[Pumpkin] Protein Pancakes

I can't believe they're not pancakes!

No folks, these are not "naughty" pancakes. They are nicer than Miss Honey in Matilda, but be careful - you won't want to share ;)

Pumpkin Protein Pancakes (gluten/dairy/sugar free. low fructose. low carb.)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole organic, free-range egg (this is important before you skimp and up the quantity of egg whites - the yolk stops the pancake from turning into a rubber chew toy)
• 1/3 cup egg whites (about 2-3 eggs' worth)
• 30g vanilla protein powder (either whey* or pea isolate, or a combo of both)
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree (canned puree is hard to find in Aus...you can steam a batch then blend smooth, though I usually buy organic pumpkin puree online via iHerb.com). You can also replace this with sweet potato or carrot puree.
• 1/4tsp baking powder
• Cinnamon or pumpkin spice
• Stevia, to taste

Method:

• Simply pop all of your ingredients into a blender! If you have the time/patience and want to be super fancy, whip up the egg whites in a bowl until they're fluffy, blend the remaining ingredients and fold them into the whites.
• Put a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat and either spray with non-stick spray or use some organic butter to grease the surface
• Pour from the blender or use a ladle to put the batter into the pan
• Cook each pancake until bubbles start to pop on the surface, then flip and cook for another minute or so. Watch the heat - you might need to adjust if the bottoms are cooking too fast to avoid rubbery pancakes.
• Drizzle with organic maple syrup or my choco-nutty sauce, sprinkle with berries and voila! Fresh lemon juice and granulated stevia also work a treat on these.

Choco-nutty sauce

• Mix a tablespoon of almond or peanut butter with a splash of boiling water or melted coconut oil (just to loosen it up - you want it the consistency of cream)
• Add about a teaspoon of cacao or cocoa power, and stevia to taste

*Whey protein powder can be a bit rubbery if you're not careful. If you're concerned, you can decrease the whey powder to 20g and add a tablespoon of coconut flour or almond flour. If you're not gluten intolerant** and want to up the carb count, you could add a tablespoon of finely chopped oats in place of the flour.

**Oats aren't naturally packed with gluten, it's more in the rolling/processing of the oats where they pick up gluten from ingredients on the same belts in the factory. You can buy gluten free oats that have zero trace of gluten.