Who doesn’t love a big stack of pancakes for breakfast?! These no banana protein pancakes are a fun way to enjoy a sweet breakfast that’s also refined sugar-free, high in protein, and delicious with all of your favorite toppings!
Pancakes are one of my favorite breakfast foods. They bring back fond memories of my grandma making me a hearty portion of pancakes to enjoy before school while I was growing up (I know, I was super lucky). Her go-to pancake recipe was a classic flapjack, similar to my oat milk pancakes, made with all-purpose flour and an egg.
As an adult, I’ve continue to keep the tradition of morning pancakes alive but have been experimenting using better-for-you ingredients to help me and my family to stay full longer. Like my chocolate protein pancakes, these fluffy protein pancakes use oats that are crushed into an oat flour, unsweetened almond milk instead of dairy milk, and unsweetened applesauce to sweeten our batter.
With lots of testing to ensure the ratios are great, these high protein pancakes have become one of our favorite breakfast recipes!
Jump to:
- Why You’ll Love this Protein Pancake Recipe
- Homemade Protein Pancakes IngredientsIngredients Needed
- How to Make Protein Pancakes (without banana)
- Protein Pancake Recipe Tips
- Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Pancake Topping Ideas
- Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Homemade Protein Pancakes FAQs
- Love This Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
- 📖 Protein Powder Pancake Recipe (With Protein Powder, No Banana)
Why You’ll Love this Protein Pancake Recipe
Pancakes that are also filling! If you love pancakes, but don’t love being hungry halfway through your morning, these protein pancakes are for you!
Mixed up in a blender – so easy! This recipe has you tossing everything into your blender to mix up making your pancake experience extra easy.
Simple, easy to find ingredients. Unless protein powder isn’t a staple in your pantry, your likely already have everything you need to make these yummy protein pancakes! And if not, all the ingredients needed are easy to find at your local grocery store, Target, or Walmart.
Homemade Protein Pancakes IngredientsIngredients Needed
- Rolled Oats. We use old fashioned rolled oats to make a homemade oat flour for our pancakes. Oats are touted to be filling, helping contribute to these pancakes keeping you full longer. And oats are also a great source of fiber (both soluble and insoluble fiber), plant-based protein, and rich in antioxidants too!
- Vanilla Protein Powder. Using protein powder in this recipe is an easy way to increase the amount of protein in your breakfast. I use whey protein powder, but you can also try using a plant-based protein powder if preferred.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk. We’ve used both plain almond milk and vanilla almond milk when making this recipe – both work great! Just note that if you choose to use vanilla almond milk, your pancakes will have big vanilla flavor since we’re also using vanilla protein powder.
- Unsweetened Applesauce. Unsweetened applesauce is one of my favorite ways to naturally sweeten baked goods! It often acts like a fat would in when used for baking and contributes to a lovely texture too.
- Baking Powder, Baking Soda, & Apple Cider Vinegar. The combination of baking powder, baking soda, and apple cider vinegar as our leavening agents creates the ultimate protein pancakes! Baking soda helps our pancakes rise. Baking powder helps create a light and airy texture. And the apple cider vinegar is a natural leavening agent that reacts with the soda and powder to help with the rise.
- Salt (optional). Salt is used to enhance flavors. It’s a great addition to this recipe as it helps to build depth of flavor in our pancakes.
See recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make Protein Pancakes (without banana)
Place the old fashioned oats into a blender and blend for 10-15 seconds to make homemade oat flour (the goal is to break down the oats into a fine, flour-like texture).
Add the remaining dry ingredients into the blender.
Add the liquid ingredients on top of the dry ingredients.
Allow the batter to rest for 8-10 minutes.
Pre-heat a non-stick pan (or griddle) over medium heat.
Spray the pre-heated pan (or griddle) with cooking spray and then scoop ¼ cup sized portions of batter onto the pan. Do not overcrowd your pan by leaving enough room between each scoop of batter.
Cook the pancakes for 1-2 minutes until the edges begin to form (they’ll look slightly raised/curved/dry). Then flip the each pancake to cook the other side for an additional 1-2 minutes until they are golden brown.
Serve your protein pancakes with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Protein Pancake Recipe Tips
Allow the batter to rest. This step is important, don’t skip it! The resting period allows the apple cider vinegar to activate the baking soda and baking powder to help create a nice, fluffy texture! Resting the batter also allows it thicken a bit, which is helpful when flipping your pancakes. If you skip this step your pancakes will turn out a bit flat and will be more likely to break apart when trying to flip them (but they’ll still taste good).
Recipe Variations and Substitutions
- Try a different milk. Replace the almond milk with a different non-dairy milk (like oat milk or unsweetened soy milk) if preferred. Or use dairy milk (skim would be a great choice for added protein but not added fat content).
- Make them into chocolate chip protein pancakes. I mean, who doesn’t love chocolate chip pancakes?! After the batter has been blended, gently stir in up to ½ cup of chocolate chips (or simply sprinkle a few onto the batter once scooped onto your pan for frying).
Possible Dietary Restrictions?
This eggless pancakes recipe as written is a great high protein breakfast for vegetarians who don’t want eggs for breakfast, and can easily be modified to fit a variety of other special diets:
- To make these into vegan protein pancakes, select a vegan protein powder.
- Similarly, to make this into a dairy free protein pancakes recipe, select a protein powder that meets this requirement.
- This recipe is already written to be a gluten free protein pancakes recipe, however, if you are serving them to someone with celiac intolerance it is wise to ensure your rolled oats specifically note ‘gluten free’ on the package!
Pancake Topping Ideas
These fluffy protein pancakes without banana taste great with all of your favorite pancake toppings. Here are some of our go-to topping combinations that we like on these:
- Butter and pure maple syrup
- Plain or vanilla yogurt, pure maple syrup, and berries
- Peanut butter and banana
- Almond butter and pure maple syrup
- Cinnamon apples
- Nutella
- Pure maple syrup and toasted pecans or almonds
- Whipped cream and berries
- Banana and chocolate chips (or chocolate syrup)
- Fresh fruit compotes or syrups – we personally love using homemade blueberry syrup on these pancakes!
We also wrote a whole article about what to serve with pancakes if you need additional ideas!
Storage & Reheating Instructions
Leftover protein powder pancakes can be cooked and stored in either the fridge or freezer to be enjoyed at a later date!
Option 1 – Store In the Fridge.
Store fully cooled protein pancakes in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-days. Reheat pancakes in the microwave, starting with 1-minute (adjust the time to heat your pancakes as needed to reheat to your desired temperature).
Option 2 – Freeze.
The best way to freeze cooked pancakes for later takes a few steps, but it’s worth it for future mornings!
- STEP 1: Allow pancakes to cool completely to room-temperature on a cooling rack.
- STEP 2: Do an initial freeze of your pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet. This only needs to be for about 30-minutes, but this will help prevent your frozen pancakes from sticking together.
- STEP 3: Transfer pancakes to a ziplock bag labeled with the type of pancake and date made, and freeze for up to 3 months.
Reheat frozen pancakes from frozen by heating them up in the microwave for 1-minute. You can also pop them into the toaster to crisp them up if you’d like!
Homemade Protein Pancakes FAQs
How do you know when to flip a pancake?
Pancakes are ready to flip after they begin to puff up and bubble. Signs that your pancakes are ready to turn include bubbles throughout the batter that are beginning to pop, and edges that have begun to firm up. The bottom of the pancake will be golden brown.
Generally it will take about 2 minutes to cook the first side of a pancake, and about 1 additional minute to cook the second side (however, this will depend on your heat).
Can I just add protein powder to pancake mix?
Yes, but you need to be careful with how much is used. If you want to do this, start by adding about a half scoop into a single batch and see how they taste and ensure they’re not too dry. You can experiment from there.
Why are my protein pancakes rubbery?
Rubbery protein pancakes are often the result of using too much protein powder. While I’ve tested our recipe with a few different whey protein powders, there are so many different kinds on the market, your results may vary. If your pancakes are dry, rubbery, and falling apart, try reducing the protein powder used next time (to ½ or ¾ of the amount called for in the recipe). You may also get rubbery pancakes by overmixing the batter, causing too much gluten to develop. Remember, a few lumps in your batter is ok!
Do protein pancakes taste like regular pancakes?
Protein pancakes usually taste a little different from regular pancakes in that they’re a bit denser and sometimes a little chewier. The type of protein powder used can also affect the flavor.
Love This Recipe? You May Also Enjoy
📖 Protein Powder Pancake Recipe (With Protein Powder, No Banana)
Equipment
- Non-Stick Pan or Griddle
Ingredients
- 2 + ½ Cups rolled oats
- ½ Cup vanilla protein powder
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ Cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 + ½ Cups unsweetened almond milk (plain or vanilla)
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- pinch of salt optional
- Toppings of choice
Instructions
- Place oats into a blender and blend for 10-15 seconds to break down the oats (fun fact: you just made oat flour!)
- Place remaining items into the blender and blend until a smooth batter is formed
- Let the batter rest 8-10 minutes
- Preheat non-stick pan (or griddle) over medium heat
- Spray pan with cooking spray and scoop ¼ cup sized portions of batter into the pan, leaving room between the scoops of batter
- Cook for 1-2 minutes until the edges begin to form (they’ll look slightly raised/curved/dry), and then flip to cook the other side for another 1-2 minutes until golden brown.
- Serve with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Janell says
Is the batter supposed to be really thick? I’ve put the proper amounts of ingredients into the blender but the batter seems quite thick.
Meredith says
Hi Janell, yes, once it sets up a bit it’s a rather thick batter. If you’re concerned you can add a bit more liquid too!
Mary says
Can the oats be 1 min quick oats?
Also can I use plant based protein powder or does it have to be Whey ?
ourlovelanguageisfood says
Hi Mary! You could use quick oats (but I would not recommend instant oats). Any type of protein powder should work in this recipe! If it seems a little runny, I would mix in additional oatmeal. Can’t wait to hear how they turn out!
Adelle White says
These pancakes are amaaaaazing! They don’t taste healthy, which is ideal! I also froze some and they reheat pretty well as long as you don’t syrup them before you freeze them! Make them super often on the weekends, along with the chocolate protein ones too!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed these fresh and frozen too! Thank you for making my recipe!
Luci says
I don’t usually eat breakfast but I eat these…get out the butter and real Maple syrup too! Just so good.
ourlovelanguageisfood says
I’m glad these protein pancakes are worth eating breakfast for! Whoo!
David says
I’m a big guy, but these fill me right up after 2-3 pancakes!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
isn’t it amazing how filling these are?! so glad you enjoyed them!
Aunt Martha says
I love bananas – guess I’ll just have to slice them on top! 😊. These are pretty tasty either way!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
I’m glad you enjoyed these, and bananas on top is great option! Thanks for trying this recipe.
M. says
These are THE BEST protein pancakes. And THANK YOU for not using banana in the recipe!
ourlovelanguageisfood says
You are so welcome, I’m glad to hear you love them too!
Diana Hayes says
What constitutes a serving? 1 pancake? 2? Or is one serving all 12 pancakes?
ourlovelanguageisfood says
Hi Diana, the recipe will make 12 pancakes if you’re using a 1/4 C measure to pour your batter onto your pan. I usually eat 2-3, but they are SUPER filling. I hope that helps! Enjoy