Chocolate Protein Pancakes {grain-free; dairy-free}

I’ve been contemplating a pancake recipe for quite a while now. We’ve been cheating on paleo with a gluten-free recipe that’s made with rice flour, so it’s still gluten-free, just not strict paleo. I knew that we needed pancakes made with my all-time favorite Otto’s Naturals cassava flour instead, so I got to work.

But, I wanted these pancakes to be extra special, not just your run-of-the-mill pancakes. Our kids love when I put chocolate chips in pancakes. Even more so, they love when I make them with chocolate almond milk (when I run out of plain). And everyone loves chocolate, and chocolate is always extra special.

But I went a step further in added one more powerhouse ingredient: Perfect Paleo Powder. If you’re unfamiliar with it, you can read my review here (and see our breakfast cookie recipe too). So now we’ve got a little extra boost of protein in our pancakes, and they’re chocolate with chocolate chips on top. The kids couldn’t be more excited about that.

I created and photographed this recipe while the kids were in school. Naturally, my husband and I ate some, because I’m not going to make chocolate pancakes and not eat them. When we were done, there were 6 leftover, just enough for all the kids to have 2 each. When they got home and I told them there was a special treat for their after-school snack, they took one look at the pancakes and looked at me with the widest eyes and said “Are you serious?!”.

And the fact that they also got the extra chocolate chips and some strawberries was just icing on the cake. I mean syrup on the pancakes.

Chocolate Protein Pancakes {grain-free; dairy-free}

Yield: 12 (4") pancakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients

• 1 cup (120 g) Otto's Cassava Flour, see notes
• 3 scoops (1/2 cup or 53g) Perfect Paleo Powder Protein
• 2 Tbsp Maple or Coconut Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/8 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 Egg
• 1/4 cup Ghee, melted and cooled
• 1 cup Dairy-Free Milk, we prefer almond or cashew
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• More Ghee or Avocado Oil for cooking

Instructions

1. Combine the milk and vinegar, stir to mix, and set aside. The milk will curdle a bit, this is good. We're making buttermilk.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, whisk to combine evenly, and set aside.
3. Whisk the eggs, then whisk in the melted ghee and buttermilk. Gently stir in the dry ingredients to the milk mixture. Mix and incorporate well. It's okay if there are still some lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
4. Heat a skillet over Medium heat. Add enough ghee/oil to lightly coat the skillet. Using a large cookie scoop (about 1/4 cup capacity), drop batter onto hot skillet. Using the back of the scoop, flatten out a bit to get a 4" circle.
5. Cook until bubbles appear and break on the surface and edges are slightly cooked (about 2-3 minutes). Gently flip the pancake and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve warm with fresh strawberries, maple syrup, and chocolate chips (or chocolate ganache if you're feeling chocolatey).

Notes

• Weighing cassava flour is the best way to get accurate results, but if you don't have a scale, sift the flour, gently spoon into the measuring cup and level it to get close to accurate.
• To keep pancakes warm in between batches (if they're not flying out of the kitchen as soon as they come off the griddle), heat the oven to 200°F then turn it off. Keep pancakes on a foil-covered pan in the oven until ready to serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 pancake
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 120Total Fat: 6gCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 3g