I did below. I like 1 pancake with a tbsp of nut butter each morning for breakfast.

Protein Pancakes

(makes 6 soft taco sized pancakes)

The Stuff
-1 banana (I freeze bananas, peels removed, once over ripe in baggies; thaw in microwave to use)
-2 scoops of Vanilla whey protein powder (used GNC Amplified Wheybolic Extreme in Vanilla)
-2/3 cup egg whites

What you do
Blend in a blender until smooth. In a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, cook 1-2 minutes each size until done.

Cool and freeze extras in Ziploc baggies. Defrost 30 sec to reheat.

Dollop with 1 tbsp of nut butter. Might I suggest my homemade almond butter recipe below. But peanut butter, cashew butter, Nutella, or any nut butter is amazing.

Prepping my pancakes for the week, got 2 skillets going to make it quick!

Cooling the protein pancakes

Stack the cooled cakes with a paper towel in between so they do not stick together, then freeze in a Ziploc for the week

Almond butter

(Makes about 1.5 cups)

The Stuff
3 cups roasted almonds (roast plain almonds in 400*F oven for 5-8 min)

What you do
In my large kitchenaide food processor bowl, put in the almonds (can be hot or room temp). Takes about 15 minutes, scrape every so often. Be patient like Mother Teresa. It will look like crumbs for minutes 1-10. Around 10-15 minutes, it will all ball up like dough. Then keep going and it will finally smooth out. I added stevia to taste- about 1 tbsp.

Chocolate Almond butter -You can also add cocoa powder for chocolate- 1-2 TBSP.
Crunchy Almond butter - If you like your almond butter crunchy, reserve some almonds to the side and add them once it gets smooth.