Blueberry & Dark Cocoa Pancakes

Good Morning Readers!

It's my day off and it's been a really busy couple of weeks at work for me. After sleeping in this morning I wanted a more substantial breakfast than my usual fruit smoothie. It's true. Every morning at 6:30am I make a fruit smoothie & green tea for breakfast. I usually follow this up with some steel cut oats around 9:30am. I am a total creature of habit. I've had this breakfast every morning for easily the past 8 years. Prior to that my breakfast was a strong cup of coffee and a couple of cigarettes. So, I'd say my current breakfast routine is a huge improvement. Little did you know Miss Jolie wasn't always such a healthy eater :)

I am not creative when it comes to breakfast. I found what works for me. But, on my days off I'm a little more adventurous. And this morning when I looked outside at the bleak rainy cold morning I was craving pancakes. Since I kicked the gluten last Autumn I've found success with the Trader Joe's brand gluten-free pancake and waffle mix. I also like this mix is sugar-free, as I try to eat a limited amount of sugar in my daily diet. I try to reserve sugar for special occasions. For this recipe you could substitute any gluten-free pancake mix. For the add-in's I used frozen blueberries because we are months away from fresh blueberry season. The frozen organic wild blueberries from Trader Joe's are the perfect tiny size. I was craving chocolate and had on hand unsweetened cocoa powder and dark chocolate. So these got thrown in the batter. I love the taste of pancakes on their own so much that I rarely add syrup. If you use syrup, please people, invest in some pure maple syrup. That "syrup" junk most folks eat is just brown dyed corn syrup without a trace of real maple. Kick the corn syrup to the curb where it belongs. You'll be better off. I hope pancake joy brightens your day today!

In Health & Happiness,
Miss Jolie Ann

Blueberry Dark Cocoa Pancakes
Improvise with Me....

1. Gluten-free pancake mix (follow directions for the quantity you crave)
2. 1 tbsp unsweetned dark cocoa powder--mix this in with the dry ingredients
3. Prepare the pancake mix according to directions. Once wet & dry ingredients are mixed then add in a handful of defrosted frozen blueberries (the amount will depend on how many pancakes you are making).
4. Add in a few shavings of dark chocolate. mmm.
5. Cook pancakes with according to package directions.
6. Optional toppings: butter, powdered sugar, more dark chocolate shavings, maple syrup, blueberry syrup.
7. Drool and/or eat pancakes now.