For those of you that read Mama Pea’s blog, you got a sneak peak of these babies last month.

I had a bit of leftover quinoa that I needed to use up and wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do with it.  Seeing as how it was Sunday and Sunday Breakfast time, I decided, what the heck, and tried making pancakes out of it.

I was really pleased with the way these turned out!  Healthy pancakes with added protein punch?  I’ll take it!

Andrea’s Quinoa Pancakes:

• 1 1/2C Cooked Quinoa
• 1C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• ½ tsp Baking powder
• 1tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1TBSP Maple Syrup
• 1 1/4C Soymilk
• 2TBSP Wheat Bran
• 2TBSP Ground Flax
• 2tsp Vanilla Extract

In a small mixing bowl combine the soymilk, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. In a large mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients. Gently add the liquid mixture to the quinoa mixture. Stir just until everything is combined.

Heat a griddle over medium heat. Brush with light olive oil and drop pancake mixture by the spoonful onto the griddle. Amount is up to you and what size pancakes you want to make. Cook for about 4 minutes on one side or until the middle starts to pop with air bubbles. Gently flip and allow to finish cooking on the other side. About another 3 minutes or so.

Makes roughly 8 medium sized pancakes.

I dipped these babies in some yogurt and was really excited about the way they turned out!

Cooked quinoa can be heavy and weigh things down causing the cooking time to go up.  Eating the end result does not taste heavy or leave you feeling like you have a brick in your belly.  It just increases the cooking time, so keep that in mind if you make these pancakes.

The texture of the quinoa melts into the pancake.  There’s a bit more of a chew to them but otherwise it’s just like a regular ole’ pancake.

They freeze and reheat well, just pop them in a toaster or toaster oven for a few minutes to warm and get crisp (all my pancakes freeze well! FYI!).

Got leftover quinoa, give some pancakes a try!

Have fun guys and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!