It’s Shrove Tuesday today aka Pancake Day and what better way to enjoy this day than bake up a fresh batch of pancakes to enjoy with the family… or all by yourself.

I’ve got TWO amazingly simple recipes for you today; the first one is a Chocolate protein pancake one that I’ve dressed with a low-calorie mint choc ice cream and dark chocolate drizzle, and the second is a simple oat pancake with coconut yoghurt and berries. Yum!!

Both of the Pancakes came out super fluffy. I added baking powder but I am sure they would still be quite fluffy without it. Out of the two, I think the chocolate protein pancake was the best – I have a sweet tooth so to be able to enjoy something sweet but in a healthy way is a wonderful win-win situation haha! 

I got myself a little crepe maker from AO.com which is brilliant. I can make tasty crepes and make pancakes on there in minutes. I’m sure I could even fry food on there but don’t think I’ll do that. It’s a good-sized hot plate that heats up fast (literally in seconds, it’s ready to use in one minute) and you use minimal oil. A quick spritz of oil would work well but I just got a piece of kitchen towel and added a little bit of oil to that and rubbed the hot plate with it and it was good to go! I would definitely recommend this little invention to anyone who’s looking for something similar.

So without further ado, here’s the two recipes I came up with yesterday after some long thoughts about what I wanted to do.

First up… 

Chocolate Protein Pancakes

So you think chocolate’s going to be super calorific and bad for you right? Well, you are wrong! Chocolate – especially dark chocolate (my fave!) can actually be good for you.. little amounts obvs we’re not talking about demolishing the whole bar here. I’ve also found that the stronger and darker the chocolate, the less you want of it in one go. My favourite is Green & Blacks 85% dark chocolate.. Daddy P and I literally fight over this stuff. I didn’t use G&B’s chocolate in this recipe and tried out another brand called Menier instead which wasn’t bad.

I used my standard protein powder which is PhD Diet Whey. It’s a whey protein powder that’s low in fat and low in carbs and also contains BCAAs which helps the muscles to grow and repair. I chose to top these chocolate protein pancakes with Oppo mint chocolate ice cream and drizzled two squares of the Menier dark chocolate on top. You can choose any other topping(s) that takes your fancy but I wanted a bit of ice cream lol.

If you’ve never heard of Oppo ice cream, look them up. They’re a new ice cream company that currently offers three flavours; Madagascan vanilla, salted caramel and mint-chocolate but the ice cream is low-calorie, low-fat and low-carb. To put that into context, two scoops of their mint-choc ice cream (approx. 100ml) is only 85 cals and contains just 9.7g of carbs (most mint-choc ice creams have around 19g carbs), 3.8g of fat and 3.1g of protein. Yum. Yum. Yum… and you don’t even have to feel guilty!

This recipe yields around 4 medium-sized pancakes which is plenty for one person. I usually only finish about two of them. I think these chocolate pancakes would also be really nice with fresh fruits or a delicious nut butter.

Chocolate protein pancakes with mint-chocolate ice cream & dark chocolate drizzle recipe

Serving: 4 medium pancakes
Time: 10 minutes (5 mins prep, 5 mins cooking)

INGREDIENTS

To make the pancakes, you’ll need:

• 1 scoop of PhD Diet Whey protein powder in Belgian Chocolate
• 6 tbsp Two Chicks egg whites
• 2 tbsp coconut flour
• 60 mls water
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Don’t forget to have a tiny bit of oil on kitchen towel or an oil spray to very lightly grease the crepe maker

For the topping: (optional)

• 1 scoop (approx 50ml) of Oppo mint-chocolate ice cream
• 10g cooking dark chocolate (I used the Menier brand)

METHOD

1. Add all of the pancake ingredients together and mix to a batter consistency. I used an electric whisk to make it quick and easy.
2. Lightly grease your crepe maker (or frying pan) with a bit of oil on a sheet of kitchen towel or spray once with an oil spray.
3. Once the crepe maker/frying pat is hot enough, add in your batter.
4. Turn your pancakes over once the heated side is done (you’ll know because it’ll no longer be stuck to the crepe maker/pan.) which is usually around 30 seconds on a medium/high heat.
5. another 30 seconds on the other side or until it’s brown on the other side then place onto your plate.
6. Repeat with the rest of the batter and stack up those pancakes!

If you’re using the same toppings:

1. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.
2. Add boiling hot water to a larger bowl and place the chocolate bowl inside to melt the chocolate. Once it’s melted, drizzle over your pancakes.
3. Add the ice cream scoop on top and voila! All done and time to eat.

Notes:
If you are allergic to nuts or coconut you can substitute the coconut flour for oat flour or buckwheat flour instead. You can make your own flour by adding your chosen grain to a nutribullet or food processsor and blitzing it until it turns into a powder.

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And secondly…

Oaty Pancakes

So this recipe is slightly simpler and because it’s a standard oat pancake, you can turn this dish into a savoury one if you’re not a sweet person. I wanted to make this because in case you’re not a chocolate person like me you can still enjoy a healthy pancake day. There’s not as much protein in this recipe as this is not a protein pancake but it’s slightly different from your traditional wheat pancakes as this is made with oat flour.

For this recipe I used smaller amounts of the ingredients so the pancakes came out really small. I just about managed to get out 3 mini pancakes which would be enough to make one large fluffy pancake.

Oat pancakes with coconut yoghurt & fresh berries recipe

Serving: 1 pancake or 3 mini pancakes
Time: 10 minutes (5 mins prep, 5 mins cooking)

INGREDIENTS

To make the pancakes, you’ll need:

• 4 tbsp oat flour (I made my own using Quaker rolled oats blitzed in my nutribullet)
• 60mls Alpro almond milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbsp Two Chicks egg whites

NB. Don’t forget your oil spray or have a little bit of oil on kitchen towel to lightly grease the crepe maker/pan

For the topping: (optional)

• 4 tbsp coconut yoghurt
  (I recommend the Fage Total one – it’s so yummy)
• a handful of fresh raspberries
• a handful of fresh blueberries

METHOD

1. Add all of the ingredients together to create the batter which should be near to a drooping consistency. Not too runny otherwise the pancake won’t be able to have much height.
2. Lightly grease your pan or crepe maker and make sure it’s very hot before adding the batter.
3. Cook the pancakes on each side (about 30-60secs each) depending on how hot you’ve got your pan/crepe maker.
4. Take your pancakes off the heat and place onto your plate.

If using the same toppings:

1. Add your 4 tablespoons of coconut yoghurt one by one on top of the stack of pancakes or in the centre of your large pancake.
2. Add your fruits however you fancy and voila!

Notes:
You can also use dairy milk instead of non-dairy milk. These oat pancakes would also make a great foundation for any savoury topping.

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And there you have it! I hope these two recipes give you some inspiration on what to make today or any other day you’re feeling like a good pancake.

If you don’t like pancakes, try crepes instead! I love crepes as they’re so light, thin and slightly crispy – I’ll do another recipe with crepes soon.

However as it’s Pancake Day, I wanted to enjoy some super tasty, fluffy pancakes.

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NB. We were kindly sent a crepe maker by AO.com for the purpose this recipe post. All words, opinions, recipes and photos are my own.