Vegan Beetroot Choc Chip Protein Pancakes

I have been wanting to highlight beetroot as a wonderful food for women. It’s a beautiful support for liver health and is also very high in iron and useful in both detoxifying the blood while also building the blood. I start to crave beetroots around 3 days prior to my period arriving and like to enjoy them throughout my menstrual phase. Its a shame that beetroots are so messy to work with. I actually cant think of a vegetable I hate preparing more. The best solution I have found is to use the precooked vacuum sealed beetroots. It saves all the time, mess and effort of cooking my own beetroot. The other option is to used canned beetroot but most of the time canned beetroots have added vinegar and sugar which would wreck the taste of these pancakes. If you can find canned beetroots without the vinegar then you can go ahead and try them. If you cant find pre-cooked beetroot, then unfortunately you will have to cook your own. I think the easiest method is to peel the beetroot then roast them in the oven until easily pierced with a fork.

Personally I prefer a sweet breakfast, but I have to be mindful of blood sugar balance with sweet breakfasts, this is why I chose to add a decent amount of protein powder to these pancakes and also eat them with nut butter for extra protein and fat. The pancakes were actually very satisfying and kept me full all the way til lunch time. The only protein powder I use is a natural hemp protein powder, made from finely milled whole hemp seeds. It is not flavoured or sweetened and just tastes like hemp seeds which in my opinion don’t taste like much at all. The taste easily hides and adapts to whatever your using it in.  It is ok to use a different protein powder in this recipe, you can use whatever protein powder you like, but be mindful that the flavour of the protein powder you choose works in this recipe. I also love hemp protein powder because it uses the whole seed which means it also retains all the other benefits of hemp seeds like magnesium, iron, zinc and omega 3’s. Its so packed with nutrition, I almost use it like a little supplement powder.

The choc chips in this recipe are optional but highly recommended. They make these pancakes have a red velvet feel about them and helps to add some sweetness. I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe, making a large batch of pancakes and freezing the rest to pop out for quick breakfast or as a delicious lunch box treat for kids.

The recipe is egg free, dairy free, gluten free and contains no added sweetener.