Whether you eat gluten free or dive into whole grains, protein-packed pancakes are on the healthy list when prepared properly.

After reading in Reader’s Digest that this helps weight-loss, I renamed my protein-packed pancakes: “Skinny Kids Pancakes.” Here is what I read: “According to an International Journal of Obesity study, people who started their day with a meal that included protein-packed pancakes felt fuller and ate 26 percent fewer calories at lunch.”

My pancakes are not your traditional “low fat” version; in fact, they are packed with healthy fats as I’ve read (and found it to be true) that eating healthy fats keeps you fuller longer and therefore keeps you from overeating.

Want The Skinny Kids Pancakes Recipe?

Below are two different recipes for my Skinny Kids Pancakes. Prepare, and enjoy!

Gluten-Free Skinny Kids Protein-Packed Pancakes

1 cup of Pamela’s Pancake Mix
1 cup of Yogurt
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or maple syrup (optional for taste)
½ cup or butter milk or water or club soda (we make our own)
2 eggs… and if you have any egg yolks, throw them in, too! (we usually have extra egg yolks as child #3 only likes scrambled egg whites on egg days).

Quick & Easy Skinny Kids Whole Wheat Protein-Packed Pancakes

The night before: Mix 1 ½ cups of yogurt with 1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour or better yet, sprouted whole wheat flour (for an even healthier pancake). We soak the flour in yogurt the night before as it neutralizes the phytic acid, which interferes with the absorption of all the great vitamins and minerals in your pancakes. So the soaking step is very important. Read Nourishing Traditions to learn more about why soaking and sprouted grains is important.
In the morning, mix in:
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla paste (optional)
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk or club soda (or as much as you need for proper consistency)

Cook Up Some Goodness!

Once you have your pancake base mixture, add in some bananas or blueberries for added antioxidants. Then grease the frying pan with butter or coconut oil for a sweet taste to the pancakes. When the pancakes bubble, flip then – only once. Then serve with or without real maple syrup or local honey, your choice!

Minimizing Sugar

To minimize the amount of maple syrup or honey, we have a few tricks. We measure out the allowed amount of maple syrup and put it in a small bowl. This way the kids can “dip” the pancakes into the bowl for some sweetness. When the maple syrup is poured directly onto the pancake, it is easily absorbed, and tempting to use too much. For honey, we just spread a thin layer on the pancake with a knife.

Why local honey?

Local honey helps protect your kids from seasonal allergies along with being packed with other health benefits. Local bees bring back to their hives a little pollen from allergens present right in your backyard. So local honey has a little bit of the allergens in it, which when consumed acts kind of like a vaccine; your body learns to get used to these allergens.

The Breakfast Schedule

Even though pancakes are on our healthy list, we don’t want the kids to have too much sugar, which is naturally found in the honey and maple syrup. To minimize the amount of sugar in their diets, we created a breakfast schedule (this also minimizes the whining about egg days). I also no longer have to answer the “what is there for breakfast?” question because they already know:

Sundays: pancakes
Mondays: eggs
Tuesdays: pancakes
Wednesdays: eggs
Thursdays: Ezekiel bread French toast
Fridays: eggs
Saturdays: Irish steel cut oatmeal

Note: To add some variety and encourage choice, any day the kids can opt to substitute yogurt and kefir smoothies for breakfast or have smoothies with breakfast.

If you try my Skinny Kids Pancakes recipe, I’d love to hear what your family thinks of them! Please leave me a comment below. Be sure to check out my other posts for more healthy eating ideas for kids! If you are looking to “get skinny”, health coaches and weight loss coaches are a great way to go. Visit our Weight Loss Coach Guide.