High protein pancakes that still taste like pancakes
Fluffy buttermilk pancakes at about 30 g of protein a plate, from Greek yogurt and egg whites rather than powder, and what each protein add-in does to them.
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Ingredients
- 160 g all-purpose flour, plain flour in the UK
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder Out of baking powder?
- 0.5 tsp baking soda, bicarbonate of soda in the UK Out of baking soda?
- 1 pinch salt
- 300 g plain nonfat Greek yogurt, for the batter
- 120 ml buttermilk, or milk soured with lemon juice, see below Out of buttermilk?
- 2 large eggs
- 4 large egg whites, or 33 g each from a carton
- 1 tsp vanilla extract Out of vanilla extract?
- 20 g butter, for the pan Out of butter?
- 400 g plain nonfat Greek yogurt, to serve
- 240 g berries, fresh or frozen, to serve
- 4 tbsp maple syrup, to serve
Method
- Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.
- In a second bowl, whisk the Greek yogurt for the batter with the buttermilk, eggs, egg whites and vanilla until completely smooth. Lumps of yogurt left in now become wet pockets in the pancakes.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold with a spatula until no dry flour shows. Stop there: a few small lumps are fine, and more mixing makes the pancakes tough. Leave the batter for five minutes while the pan heats.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat and brush it with a little of the butter. Spoon in a generous quarter cup of batter per pancake, about 70 g, and spread it slightly with the back of the spoon, because the batter is thick. It makes about 12.
- Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles open at the edges and the underside is golden, then flip and cook for 1 to 2 minutes more. If they colour before the bubbles appear, turn the heat down: the yogurt browns faster than a plain batter.
- Keep the cooked pancakes warm in a low oven while you finish the batch. Serve three to a plate with the Greek yogurt, the berries and the maple syrup.
These are buttermilk pancakes with Greek yogurt and an extra egg white in the batter. Three of them carry about 20 g of protein without any protein powder, and 100 g of Greek yogurt on top, with berries and a little syrup, takes the plate to about 447 calories and 30 g of protein, by our estimate.
Many protein pancake recipes reach their number with a scoop of powder. This one gets there without it. The swaps below add powder for anyone who wants 44 g, and say what it does to the texture.
Where the protein comes from
Per plate of three pancakes, with the toppings.
| Part of the plate | kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flour, 40 g | 146 | 4 g | 31 g | 0 g |
| Greek yogurt and buttermilk in the batter | 57 | 9 g | 4 g | 1 g |
| Eggs and egg whites | 53 | 7 g | 0 g | 3 g |
| Sugar, raising agents and vanilla | 16 | 0 g | 4 g | 0 g |
| Butter for the pan | 36 | 0 g | 0 g | 4 g |
| Greek yogurt on top, 100 g | 59 | 10 g | 4 g | 0 g |
| Berries, 60 g | 28 | 0 g | 7 g | 0 g |
| Maple syrup, 1 tbsp | 52 | 0 g | 13 g | 0 g |
| Per serving | 447 | 30 g | 63 g | 8 g |
The yogurt does most of the work: 9 g of protein in the batter with the buttermilk, and 10 g on top, which is nearly two thirds of the plate. The flour is the biggest line for calories and carries 4 g. That is the honest shape of a high protein pancake without powder. The batter does part of the job and the topping does the rest.
How can I add protein to my pancakes?
What each one adds to a plate of three, by USDA values.
| Add-in | Protein | kcal | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 g plain nonfat Greek yogurt on top | +10 g | +59 | Nothing to the pancake, which is why it is the easiest 10 g |
| Half the flour as whey protein powder | +14 g | −2 | Drier and firmer, and the batter needs more liquid |
| One more egg white | +4 g | +17 | Lighter at first, springy past two a plate |
| 100 g cottage cheese, blended in | +11 g | +98 | Moist and dense, and it browns faster |
| 1 tbsp peanut butter on top | +4 g | +96 | Mostly fat, so a flavour rather than a protein source |
| 30 g oat flour for 30 g plain flour | +1 g | +7 | Almost nothing |
The oat flour line surprises people. Oats are sold as the healthy pancake flour, and they do bring fibre, but 30 g of oat flour carries about 1 g more protein than the plain flour it replaces.
Can I just put protein powder in pancake mix?
Yes, and it is the fastest route to a big number. Whey in place of half the flour adds about 14 g of protein a plate for almost exactly the same calories, and takes about 14 g of carbs out, because whey is mostly protein where flour is mostly starch.
The cost is texture. Whey soaks up liquid and sets firm as it cooks, so the batter needs a splash more buttermilk to pour, and the pancakes come out drier and springier than flour ones. Replace much more than half the flour and they start to taste of the powder rather than of pancakes. A boxed mix works the same way: stir the powder into the dry mix, then loosen with liquid until the batter pours.
The swaps, and what each is worth
| Swap | kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half the flour to whey protein powder | −2 | +14 g | −14 g | 0 g | 445 kcal, 44 g protein |
| Butter in the pan to a light oil spray | −31 | 0 g | 0 g | −4 g | 414 kcal, 44 g protein |
| Maple syrup to none | −52 | 0 g | −13 g | 0 g | 362 kcal, 44 g protein |
The powder is the protein swap and the syrup is the carbs swap. A tablespoon of maple syrup carries 13 g of carbs, and ripe berries are sweet enough to stand in for it.
The spray saves 4 g of fat and costs a little colour. Butter browns the outside, which is part of what makes a pancake taste like one. It is the swap to skip if you are keeping only one.
High protein pancakes without protein powder
The recipe as written uses none. If you want more than 30 g without it, the table above has the options: a second egg white a plate for 4 g, 100 g of blended cottage cheese for 11 g, or a bigger spoon of yogurt on top at about 10 g per 100 g.
High protein pancakes with cottage cheese
Blend 100 g of full-fat cottage cheese per plate until it is completely smooth, and whisk it in with the wet ingredients. It adds about 11 g of protein and 98 calories, and makes a moister, denser pancake that browns quickly, so cook it a notch lower.
For a pancake built on cottage cheese from the start, with oats in place of the flour, the cottage cheese oat pancakes in the breakfast meal prep guide carry about 30 g on their own.
No buttermilk?
Put 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon juice in a jug, top it up to half a cup with milk, and leave it for ten minutes. That is all the buttermilk this recipe needs. The buttermilk substitutes page has the amounts for any quantity, and what each swap does in baking.
How to make 3 ingredient protein pancakes
Mash a medium ripe banana, whisk in two eggs and 30 g of whey protein powder, and cook small pancakes over a low heat. By our estimate the batch comes to about 354 calories and 37 g of protein, one generous plate.
They are dense and eggy rather than fluffy, closer to a banana omelette than a pancake, and the banana’s sugar catches quickly. Keep them small and the heat low.
Are protein pancakes actually healthy?
They are pancakes with more protein, which makes them more filling for their calories, and that is most of the case for them. The flour and the syrup are still there. This plate is about 447 calories, 30 g of protein and 63 g of carbs by our estimate, and 362 calories with 44 g of protein once all three swaps are on. Whether that suits you depends on the rest of your day, not on the word protein in the name.
Freezing and reheating
Cool the pancakes on a rack rather than in a stack, which traps the steam and makes them soggy. Freeze them flat on a tray, then bag them with baking paper between the layers so they come apart. Toast them straight from frozen, or warm three in the microwave for about a minute. The toaster gives the better edge.
What goes wrong
Rubbery pancakes. Too much egg white or protein powder. Both set firm as they cook, and past a point the pancake turns springy. Keep to the amounts above.
Burnt outside, raw middle. The yogurt and sugar brown faster than a plain batter, so a pan hot enough for ordinary pancakes colours these before the middle sets. Keep the heat at medium-low and wait for bubbles at the edges before you flip.
Flat, dense pancakes. Overmixing, or a batter left standing too long. Fold until no dry flour shows and stop. The baking soda starts working the moment it meets the buttermilk and the yogurt, so rest the batter for five minutes, not an hour.
Every figure here is an estimate from USDA values rather than a measurement. Why recipe macros are estimates explains how far they move with the brands you buy.
Where next
This recipe is one of the dishes in High protein breakfast meal prep, and what each one actually gets you.
Worth cooking next:
- Protein overnight oats that do not set like concreteOvernight oats at 39 g protein without the cement texture. The ratio that keeps them spoonable, and why protein powder is the thing that ruins them.
- High protein breakfast burritos for the freezerFour freezer burritos at roughly 38 g protein each, made in one pan in half an hour. Wrap them, freeze them, and reheat one on the way out of the door.
Cooking it as part of a week? ReciPop plans seven days of meals around the time you have, the appliances you own and how many you are feeding, then turns them into one grocery list sorted by aisle. How the weekly plan works