Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes

This post is in partnership with The National Milk Life Campaign.

 Do you get enough protein at breakfast?  If you’re anything like me, you think you probably do but don’t know for sure.  Over the last month, I’ve been working on some breakfast recipes and I was completely surprised when we ran the nutrition values on them to find that I was NOT getting enough protein in before noon!

It’s recommended that a person get 25-30 grams of protein before noon.  When I actually got that amount in, I was amazed at how good I felt and how much I accomplished that day!

Today I not only have a delicious Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes recipe that I paired with a glass of chocolate milk to share with you but also a couple snack ideas to pair with it so you get your snack ideas to help you get 25 grams of protein before noon.

Pairing an 8-ounce glass of milk, with 8 grams of high-quality protein, with your breakfast or morning snack is an easy way to get closer to 25-30 grams of protein before noon. For more on milk’s protein advantage in the morning, check out this infographic.

Check out the details below!

How to Make Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes

These are make-ahead quinoa pancakes that can be made in a large batch and frozen for quick and easy breakfasts. This recipe makes roughly 10 pancakes.

Ingredients

• 1 cup – cooked quinoa
• 3/4 cup – all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons – baking powder
• 1 teaspoon – vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons – granulated sugar
• 2 – large eggs
• 1/2 cup – milk
• 6 ounces – plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup – fresh blueberries
• Maple syrup (optional)

Pair each serving with:

8-ounce glass of chocolate milk

Directions

In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking powder and sugar.  Set aside. In a second bowl mix the eggs, vanilla, Greek yogurt, and 1/2 cup milk together until well-combined. Add the flour mixture into the egg mixture and combine well. Fold the cooked quinoa in to the batter.

Preheat a skillet to medium heat. Place 1/4 cup batter in the hot skillet to make the pancakes, brown each side. Serve with fresh blueberries on top, an 8-ounce glass of chocolate milk and an optional drizzle of maple syrup.

Enjoy a morning snack of 1 medium apple with 1 ounce almonds to help get 25 grams of protein before noon.

Makes 5 servings (2 pancakes per serving)

 These Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes are amazingly delicious paired with a glass of chocolate milk but they don’t have quite enough protein in them,to reach the expert recommended range for each meal, so we have a couple snack ideas that will get you up to the 25 grams.  I like to space them out through the morning instead of eating them all at once.  Here’s an example:

Breakfast Idea:

7:00 A.M.

2 Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes

1 Glass of Chocolate Milk (8 ounces)

Morning Snack Idea:

9:00 A.M.

1  – medium apple

11:00 A.M.

1 ounce – almonds, unsalted

Be sure to stop by MilkLife.com for more recipes and ideas to aim for 25-30 grams of protein before noon!