This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of National Peanut Board for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

School is back in session, and that means it is time to focus on nutritious breakfast options for the family. If you are like me; I need something fast in the mornings. I’m not one to get up an extra hour early to spend that hour cooking. I’m not a saint-like my Mom was. But I still want a nutritious breakfast for my kids. One with hidden protein and will taste great so they would eat it! So I started experimenting in the kitchen and came up with this amazing Chocolate Peanut Butter Pancakes recipe! It has hidden protein and fruit too!

Why Peanut Butter pancakes?

You may be wondering why Peanut Butter in the pancakes? Well, why not? September is Better Breakfast Month and we wanted to make our breakfasts better for a great start to the school day.

Peanut Butter gives breakfast a boost of flavor and nutrition. I mean what other protein would taste great hidden inside a favorite breakfast dish? Remember I’m trying to be sneaky here to get my kids a little extra nutrition in the mornings.

Studies have shown that people who enjoy a higher-protein breakfast (35 grams) felt fuller, had fewer cravings and ate fewer high-calorie snacks at night compared to eating a lower protein cereal or skipping breakfast. Not to mention it is a natural, plant-based source of eight grams of protein and more than 30 essential nutrients and phytonutrients.

And did you know that 90 percent of American pantries contain one or more jars of peanut butter, making it an easy go-to ingredient to help make breakfast quick and convenient?

Peanut Butter is also a very budget-friendly ingredient for your morning meal. On average, peanut butter costs 16 cents per ounce, which is enough peanut butter to make one sandwich.

So throwing a bit of extra peanut butter protein into our morning routine is a great way to increase the nutrition of our breakfast and give the kids a great start to the day before they head off to school!

Not to mention these Chocolate peanut butter pancakes are full of flavor, something the kids will enjoy and they freeze great so you can make up a lot on the weekend, freeze them and just pop them in the toaster each morning for a quick and nutritious school morning breakfast! The kids THINK they are getting a treat, but really they are getting a breakfast packed full of nutritious ingredients. Talk about sneaky chef!

But enough chatting. Let’s get to the good stuff. Our recipe!

Now if you would prefer not to do a chocolate pancake, you can make the exact same recipe without the cocoa powder. Just my kids rave about chocolate, so I thought I’d “trick” them into this one. They seriously thought this was more of a dessert. And yet there is no sugar. Just natural sweetener and very little of it at that. The banana really kicks up the sweetness and gives it a great texture.

Top them off with just some freshly sliced fresh fruit like bananas and sliced strawberries. Or you can dust it with powdered sugar.

The peanut butter boosts the nutrition and makes it irresistible in flavor.

This recipe is so simple to put together. And blending in the blender gives it the perfect texture. The kids will never know you hid nutritious ingredients. And the white whole wheat flour is another trick. It’s lighter and doesn’t have a dark color. So they don’t know they are eating whole wheat! My kids didn’t have a clue! They just knew it tasted great.

And like I mentioned, these pancakes freeze amazingly! I cooked up two batches. (Just a warning you can’t double the batch in one blender…it’s too much it can’t blend it well and you end up with a mess. Trust me, I tried). Then I took all the extras, separated them with parchment paper and froze them in freezer ziplock bags. Then each morning the kids just grab their pancake, toss it in the toaster. It’s warm in less than 2 minutes and they are chowing down on a nutritious pancake!

It really makes for an easy breakfast on school mornings. And the kids can’t get enough of these pancakes. And I really love them too! They are delicious with fresh-cut fruit. And I like to very lightly drizzle mine with 100% maple syrup. The husband puts, even more, peanut butter on top and some maple syrup.

Not to mention that the kids stay full longer in the day. And I don’t need to come back for a snack as early in the day either. I stay full longer and crave fewer sweets when I have a higher protein breakfast.

You should definitely try to add Peanut Butter for Breakfast to your morning routines and see how you feel throughout the day. And be sure to like National Peanut Board on Facebook& Twitter.