Fall. Flap Jacks. Is there anything more festive than the term flap jacks?? I immediately think of the holidays. Add in pumpkin and pumpkin spice, and oh boy, that’s a recipe I can’t wait to get my hands on. Which is exactly what I wanted to do with these gems.

It only took me six months to finally print out my TIU Nutrition Plan, but better late than never! I’m so happy to have it organized in a super cute binder with each page in sheet protectors, and each plan separated by tabs (I’ll dedicate another post to this later).

I knew I was in the mood for pancakes…

This morning I completed 2 rounds of Sunkissed Abs, 1 round of Love your Body Abs, and made it through three mins of Love your Body legs until Tanner had a meltdown. I knew I was in the mood for pancakes, because I need a little smoothie break, so stocking up on pumpkin purée yesterday, I knew that was the flavor I wanted to make. I looked through my TIU plan recipes, and decided to modify a few of the Perfect Fit recipes to create my own. I always add extra bananas, or I find they don’t stay together well.

With that, here’s my Fall Flap Jacks!

Pumpkin-Banana Perfect Fit Flap Jacks

INGREDIENTS:

Flap Jacks-

• 2 organic bananas
• 2 scoops organic, chocolate Perfect Fit protein powder
• 1/2 cup organic, cage free egg whites
• 2 tablespoons organic almond milk
• 6 tablespoons pumpkin purée
• 2 tablespoons organic ground flax seed
• 2 tablespoons organic ground chia seed
• 2-4 tablespoons organic quinoa or organic brown rice flour
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2-3 drops orange extract
• Organic coconut oil spray
• Skillet or frying pan
• Medium-sized mixing bowl (wet ingredients) & small mixing bowl (dry ingredients)
• Optional: 1 1/2 tablespoons carob chips (my favorite are the “Enjoy Life” brand which still taste just like semi-sweet chocolate chips, but are dairy, soy, and nut free; you can find them at Walmart).

If you prefer to bake these egg-less, you can follow the substitution ratio I used in my pumpkin bread recipe (sub 1/4 cup applesauce per egg; or coconut oil, or a mixture of both)

Greek yogurt topping –

If making yourself:

• 2 tablespoons Plain 2% Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin purée
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice

OR you can use pre-made pumpkin Greek yogurt. I love Trader Joe’s or Yoplait’s pumpkin cheesecake flavors!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat skillet to 365 degrees.
2. In mixing bowl, mash bananas and almond milk until well mixed. I used a potato masher and it worked wonders!
3. Add in remaining wet ingredients; egg whites, pumpkin purée, and orange extract. Mix together.
4. Combined dry ingredients in separate bowl and mix; protein powder, flour, flax seed, chia seed, pumpkin spice, & baking powder. Once mixed, add to wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Optional: add carob chips to batter.
6. Spray skillet with coconut oil (make sure to buy a brand that tolerates heat up to 375 degrees).
7. Keep scoops of batter small when adding to skillet, as these are super moist because of the banana & pumpkin. Best when dimensions of flattened flap jacks are no larger than 3″x3″.
8. Scoop batter onto skillet, and flip at about the 3-5 min. mark, it when you can successfully flip without flap jack sticking to skillet.
9. Flatten flap jack with spatula and let fresh side cool about 3-5 mins.
10. When ready to flip again without sticking, I cook mine for about 2-3 mins longer on each side to make sure batter is cooked all the way through and no longer wet.
11. Place flap jacks on a plate to cool, while you prep your Greek yogurt.
12. Place one pancake on a small plate. Too with pumpkin Greek yogurt mix. Place another pancake on top, topping with another heap of Greek yogurt. Continue to stack layers until you reach your desired serving size. I find 3-4 layers are perfect to keep me full through lunch.

Bon appetite!!