I have been challenging myself recently to refrain from eating the same thing for breakfast two days in a row. That doesn’t mean I start from scratch every morning. I typically have a few things on the recipe rotation. But I have found myself in a little bit of a rut of late (in breakfast and in life), and so I am doing what I can to keep me on my toes. Starting with breakfast.
If you know me by now, you might have heard I prefer carby-sweet food first thing. That means pancakes, waffles, oats, smoothies, and yogurt bowls. During the work week, I have less time to stand over my stove and cook a big batch of pancakes, so I usually reserve that recipe for Saturday or Sunday mornings. I love waffles because you can mix the batter, pour into your waffle iron, and get more bang for your buck (depending on how many waffles your iron makes). But I am thinking smaller batch these days, and that is how these waffles came to be.
I found some smaller blender cups for my Vitamix on Amazon, and was probably influenced by some Instagram reel before I bought it. I have yet to figure out all that it can do, but I can officially check waffles off of the list. If you don’t have this blender cup, I would imagine you can make these in a regular blender, or beat everything by hand. If you choose the latter, make sure you use oat flour and not rolled oats (and I would probably decrease the measurement to 1/3 cup, adding an extra tablespoon if you need to).
The protein powder really thickens the batter, so this isn’t a pourable waffle batter by any means. I had to spoon it onto the iron, and use the back of my spoon to evenly spread towards the sides. I like that though. Waffle batter with some oomph. When I first noticed the consistency, I found it to be very interesting, but the end result surprised me in the best way.
The concoction below made four small waffles and each one has a little over 8 grams of protein. I topped one with cottage cheese (for more protein), banana slices and cinnamon, and the other with peanut butter, banana slices, and cinnamon. My entire breakfast had about 22 grams of protein, and since I aim for about 20-30 grams per meal, this hit the spot. It kept me satiated and energized for hours, even through a 90-minute walk with Mason.
An added bonus is that there is no added sugar to these waffles. I used Truvani plant-based vanilla protein, which contains monk fruit, so that is sweet enough for me. I could tell this was a blood sugar balancing way to start my day. Find how I made them below, and please keep in mind it isn’t the most formal recipe I have ever written, but I didn’t want that to stop me from sharing it.
5-Ingredient Pumpkin Protein Waffles
Equipment
- Blender
- Waffle iron
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats
- 1/2 cup dairy-free milk
- 60 g pure pumpkin
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder I used Truvani brand
Instructions
- In a blender or small cup attachment for Vitamix, add the egg, oats, milk, and pumpkin. Blend until creamy. Add the protein powder and blend again. Batter will be thick!
- Preheat your waffle iron, and spoon the batter into the iron. Cook until done and all of the batter is used up.
