Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes - 5 Ways

Nerd alert! I've mentioned before that I was a health promotions major at Oklahoma State University, so I am really excited about this post. Probably a little TOO excited.
I've made 5 versions of my new favorite pancakes for you. They are high in protein, lower in carbs, with no sugar added and very versatile.

For all of these pancakes, I've used this protein powder. It's Abbot EAS Lean 15 Vanilla Cream and I picked it up at Walmart for just under $20.00.

I have used protein powder before and thought it was pretty terrible but I actually like this one a lot. It's not too protein-y tasting, if you know what I mean. Plus this is great because the slight vanilla flavor means you can leave out the vanilla extract from your pancake batter.

Secondly, I've used homemade "oat flour" for each version. I simply put my oats in a Magic Bullet* and ground them myself. This takes about 5 seconds and is MUCH cheaper than buying oat flour. If you or someone in your family is gluten free, make sure to buy gluten free certified oats to make your flour. We are not, so I just use the cheapest old fashioned oats I can find. I measure out 1/4 C oats and grind it for my 1/4 C oat flour.

Here are the basic ingredients for these pancakes: homemade oat flour, vanilla protein powder, baking soda, spices, plain non-fat greek yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, egg whites and fruit or vegetable of choice. Each recipe is a little different. I have changed the spices and the measurements of the liquids a little depending on which "goodie" I've added. Also, none of these have sugar in them but for two of the recipes, I have added one packet of sweetener. None of the recipes with fruit in them need sweetener in my opinion.

For this post I have done five recipes for you: banana, apple {plain}, blackberry, pumpkin and sweet potato. Ok, let's get started!

Sweet Potato Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

Sweet Potato Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

     makes 1 serving {6 small pancakes}
1/4 C homemade oat flour
1/4 C vanilla cream protein powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 packet of stevia
1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/4 C plain, non-fat Greek yogurt {I like Chobani}
1/4 C egg whites
1/4 C sweet potato purée

For the sweet potato purée, I cleaned and chopped some sweet potato, leaving the skin on. Bring a pot of water to boil and place the steamer basket in the top. Steam the sweet potatoes until tender and cooked through.

Place cooked sweet potatoes in the magic bullet or food processor and blend until smooth or desired texture. As you can see below, it's fine if the potatoes are a little chunky still.

Begin heating griddle on medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out batter, giving you 6 pancakes. Let cook for a few minutes on the first side, flip and cook on second side until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot with desired toppings. (I used chopped pecans). The sweet potato pancakes were one of my favorites!

Blackberry Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

Blackberry Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

     makes 1 serving {6 small pancakes}

1/4 C homemade oat flour

1/4 C vanilla cream protein powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 C plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

3 T egg whites

1/4 C blackberry purée

For the blackberry purée, wash blackberries and blend in magic bullet or blender. Measure out 1/4 c and add to wet ingredients.

Begin heating griddle on medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out batter, giving you 6 pancakes. Let cook for a few minutes on the first side, flip and cook on second side until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot with desired toppings. {I ate these without toppings. They were so fantastic, I didn't need any!}

Pumpkin Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

Pumpkin Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

       makes 1 serving {6 small pancakes}

1/4 C homemade oat flour

1/4 C vanilla cream protein powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 packet of stevia

1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 C plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

1/4 C egg whites

1/4 C canned pumpkin purée {not pie filling}

Begin heating griddle on medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out batter, giving you 6 pancakes. Let cook for a few minutes on the first side, flip and cook on second side until both sides are golden brown. 

Serve hot with desired toppings. I topped these with sliced, toasted almonds and syrup.

Banana Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

Banana Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

     makes 1 serving {6 small pancakes}

1/4 C homemade oat flour

1/4 C vanilla cream protein powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 C plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

3 T egg whites

1/2 ripe banana, mashed

Begin heating griddle on medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out batter, giving you 6 pancakes. Let cook for a few minutes on the first side, flip and cook on second side until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot with desired toppings. 

I did not top these with anything. They have a wonderful banana bread flavor and they are great on their own.

Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

 Vanilla Protein Oat Pancakes

     makes 1 serving {6 small pancakes}

1/4 C homemade oat flour

1/4 C vanilla cream protein powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 C unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1/4 C plain, non-fat Greek yogurt

3 T egg whites

1/2 C unsweetened apple sauce

Begin heating griddle on medium-high heat. In a medium bowl, mix all wet ingredients together. In a small bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Add the dry to the wet and mix until smooth. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to measure out batter, giving you 6 pancakes. Let cook for a few minutes on the first side, flip and cook on second side until both sides are golden brown. Serve hot with desired toppings. 

I did not top these with anything. These no sugar added, healthy pancakes are so fantastic on their own!

This recipe is the most basic and this would be a great one to add additional fruit pieces or chopped nuts to, right in the batter. 

*Additional notes: Since I have only made small batches of these pancakes I use my Magic Bullet to do the grinding/puréeing, but feel free to use a blender or food processor if that's what you have.
Brands: for my almond milk I use Blue Diamond Almond Breeze, for yogurt I use Chobani, and for protein, see above.

If I make more versions of these yummy pancakes, I will update this post and add them right here. Here's my little bucket list: carrot, zucchini, peanut butter, chocolate, raspberry, blueberry and pear.

What kind would you like to see?