Hello and happy weekend, friends! Do these not look fantastic?! They’re healthy protein pancakes and I’ve been making stack after stack of them lately and wanted to share the recipe with you. But, before I drop it down below, I thought I’d address a few other agenda items quickly. First things first, and all. You may have noticed some changes to Harvest and Honey recently, and I wanted to take a second to talk about it, as it seems to have completely escaped me in my last post. I think I was overly enthused about sharing my January playlist with you and just waxed on and on about music and being good at sharing and my new year’s goals that I failed to address the elephant in the room. And by elephant, I mean the completely new layout, organization, and future plans here for H & H.

After having spent over 14 months working hard on my cookbook, I am pretty excited to dive back into blog mode here with you, and share the many recipes that I squirreled away over the course of the last year as I made Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest. I scribbled and scrawled and jotted down ideas in my little worn and torn food journal, and I’m in the process of releasing them from their hibernation and bringing them to life in the kitchen. And so. One of my goals in 2018 and beyond is to share more food with you. A lot more, in fact.

At its heart, this blog has always been a storytelling space, anchored by photography and my love of writing. But I am also interested in making it a place where you can come for new, fresh and exciting recipes all the time, and be met with something new each time you do. So, look for more frequent posts – more recipes – and an even stronger emphasis on the food itself. I will say that focusing on a cookbook and writing recipes all the time was really enjoyable and I’m very much looking forward to writing more for you here.

That being said, I will pass the mic to you now. What kinds of recipes would you like to see? In fact, what in general can I do to make this blog even better for you? I’ll be adding a print feature to the posts and will be doing more features of other people in the food world, which I’m particularly excited about. I will also be creating a monthly newsletter with extra recipes, giveaways, early bits of news and workshop announcements, etc.

But I’d love to get suggestions from you guys! I’m all ears and taking notes …

For today though, I’ll leave you with this ** delicious ** healthy pancake recipe. We’ve been thoroughly enjoying these in my house lately, and my kids and I can’t get enough. There isn’t a grain of flour in sight in this batter, as it is a wholesome, nutritious mix of rolled oats, egg, cottage cheese (trust me), and pureed pumpkin, banana or sweet potato (you can use any one of those).

Now, I should note that these don’t eat exactly like traditional pancakes, and they are almost like a cross between oatmeal and pancakes – a bit creamy on the insides and denser than a flour-filled pancake – but delicious and satisfying all the same. A very nice breakfast, to be sure. You can eat your fill with no worry of a sugar crash, food coma or residual guilt, which is a complete win in the world of pancakes if you ask me.

So, hopefully you will enjoy these as much as we do, and if you have any questions or comments or just want to say hello, as always, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email and I will respond as quickly as possible. Happy weekend to you!

xo, L

Healthy Protein Pancakes

A wholesome and protein-packed recipe, these pancakes freeze well and are easily re-heated in the microwave when you need them. Just cool completely before storing and you’re good to go. Adapted from Ambitious Kitchen.

INGREDIENTS (makes about 8 or 9, three-inch pancakes)

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (you can use gluten-free, if you like)

1/2 cup pumpkin puree OR 1 mashed banana (you can also sub 1/2 cup pureed canned sweet potatoes)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

1/3 cup cottage cheese (full fat or light – up to you)

3 Tbsp milk (or a little more, if the batter seems overly thick)

Pure maple syrup, for serving

Toppings as desired

DIRECTIONS

Place the first 8 ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth, about 30 seconds.

Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with butter, coconut oil or a natural cooking spray and place over medium-low heat. Pour the batter right out of the blender in 1/4-cup servings onto the hot skillet, spreading it into 3-inch (give or take) pancakes. You want to cook them until little bubbles appear on the top, as with traditional pancakes. These take a little longer to cook through, because the structure is more moisture and liquid-based. So, just give them a couple more minutes than you would with traditional pancakes (this is why we’re keeping the heat a little lower as well).

Flip the pancakes and cook until they’re also golden brown on the bottoms. Repeat with more cooking spray/butter, as needed, and the remaining batter. Serve warm with maple syrup.