Trader Joe's Buttermilk Protein Pancake Mix

Years ago, when I was an avid Blogilates follower (thanks Cassey for helping me do more than three push-ups and much respect for your life's work), I tried making protein pancakes that weren't really pancakes at all. It was two eggs mixed with a mashed banana. The concept was great - a protein packed, carb-like, filling breakfast food with natural sweetness. Its weakness? User error and the fact that I don't really like banana. If you didn't mash the bananas well enough or failed to mix the eggs thoroughly with the bananas, it would turn out like eggs scrambled with banana. Edible but ugh. So I'd eat it for like a week and then succumb to the fact that nobody likes to eat scrambled banana eggs. But protein pancakes remain all the rage - stick-to-your-ribs breakfast that won't weigh you down! Just look at the dude on the box. 

 

I love the packaging. It's a throwback to the classically quirky TJ's packaging, with old-fashioned characters doing new-fashioned things. 10g of protein in 2 pancakes? WOW compare that to 6g of protein in one large egg. 

Just add water? How can it be? Also, the nutritional stats seem pretty healthy. There's even calcium. 

I ignored the waffle directions and went straight for the pancakes, namely because making waffles requires more mix (plus cleaning the waffle maker. Nope ain't got time for that).

1) I do like the ease of preparation - it's basically a 1:1 ratio of pancake to water, so you don't have to dirty a ton of measuring cups/spoons. I can put it together while I'm still half-asleep and not caffeinated yet. My first batch looked a little anemic - user error due to impatience on my part. Note that it does brown better with some butter or oil in the pan.

2) They aren't bad, depending on what you care about with your pancakes. But they aren't amazing for a few reasons.

3) Out of all the pancake mixes that I've tried (so maybe three kinds; I don't have extensive experience with pancake mix because seriously pancakes are pretty easy to DIY. I love these fluffy SK ones and these mochi ones), this one was probably the least fluffy. Maybe all the protein and whole wheat weighs down the batter. They spread but don't rise much.

4) On their own, they have a pretty distinctive soft cardboard taste. Like very healthy. They don't have much flavor, which makes sense because these pancakes are low in fat and sugar. They do taste better if you brown them properly, but again BUTTER makes everything taste better. Does that defeat the purpose of healthy protein pancakes? Depends who you ask.

5) When you smother them with toppings and syrups, the cardboard taste is less distinguishable and mildly pleasant. A disagreed, but he's kind of a white rice, white bread kind of dude. I've been eating them with berries and maple syrup. I guess this is a healthy vessel for offsetting the potentially detrimental effects from whatever toppings you choose to mask the cardboard taste.

6) Although these pancakes are definitely not tasty enough to eat alone, part of me scratches my head at the idea that you have to drown a healthy food with other stuff to make it taste better, like the way one might drown a salad in a creamy dressing. Not everyone does that, just as not everyone will smother these pancakes in butter and syrup. Even still, is a product worth purchasing even if you have to cover its original taste with a bunch of other things? Possibly.

This product might appeal to you if:

•  You like the psychological and maybe physical benefit of a less-refined, more nutritious shortcut breakfast food
•  You can't be bothered to DIY a "healthier" (aka more expensive) pancake mix.
•  You are trying to make small lifestyle changes (that hopefully add up to something impactful. Stick with it - the little tweaks matter).
• Your frequency of pancake consumption warrants a healthier alternative (because the alternative is eating traditional, luscious, indulgent pancakes less often).
•  You don't mind the taste of cardboard. Not actual cardboard, just healthy, whole-wheat type foods that have cardboard-like properties. 

7) $3.49 for one box. Comparable to Kodiak mix? Which I haven't tried, so I can't comment on how they compare. 

TL;DR: Trader Joe's Buttermilk Protein Pancake Mix. For ease, health, minimal cook time, and exercising creativity about how to drown the cardboard-ish taste. 6 out of 10. Add two points if your personal values line up with anything I stated above. Mantou Joe repurchase? A says no. I say never say never.