4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes
You only need a few basic ingredients to make these fluffy vegan protein pancakes and they take just minutes to prepare. All you need is flour, protein powder, sweetener and baking powder and you’re ready to go.
Make the Most of Carbs
These fluffy vegan protein pancakes are a good choice a few hours before a workout or shortly after one. Carbohydrates are the the body’s preferred source of energy so it’s a good idea to eat the majority of your carbs around the most active part of your day to make the most of them.
You want the carbohydrates you eat to either be used an an immediate source of energy or used to restore glycogen levels rather than be stored as fat. Sometimes pancakes are just pancakes and I’ll eat them for breakfast no matter what’s my plan for the day is but for the most part I try to eat most of my carbs before and after training.
If I was to eat these before training, I’d give myself a couple hours to digest and allow those carbs to get to work, ensuring blood sugar levels are up and glycogen stores are full prior to hitting the gym. Since they have some added protein they’re more balanced than regular pancakes and if you add some healthy fats on top, like almond butter or hemp seeds, they’ll be digested more slowly, providing sustained energy and helping to maintain more stable blood sugar levels.
If I was to eat these after training, I’d try to eat them as soon as possible to get those pancake gains!
But don’t worry too much about all that…these are also PANCAKES, guys, so go ahead and dig in anytime you need a pancake fix. Just keep those energizing carbs in mind when you might them to fuel up for a big workout.
I usually only eat pancakes on Sundays but these are so quick and easy they could work as a weekday breakfast for the family. Top them with loads of fruit or some of the topping ideas below and you’re all set for an active day!
Pancake Topping Ideas
Pancake toppings are the best part, aren’t they!? Here are some of my favourites.
- peanut butter, almond butter, tahini or sunflower seed butter
- dates soaked in hot water then blended to make caramel sauce
- nut butter caramel sauce – blend your fave nut butter or tahini with dates
- sliced banana
- fresh blueberries, strawberries or cherries (try berries added to the batter too, YUM!)
- homemade raw chocolate sauce made from maple syrup, coconut oil and cacao powder
- cacao nibs or dairy-free chocolate chips (you can also add these to the batter for chocolate chip pancakes!)
- pure maple syrup
- chia seed jam
- one of my absolute favourites: coconut butter
What are you favourite pancake toppings? I can always use delicious new ideas! Let me know in the comments what you’re putting on these.
More Vegan Pancakes Recipes
If you enjoy these, you’ve gotta check out these other pancake recipes:
- Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes – Oil-free, grain-free, just a couple ingredients!
- Whole Wheat Fluffy Vegan Pancakes – very popular, oil-free, can be sugar-free
- Vegan Chia Seed Pancakes – a reader fave, oil-free, super easy and so fluffy!
- Buckwheat Pancakes – 5-star reviewed and naturally gluten-free!
4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These extra thick and fluffy protein pancakes will be your new go-to pancake recipe. Top them with your favorites like berries, banana, peanut butter and maple syrup and dig on into a big weekend stack.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (28 g) vegan protein powder of choice
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt or kosher salt, see notes
- 2 tbsp maple syrup, see notes
- 1 cup water, plus more as needed, see notes
Instructions
- Mix the flour, protein powder, baking powder (make sure you don’t use baking soda) and salt together in a bowl until well combined, making sure to break up any clumps and fully incorporate the baking powder and salt.
- Add the maple syrup or sweetener of choice if using, then slowly add the water, mixing until “just mixed.” It should be a little lumpy and quite thick but still pourable. Add a little extra water if needed.
- Allow the batter to rest for 5-10 minutes while you heat a pan over medium-low heat. Use a little cooking spray or a good non-stick pan and scoop about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the pan for each pancake.
- Cook until bubbles start to appear and the edges of each pancake look dry and firm. Flip and cook for 1-2 more minutes.
- Enjoy right away with your favorite pancake toppings. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge or freezer and reheated as needed.
Notes
For best results, measure ingredients using a kitchen scale for accuracy.
Sweetening options include 1-2 tbsp pure maple syrup, agave or coconut sugar or for sugar-free pancakes, stevia powder, liquid stevia drops or monk fruit, to taste. If you’re using sweetened flavoured protein powder, you can omit or reduce the added sweetener. Nutrition facts are for stevia-sweetened pancakes, adjust accordingly if you use another sweetener. Depending on the protein powder used, you may not even need additional sweetener.
The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of water but readers were reporting the batter to be too runny. I reduced it to 1 cup but you may need up to 1 1/2 cups works depending on the protein powder you use. Start with 1 cup and slowly add more as needed. It works great with 1 cup but the batter is very thick, however, this will result in an extra thick and fluffy pancake. If you want the batter to stretch a little further and make more pancakes, add a little extra water. The batter should be thick but pourable.
The recipe makes enough for 2 servings, however, the exact number of pancakes it makes will depends how big each pancake is and how much liquid is added to the batter. Regardless, however many pancakes you make, half of that is meant to be one serving.
Reduce salt to 1/4 tsp if you’re using table salt or if sodium content is a concern. You can also use a reduced-sodium baking powder.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/2 the recipe
- Calories: 295
- Sodium: 20.2 mg
- Fat: 1.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 60 g
- Fiber: 3.5 g
- Protein: 16 g
Keywords: vegan protein pancakes, protein pancakes, high-protein pancakes
i love this recipe!! so simple. i used unsweetened almond milk instead of water, and brown sugar as a sweetener. i used vanilla protein powder & these tasted like vanilla cake! so filling & satisfying 🙂
That’s great to hear! Glad you enjoyed them!
Yummy! Finally an easy pancake recipe that’s fluffy. I used whole-wheat flour and added vegan butter on top
★★★★★
Love these so much, curious if you think I could make them into muffins!?
★★★★★
I think so! They’d be a different texture than regular muffins but I think they’d bake up in a muffin tin ok. I haven’t tried it though! Let me know if you do.