One nutritional dilemma with eating waffles or pancakes for breakfast is how to balance out the carbohydrate with enough protein. Using whole grain flours and adding nuts or seeds to the batter will help, but they still fall short of my 20 gram protein breakfast goal. Recently, a client of mine introduced me to this high protein pancake/waffle mix called Kodiak Cakes. They are made with whole grain wheat and oat flours with extra protein coming from whey and wheat protein. Another bonus, you can find them in most supermarkets in the same section as traditional pancake mixes (but you’ll have to look  for them on the bottom shelf). They are crisp (if eaten just off the waffle iron or griddle), lighter than most whole grain waffles and need very little added sweetness (I topped them with mixed berries and some powdered sugar).

Nutrition Note: One serving, which is 2 large waffles, is only 190 calories, 15 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber. If you mix them with milk instead of water (protein increases to 18 grams) and if you add an egg to the batter, you reach 20 grams. I made them with water and drank a glass of low-fat milk which put me over the 20 grams. I froze the extra waffles so I can pop them in the toaster on busy weekday mornings.