Chocolate Protein Gluten Free Pancakes

I love these Chocolate Protein Gluten Free Pancakes. They are so filling and delicious.

I originally took Valley Flax Flour’s pancake recipe and changed it to suit myself and add more protein by adding chocolate protein powder and then orange juice for some added taste. (I’ll add the link to Valley Flax Flour’s Pancake and Cookie Mix below.)

I’m a big eater, so this makes two giant pancakes for me. For someone with a smaller appetite, this recipe could make 3-4 pancakes.

Keep in mind that the bigger and thicker you make them, the harder they are to get cooked enough on the inside – and I almost always burn them a bit on the outside, which you can see in the photo below!

Me burning them may also have something to do with me turning the heat up too high (being impatient) and then walking away to do something else while I’m waiting. When I can smell them, I know it’s time to flip them over, LOL. If the smoke alarm goes off, I’ve left them a bit too long and my dog loses all trust in me! (Actually, my dog now gets up and hides if he smells something just starting to over-cook. He has no faith in my cooking talent.)

I’ll try to take better photos another time, if I can manage to not burn them or make them smaller and thinner.

Protein Powders

I most often use Iron Vegan’s Chocolate Sprouted Protein powder in my pancakes. I’ve also used Vega Protein and Greens, which is actually my preferred protein powder. The reason I use Iron Vegan is to mix things up a bit so I’m not ingesting the same ingredients all the time, and I DON’T like Iron Vegan protein powders as a protein drink or in my yogurt! Yuck.

It’s the gloopy and grainy texture as a protein drink that turns my stomach. I just can’t. But I refused to waste approximately $60 by throwing it out, so doing some trial and error, I discovered I love the Iron Vegan protein powder in pancakes and baking. Yay! So I’m happy to buy it just for that.

Vega Protein and Greens – any Vega actually, is super awesome delicious as a protein drink, by the way. It’s chocolate Heaven. It’s also great in the pancakes, but like I said, I like to rotate my protein powder proteins.

Herbs & Supplements

I didn’t add these to the ingredient list, because these are more unique to me, but I want you to know that if you have any powdered herbs you’re trying to figure out how to ingest more frequently, chocolate protein powder is the BEST to hide it in. Really. Especially if they’re bitter herbs. Trust me, don’t go trying to put powdered bitter herbs in regular food. You know, like a can of creamy pea soup. That won’t end well, LOL. And yes, I did actually eat the pea soup. It just took me a very long time, eating it in increments over a period of a couple of hours. That was a failed experiment that I won’t repeat.

You may never need or want to add powdered herbs anyway. You probably buy your supplements in capsule form or cut/sifted herbs for tea.

I often buy herbs in bulk and sometimes in powder form, for my horses. And sometimes I take those same herbs. Why bother buying more expensive herbal supplements in capsule form if I have the powder sitting around anyway? I know, I could always buy empty capsules to fill, which I intended to do years ago but never got around to it. Plus, remember, I’m lazy. I also don’t like swallowing pills. I have enough partial bottles of supplements sitting around that I’ve abandoned and forgotten about.

So if you have any powdered bitter herbs like black cohosh, dong quai, or burdock root, for example, you can hide them quite nicely in this pancake recipe! I’ll quite often add 1/2 to 1 tsp each of two or three powdered herbs. It’s an easy way to ingest them (my other go-to method is adding them to coconut yogurt with protein powder).

I often also add 1 tsp or more of Natural Calm magnesium supplement and let it soak up the orange juice for a few minutes before I add the egg. It’s an easy way to get some extra magnesium, which many of us are deficient in. Again, I didn’t add this in the ingredient list because it’s not necessary to the recipe. It’s just an extra I add for my own health.

The Other Ingredients

Valley Flax Pancake & Cookie Mix – here’s the link:
https://www.flaxflour.com/products/pancake-cookie-mix-500g?variant=12380810280994

It’s a local company here in Nova Scotia. They make excellent gluten free flax flour and products, and you can order online. My recipe was modified from their flax pancake recipe on the back of the bag. I aways keep some on hand, and you may find this as an ingredient in some of my other baked recipes.

I haven’t tried this recipe with any other gluten free pancake mix or with a mix of flours, so don’t ask me about that. Something else may require its own recipe.

Why orange juice? I like the orange flavor and it’s another trick to hide any bitter herb taste. If you don’t like or don’t want to use orange juice, just use water! The original pancake recipe called for water and only half the amount that I use – but keep in mind that if you’re adding protein powder, you’re going to need the extra liquid.

Blueberries – I LOVE blueberries. I’ll add them in fresh or frozen, high bush or wild. They add a little extra sweetness and texture.

Earth Balance butter alternative spread – I spread this liberally on top once the pancakes are cooked. I really like it. I don’t use a syrup or any kind and don’t feel the need to, but you can use whatever you like. I tried spreading almond butter on once and didn’t like it, so I don’t recommend that one.