This Healthy-ish Box Mix Is My Secret to Early Morning Breakfasts

The same ingredients that make the muffins and waffles are used to make pancakes as well, so it may surprise you that I stock a pancake mix, especially knowing how much I love pancakes and dislike the “boxed pancake mix” flavor. I’ve made many, many pancakes from scratch with delicious results, but these days, I turn to Power Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix in the buttermilk flavor. (I should note that Kodiak Cakes calls griddled cakes “flapjacks” as opposed to “pancakes.” These words are interchangeable in America so I’m going to stick with my Midwestern roots and refer to them as pancakes.)

You see, I’m not a morning person, especially on the weekends. But my 15-year-old son plays soccer, and the soccer gods do not care that I’d rather be in bed. He has games every weekend and with half the games being “away,” we can easily have an hour drive with an arrival time of 8 a.m. Do you know how long it takes a groggy teen to make toast and eggs and how frustrating it is for him to say that “he’s still hungry” when we really need to be getting in the car? I’m sure a lot of you do. I know I’m not alone in trying to come up with ways to feed hungry kids hearty, tasty breakfasts quickly. My solution? Whip up a large batch of Power Cakes. If I’m thinking ahead, I’ll have the pancakes made the night before, but even if not, mixing just-add-water pancake mix in the morning is something this tired mom can accomplish before she has coffee in hand. 

But this is not just any pancake mix—it’s “power” cake mix. It has 14 grams of protein, 5 grams of dietary fiber, and only 3 grams of  sugar per serving. In fact, if I want more protein, swap out the water and use milk, or for even more (20 grams), use milk and an egg. I don’t usually do this though because the pancakes have a great texture as-is and are plenty filling without making any swaps, which I really appreciate.

But most importantly, it tastes good! I’m happy eating these even on our leisurely mornings. We always get the buttermilk flavor since it's slightly tangy, fluffy, and very customizable. I’ll toss in blueberries, chopped strawberries, chopped nuts, or chocolate chips, depending on my mood. If you want to leave the add-ins to the professionals, there’s  a variety of flavors: Birthday Cake, Chocolate Chip, Dark Chocolate, or Cinnamon Oat and all can keep pancake boredom at bay. 

And while the back of the box has recipes for muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and waffles, ignore them. I’ve tried the waffles but they stuck in the waffle maker more than my homemade recipe. The muffins were tasty but if I’m melting butter, mashing bananas, and cracking eggs, then I’ll just grab the flour and baking powder and leave the Kodiak Power Cake mix for those times when all I want is a stress-free morning, a stack of pancakes dripping with syrup, and a satiated teen.

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Rachel Knecht is a recipe developer, food writer, and recipe tester based in Seattle. Her recipes and writing have appeared on Simply Recipes and she began writing for Spruce Eats in 2022.