Easy Protein Pancakes Made 4 Different Ways
These Pancakes are tasty, super simple and packed with protein! I found the recipe for them about 12 years ago in Self Magazine. It was supposedly Jessica Biel's favorite healthy pancake and I figured if she ate them, then I should too (she was one of my celebrity heroes). I have been eating them ever since and I still haven't gotten sick of them. My husband and kids actually prefer these to normal pancakes, but I think that is mostly because these are what they have grown accustomed to eating. I still enjoy a regular pancake every so often! do like to change it up a little sometimes and add in different ingredients, experiment with toppings and make them into waffles or crepes! I thought I would share a few of those different ways that I love to eat them!
Let's start out with the basic recipe and one of my two favorite ways to top it! We had strawberry pancakes all of the time growing up. Especially when we lived in Missouri and had 2 large patches of amazing strawberries! I never tired of them and usually licked my plate clean. I still love this topping so much, but now I have changed it slightly to reduce the sugar. This picture is obviously waffles, but I switch off making them as pancakes and waffles! The nice thing about waffles is you can reheat them in your toaster.
The Basic recipe with Low fat Cottage Cheese-Calories and Macros:
approx calories: 315
protein: 34 grams
carbs:31
fat:5
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/2 cup non or low fat cottage cheese (Daisy brand is my favorite because of the simple ingredients)
-1/2 cup egg whites (I buy the cage free cartons from Costco)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- sprinkle of cinnamon
-pinch of salt
(I usually double or quadruple this amount to eat throughout the week and share with the fam)
Topping:
-1/2- 1 cup of fresh or thawed strawberries smashed or pureed and mixed with 1 packet or 1/2 tsp truvia (or sweetener of choice). Add about 2 Tbs whipped cream on top if you love it like I do!
Instructions:
Put all of the ingredients together in a blender and mix until it makes a pretty smooth batter. Heat up the skillet to about 350 or medium heat or warm up your waffle maker! Spray the skillet with Non-stick cooking spray of choice. After you pour a little pancake batter out onto the skillet then use a spoon the spread the pancake thinner. That step is optional, but I think they taste better and have a better texture when they are thinned out a little! It should make 4-6 pancakes depending on the size you make them. You can eat this whole serving to yourself or share a little if you want!
This next version has my other favorite go to toppings. Bananas and peanut butter together are just classic, a little whipped cream just makes it magical! Sometimes, I like to drizzle a little maple syrup as well! The waffles are the same as the last recipe so I'll just share the toppings!
Topping:
-1 Tbs Peanut butter or PBfit powder to make peanut butter.( This is what I usually do to bring the calories down a little)
-1/2 banana sliced on top
-2 Tbs whipped cream
-optional tsp of pure maple syrup drizzled on top
Blueberry Banana Orange Pancakes! Here's where you can start getting a little more fancy! These were a fun experiment that turned out delicious! I would recommend fresh blueberries because I didn't like it as much with the frozen, but you can try it that way if you want.
Ingredients:
-1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/2 cup non or low fat cottage cheese (Daisy brand is my favorite because of the simple ingredients)
-1/2 cup egg whites (I buy the cage free cartons from Costco)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- sprinkle of cinnamon
-pinch of salt
-1/2 ripe banana
-1 tsp of orange zest (about 1/2 of 1 oranges zest)
-1 packet of truvia or sweetener equivalent
-1/3 cup of blueberries
Toppings:
-1/3 cup fresh blueberries cooked 1 min in microwave(longer for frozen) or cooked on stove for a few minutes until they burst. mash and stir to make a compote. Add a 1/2 packet of truvia or sweetener of choice ( a little honey or 1/2 tsp of maple syrup would be good too)
-Of course, I put a little whipped cream on top!
Directions:
Put all the ingredients besides blueberries in the blender until it makes a batter. Stir in the blueberries. Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray. This should make about 6 pancakes.
Last, but not least.....Zucchini Bread Protein Pancakes! I was really excited about these ones because I could sneak a little veggies in without my kids even noticing and my oldest son is a master and dissecting his food and asking what's in there. That was a major win for me!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rolled oats
-1/2 cup non or low fat cottage cheese (Daisy brand is my favorite because of the simple ingredients)
-1/2 cup egg whites (I buy the cage free cartons from Costco)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- sprinkle of cinnamon
-pinch of salt
-1 packet of truvia or choice of sweetener
-1/4 tsp baking soda
-1/2 cup grated zucchini(small grater)
Toppings:
I topped with 1 Tbs of pure maple syrup and fresh whipped cream!
Directions:
Put the Oats in your blender by themselves and blend until it makes a flour texture. Then, add all other ingredients besides Zucchini and blend to make a batter. Stir in the grated zucchini. Spray the skillet with non-stick cooking spray and cook pancakes at about 350 degrees. Makes about 6 pancakes. Eat them all or share!
That's all I'm sharing today, but feel free to do some experimenting yourself and share the recipe with me on my Instagram or Facebook! These are great for meal prep or just feeding the whole family! All of these recipes are considered 1 serving, but they are pretty filling so I usually don't eat the whole recipe at one sitting.
*Please Share this if you like the recipes and you can comment or ask questions on my Instagram or Facebook pages as well!