dukan-inspired oat bran pancake

Have you heard of the Dukan Diet?  If not, hold tight--you will.  Seemingly all the rage in France and a few neighboring countries for some time, its first release in English will be to the UK this May 13th.  A Daily Mail article spilled the main components of the plan, essentially: high protein, low-carb, nonfat (think Atkins without butter, oil, bacon).  The one last critical component?  Galette Dukan, plainly known to us as The Dukan Pancake.

Now I'm not following this diet or have plans to, but I do strive to eat high protein, low-ish carb and mostly gluten and dairy-free , so when I saw the phrase must eat oat bran pancake every day in a plan encouraging high protein but low fat, neon flashing lights went off and I've been tinkering with the idea at the stove every morning since.

If you don't care about gluten or consuming low-protein dairy, check out the original recipe straight from the Dukan Diet.  For everyone else, here's my current favorite way to make a high protein, oat bran pancake:

1 serving

1 egg
big spoonful skyr* (I use Siggi's)
2T toasted oat bran
9-12 drops vanilla stevia
small spoonful chia gel**, optional
coconut oil/spray (I use Spectrum brand spray)

Beat ingredients together using a fork.  Coat hot skillet with coconut spray.  Pour mixture onto skillet in 2-3 pancakes (if you omit the chia gel, you might get away with one large pancake).  Flip when the edges start to bubble, just like with ordinary pancakes.  Devour like you've never had pancakes in your life!  Because if you're like me, it's been a long, long time.  This will keep you full all morning, promise!

*Skyr?  Skyr is a strained yogurt, similar to Greek yogurt, but hails from Iceland. It's naturally nonfat and much more tart and sour than what you're probably used to.  I find it has a texture that errs on the side of a fresh ricotta more than a yogurt, so I love the body and sourdough taste it lends to the pancake.  I tried the 0% Fage Greek yogurt for this idea, and though it works as far as I still got a pancake out of it, it wasn't nearly as delicious.  Using the skyr, the pancake has enough flavor and crumb that no topping is needed.  I love these plain, as-is. (One word of caution, skyr is just over $3 a tiny carton! I get three morning's worth of pancakes out of one 6-oz container.)

**Chia gel?  I've started using this lately in just about everything at Kelly's suggestion.  Add 1/3c chia seeds to 2c water, stir a couple times in the first 5 minutes, then ta-da!  Chia gel.  If you add it to pancakes, don't go crazy with it, because I had pancake mush when I added too much--the pancake would never set up properly.