I have a confession. I absolutely love pancakes. They are my favorite breakfast food. When I think about pancakes, I think about the Dragons Love Tacos book, which discusses the dragons affections for tacos and their accompanying  fixings the entire time.   I love pancakes. I love blueberry pancakes. I love warm fruit topped pancakes. I love fall cinnamon pancakes. Why do I love pancakes? Is it the fluffy texture? Is it the instant simple carbohydrate hit? Is it really just a vehicle for warm, melty butter? We may never know. (If you have not read the Dragons Love Tacos book it is wonderful.)

I finally jumped on the bandwagon and tried this new pancake mix (this is an affiliate link, which means if you click on this link and buy some pancake mix, I will get a small kickback). I have been hearing about on Instagram for weeks. When my mom sent me a picture asking if it was good, I knew I needed to check out this mix. This post is not sponsored. There can be so many new products out there, and I like helping mamas sift through all of the health claims and long lists of ingredients to find the best of the best so that they can spend more time doing things they love. Because my daughter is intolerant to gluten and dairy, I am always on the hunt for new, interesting products and mixes to try out. Sometimes a mom just needs easy, delicious pancakes. The Birch Benders Pancake mix delivers.

I love that they call themselves a “Micro-Pancakery”.

Here are the stats I came to the table (or stove top) with before actually tasting the product.

Pros:

• gluten and dairy free
• high in protein 7g per 2 pancakes
• less than 1g sugar per 2 pancakes
• only 8 ingredients, all of which I am familiar with
• decent amount of fat (7g) to balance out the 16g carbohydrates (still not a large amount for a serving of pancakes)
• fat comes from coconut flour and eggs, not sketchy oil
• inexpensive when compared with other gluten and dairy free pancake mixes

Cons

• Contains almond flour, so my husband cannot eat them too (so hard to compromise for all of our intolerances)

This mix couldn’t be easier. It is a just add water situation, which makes me think of future camping trips. How great would it be not to have to worry about bringing eggs or milk? The instructions recommend waiting a few minutes after you’ve mixed the batter and water to allow the batter to thicken. This is a crucial step, and it gets visibly thicker after about 5 minutes.

The batter did well on my cast iron grill pan. I did use a spray avocado oil to help insure no sticking. I noticed that when I did get a little sticking, it was because the pancake was not quite done cooking. So if you notice a little, try giving it 30 more seconds to cook on that side.

The coloring was so nice that I felt like I was out to brunch. The texture tastes just like how I expect a pancake to be. Light and fluffy, with a little nuttiness from the almond flour. I ate these with just a slather of melted butter, but I’m sure a little real maple syrup would be delicious. We also love them topped with frozen strawberries that we’ve warmed on the stove with a little water. Reminds me of the Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity I used to get a loooong time ago as a child from IHOP, but without all the extra sugar. Another idea is a natural peanut butter or nut butter of choice, this is probably my kiddo’s favorite. She is a peanut butter fiend. We’ve also mixed cacao nibs, blueberries, and cinnamon (separate occasions) with success.

I love that I can feel good about feeding these to my kiddo and myself. As much as I love pancakes, the simple carbs usually leave me feeling tired, full, and hungry again in about 2 hours. Packed with protein and good fats, these pancakes make a great weekend breakfast, especially when paired with some pastured butter (if tolerated) and eggs. We will be keeping a box on hand for those times when I get the pancake craving, but I don’t have the energy to make them from scratch (hellooooo third trimester).