Whether for some self-love or love for another, these Wild Strawberry Protein Pancakes will make the perfect Valentine’s Day breakfast. Gluten-Free, vegan, chock-full of protein and strawberry flavor, you can’t help but fall in love!

I guess this will become my Valentine’s Day tradition here on Strength and Sunshine. I asked you guys over the weekend if you’d rather have Valentine’s granola or pancakes. Well, pancakes won by a landslide; not many wanted granola! That makes me kinda sad 🙁 Do you know I have 5 granola recipes I need to share and 2 more in development!? Mark my words, you will be getting granola, but I guess it can wait another week 😉

I guess you’re just lucky I like talking about pancakes. They’re one of those foods that have limitless variations and can work for any day, holiday, diet, preference, whatever. They can be indulgent or healthy (I go for the latter), but no matter what, they’ll make the recipient of their cakey-wonders a very happy camper. I wanted to learn a bit more about one of my favorite breakfasts (the extreme foodie nerd I am), so I searched for who invented the pancake.

Well apparently, no 1 person invented the glorious round cakes. But their history can be traced back to ancient Roman times (I knew I liked Latin for a reason!). They used milk, flour, eggs, and spices to make either a sweet of savory “cake” called Alita Dolcia (meaning “another sweet”). Then the pancake will spread to other European countries and start taking on forms we are familiar with. Eventually it becomes an ever-loved breakfast favorite.

O, the history of food. I find it so interesting! See, not only do I adore cooking, but I also love learning about what I’m cooking as well. It makes you appreciate the beauty of it more. Then you can really “cook with love” and everything you make tastes 1000x better. And when you cook with love, those who get to taste your creations will love you back 😉 So, making these lovely wild strawberry pancakes, with love, for Valentine’s Day just seems pretty perfect, don’t you think?

Wild Strawberry Protein Pancakes

Ingredients: (serves 1)

+ Flour Mix (3 TB of Buckwheat Flour, 2 TB Gluten-Free All-Purpose, 1 TB Wild Strawberry Protein Powder)

+ 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder

+ 1/4 Cup Pureed Strawberries

+ 1/4 Tsp Pure Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract

+ 1/4 Tsp Strawberry Extract

+ 5 Drops Vanilla Stevia (or sweetener of choice, optional)

+ 1/3 Cup Water (or non-dairy milk)

Strawberry Protein Frosting:

+ 2 TB Wild Strawberry Protein Powder

+ 4 TB Water

+ Unsweetened Shredded Coconut (optional)

Directions:

+ In a mixing bowl, combine the flour mixture and baking powder and give it a mix. Then add the liquid ingredients and mix again until you have a pancake batter.

+ On the stove, heat a non-stick pan (greased with coconut oil), over medium heat.

+ Once the pan is hot, pour 1/3 of the batter in the center. Cook for 2-3 minutes, flip and cook an additional 2-3 minutes. Set aside and repeat process for the rest of the batter.

+ To make the frosting, just mix the protein powder with the water. add more of less water to get desired consistency.

+ Top you pancakes with the frosting and sprinkle on some shredded coconut to make things look pretty!

Pretty pink, sweet, fruity, protein pancakes! A healthy little decadence to show someone you love them (or to show yourself how much you…love you!). What’s awesome is that Valentine’s Day is a Saturday, which means I’ll have time to make some pancakes! Woohoo! And even if you’re a “V-Day Hater” (yes, we should show our love all year long), it’s still fun to play along with the hype and at least make a cute breakfast! Are you with me?

So tell me:

+ Do you like learning about food and its history?

+ Who will you be showing the love to with these pancakes on Valentine’s Day? **Myself!**

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