week 20: banana protein pancakes {gluten free & grain free}

light and fluffy banana pancakes.  you would never guess this stack of deliciousness is both grain free and gluten free with an added boost of protein!  i present you with… the best way to start your morning.

week 20 and baby is the size of a banana… or as long as a banana.  a 6.5 inch banana to be exact!  and this week marks the halfway point of pregnancy.  it is crazy how fast the time just flies by!

i’ve been feeling much better the past few weeks and thankful i’m over the stage of needing 3-4 naps daily!  still trying to get caught up on these recipe posts and keep up-to-date with the never-ending chalkboard art! :)  it’s always a bittersweet moment erasing my weekly creations… all the hours of hard work washed away in a matter of seconds with a dirty wet rag.  sigh.

but getting to share it with you makes it all worth it. :)

eating this mouth-watering stack of pancakes after baking and shooting all morning was pretty satisfying too… it was like the ultimate food reward.  pancakes for lunch. pancakes for afternoon snack.  pancakes for dinner.  no shame here.  yeah, they are that good.

good for you too!  only 90 calories with 6.5 grams of protein each… there’s lots to love about this recipe!

these pancakes are pretty simple to make… especially if you’re like me and both almond and coconut flour are staples in your kitchen.

a few important notes to remember when making these pancakes to ensure the perfect taste and texture:

use an extra ripe banana.  this is one of the few exceptions in my book where brown-ness = good-ness.  (normally, a banana has to still have green on it for me to even touch it!)  that being said, i never have bananas that are too ripe on hand.  i just happened to toss one in my freezer a few weeks ago in case i wanted to make banana bread.  i let it thaw at room temperature and it slid right out of the peel and created the perfect mushy texture you want for this recipe.

the key here is getting the texture of the banana smooth & creamy… because nobody wants lumpy pancakes.

i took a hand blender and whipped the banana until it was like baby food.  then add your egg until it’s all whisked together.  finally, the last wet ingredient is the almond milk/protein powder blend.  i mix these two ingredients together in a shaker cup (like i was making a protein shake) and then just poured it in.  adding protein powder to your milk is an easy little trick that allows you to turn any pancake recipe into “protein pancakes”.

because… why not??

you can use any vanilla protein powder you choose… or you can get fancy with this recipe and use banana protein powder.  or chocolate–if you’re into mixing chocolate and bananas together.  toss in some chocolate chips… might be epic.  let me know. :)

once the consistency of the wet ingredients is even, mix the dry ingredients together separately and then stir those in.  do not over-mix!  over-mixing will cause your pancake to be much denser (thereby not as delicious, in my opinion).

it’s also important to make sure your pan or griddle is hot before adding pancake batter.  an easy tip is to sprinkle a few drops of water on your preheated surface and if they evaporate almost immediately, it’s ready to go.  spray pan with non-stick cooking spray or coconut oil before each round and use approximately 1/4 cup of batter per pancake.

one last tip: preheat oven to 200 degrees while you’re cooking to keep pancakes hot & fresh until ready to serve.

top pancakes with fresh bananas and add maple syrup, peanut butter, or honey on top for a little taste of heaven. :)

speaking of protein pancakes… have you tried these?? oh.em.gee.