Fluffy Protein Pancakes (No Banana, Easy Recipe!)

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!

Ingredients 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.

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).

Step-by-Step Instructions

STEP 1: 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).

STEP 2: Add the remaining dry ingredients into the blender.

STEP 3: Add the liquid ingredients on top of the dry ingredients. 

STEP 4: Allow the batter to rest for 8-10 minutes.

STEP 5: Pre-heat a non-stick pan (or griddle) over medium heat.

STEP 6: 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.

STEP 7: 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.

STEP 8: Serve your protein pancakes with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

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!

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.

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!

Recipe 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).