My biggest weakness is a tall stack of French toast and a heaping plate of bacon. After changing my eating habits, it became my go-to cheat meal quite a bit. When I was younger, my mother would sometimes make “Brinner” (breakfast for dinner) and I would be on cloud nine. I love pancakes well enough, but my heart lies with French toast. Smothered in syrup AND strawberries.

The easiest way to win my heart has nothing to do with cars or music, those keys would be handed over (probably quite easily) if you made me even a few slices of French toast and a couple pieces of bacon.

Unfortunately, French toast can be evil. Unless it’s eaten plain, and where’s the fun in that. I’ve dabbled here and there in clean eating recipes for various “Brinner” options, but none have really made me go: “Damn, I need to log that and make it again.” I got my hands on the Met-RX Protein Pancake powder, which is simple: Add water (and if you want fruit) to the mix, whisk, cook. They were……. okay. Even with blueberries in them and covered with the homemade applesauce (courtesy of my canning crazy mother). But they were forgettable.

I’ve had the recipe for the easy five minute Protein Pancakes from the CutandJacked.com website on my figurative burner for quite some time now. It seems like every time I’m at their site, browsing around articles or looking for some new workout clothes, there those pancakes are, calling to me from the home page. They looked delicious.

After a rough and tumble workout at the gym and a horrible fight with the crappiest treadmill machine ever (my gym seriously only has two treadmills that actually work, the other three apparently are just for looks), I rummaged my kitchen and fridge and decided it was time to try these pancakes out.

I cut the recipe in half, which made my dog happy because he got scrambled eggs for dinner, and it made roughly 15 pancakes. Well, if you saw them, you wouldn’t be sure they were pancakes. I just cannot master the art of making a pancake round, oblong or even square. I also used rich chocolate protein powder courtesy of my new tub of Dymatize Elite. Slapped a few on my plate, got out the applesauce and set to my tasting party.

Best pancakes ever. In all seriousness. Each bite, my poor dog was antagonized with “Mm, that’s good” or “Mmhmm, we’re making these again”. I didn’t even add anything like blueberries or strawberries to the recipe, I just did the first shot Plain Jane.

So without further ado, here is the recipe from CutandJacked.com. Nutritional information can be found here.

Protein Pancakes

• 1 ripe banana
• 3 Eggs
• 2 Egg whites
• 1 c almond milk (unsweetened)
• 1 tbs vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 c blanched almond flour
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbs coconut oil for cooking

In your food processor or high-speed blender, blend together banana, eggs, egg whites, and Almond Milk until smooth. Add almond flour, protein powder, baking soda, and salt. Heat some of the Coconut Oil in large skillet, and add batter to make 3-4 inch diameter pancakes. Cook about 3 minutes until golden on bottom and pancake wants to flip easily (when bubbles start to appear and pop). Feel free to add blueberries or other fruit to pancakes before flipping, if desired. Flip and cook 2 minutes longer. Add more oil as necessary.