Martha Stewart's Protein-Packed Pancakes Are Made With a Simple Secret Ingredient
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When we think of a classic American breakfast, there are two things that always come to mind: pancakes and bacon. Bacon is pretty self-explanatory — it’s cooked in a skillet or in the oven until your desired level of crispness. But when it comes to pancakes, the sky is the limit. There are seemingly thousands of recipes for pancakes, from thick and fluffy to thin and crepe-like. But one thing many of them have in common is that they pack way more carbs than protein, which isn’t always ideal if you need a breakfast that’s going to keep you energized until lunchtime. If pancakes often leave you feeling like you want to crawl right back into bed, then Martha Stewart’s protein-packed pancake recipe could be the solution. She uses a common ingredient that you might already have in your fridge to give classic pancakes a protein boost, and best of all, they still taste like the breakfast classic you love.
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So, what is it that Stewart uses to pack her pancakes with protein? Cottage cheese! Cottage cheese is basically Little Miss Muffet’s curds and whey with some extra cream added, and it has a mild flavor. You can choose small curd cottage cheese if you want less lumps in your pancakes, and you can even blend the cottage cheese with an immersion blender to make it extra smooth before proceeding with the recipe.
Stewart’s pancakes are also unique in that they call for egg whites instead of whole eggs. According to the USDA, one egg white has 3.6 grams of protein, so if you combine the two egg whites, the 23 or so grams of protein in the cottage cheese, and the 5 grams of protein in the milk called for, then Stewart’s recipe packs 35 grams of protein total, or about 9 grams per serving. That’s quite the boost, considering that one serving of Bisquick pancakes offers up just 2 grams of protein.
“This is one of my favourite pancake recipes by far, gushed one reviewer on Stewart’s website. “they are flavorful, remain moist…and are nice and crispy around the edges.”
But what if you want to add even more protein to your pancake breakfast? You can add some protein powder to the dry ingredients when making the pancakes, for one. Choose one with a neutral flavor, or one with a flavor that you think will work well with pancakes, like vanilla. You could also add in something like oat bran to the dry ingredients.
And don’t forget about the protein potential of your toppings! Skipping butter and maple syrup in favor of nut butter or Greek yogurt paired with some chia see jam can seriously boost the protein content of your pancake breakfast. The next time your pancake craving kicks in but you don’t want to have to take a post-breakfast nap, try Martha Stewart’s cottage cheese protein pancakes recipe, and you might never go back to the traditional recipe again.
Before you go, check out our slideshow below:
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