Sunday mornings and big breakfasts go hand-in-hand in my world. Pancakes and waffles remind me of lazy weekend mornings…and because I slept in this morning, pancakes were on my to-do list when I woke up 🙂

I also had a bag of mixed berries in the freezer so I made some berry chia jam to top off this stack of my favorite pancakes. Not only do these pancakes have fiber from the gluten free oats and (optional) flax, they are protein-packed from the cottage cheese for extra staying power! I’ve made them before with my Peach Poppyseed variety but this time I went a more basic route since I was adding a bunch of berry goodness on top!

I went through a long phase growing up where I preferred jelly/jam on my pancakes over maple syrup. When I look back, I pinpointed the issue: soggy pancakes! I never ate my pancakes fast enough because I was a chatty kid at the breakfast table. No more soggy cakes for me though! To this day, my remedy is to serve my syrup on the side 🙂

Feel free to add more sweetener if this jam is a little too tart for your taste. You can use this jam on toast, in your PB &J sandwiches, stirred into oatmeal, or smeared onto anything your little heart desires 🙂

High Protein Oatmeal Pancakes (adapted from my Peach Poppyseed Cottage Cheese Pancakes)

Ingredients

1/2 cup gluten free oats
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
2 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or other milk works fine too)
1 tsp honey, agave or maple syrup (or stevia to taste)
1/2 tbsp flaxseed meal (optional for added nutrition)
1/2 tsp gluten free vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional but I love the flavor)
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil, butter, ghee or other oil for pan (or cooking spray if preferred)

Optional add-ins:  1-2 tablespoons fruit of choice, chopped nuts, seeds, chocolate chips

For serving
Mixed Berry Chia Jam (recipe below)
Fresh blueberries or other berry
Coconut butter

Directions

1.  Heat griddle or large frying pan over medium-low heat.
2. In a blender (I use the individual serving Cuisinart here) or small food processor, add oats and pulse until resembles a flour. Add ingredients (cottage cheese through extract) and blend until well combined. Stir in add-ins if using at this time.
3. Add oil or butter to pan until melted. A couple tablespoons at a time, add batter to the pan and cook golden brown on the bottom and there are a few bubbles on the surface. Flip and cook another 2 minutes or so until golden brown.
4. Garnish with berry chia jam, coconut butter and/or your favorite pancake topping (more butter, maple syrup, honey, applesauce, fruit compote, coconut butter etc) and serve!!!

Makes 6-8 small/medium pancakes, serves one hungry person (me after my workout) or 2 small portions
Recipe can be doubled or tripled if needed 🙂

Mixed Berry Chia Jam (adapted from Oh-she-glows)

3 cups mixed berries, frozen or fresh (I used the assorted frozen from Costco)
2 Tbsp honey, agave or maple syrup (or more to taste, do not use honey if strict vegan)
1 Tbsp coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
1 1/2 Tbsp chia meal/flour (ground chia seeds OR use 2 Tbsp chia seeds)
4-5 drops of liquid stevia (or to taste)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a medium-sized non-stick pot, bring the berries, liquid sweetener and coconut milk to a low boil.  Stir frequently, and reduce heat to low-medium to simmer for about 5 minutes.  Mash the berries with a potato masher or fork, leaving some for texture if desired.

2. Stir in the chia until thoroughly combined and cook the mixture down until it thickens to your desired consistency, or about 15 minutes.  Stir frequently so it doesn’t stick to the pot.

3. Once the jam is thick, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract and stevia.  Add more sweetener to taste if desired.  The jam should keep for at least a week in an air-tight container in the fridge.

*If you want a smoother texture, you can puree the jam in a food processor liked I did. Next time I will leave it more chunky for added texture…plus it’s one less thing I have to clean up!