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4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes

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I didn’t eat pancakes all summer then all of a sudden I remembered…it’s been way too long since I had pancakes! Shortly thereafter, these 4-ingredient fluffy vegan protein pancakes were born! You only need a few basic ingredients to make these delicious fluffy pancakes and they can be prepared in a matter of seconds. All you need is flour, protein powder, sweetener and baking powder and you’re ready to go. Load them up with your favourite toppings like peanut butter and berries and dig in.

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

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4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

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.

 

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes | oil-free

4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes

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.

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:

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4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes

★★★★★

4.8 from 21 reviews

  • Author: Deryn Macey
  • Yield: 6 pancakes
Print Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
  2. Add the maple syrup or sweetener of choice, then slowly add the water, mixing until “just mixed.” It should be a little lumpy and quite thick. Add a little extra water if needed.
  3. Cook in a hot non-stick pan until bubbles appear in the centre of each pancake. Flip and cook for a few more minutes.
  4. Serves 2.

Notes

  1. The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of water but as you’ll notice below, people were finding the batter too runny. I reduced it to 1 cup but I think somewhere between 1 and 1 1/2 cups works. Start with 1 cup and as more as needed. It works great with 1 cup but the batter is very thick, however this will result in an extra fluffy pancake. If you want the batter to stretch a little further and make more pancakes, add a little extra water.
  2. I haven’t tested these with gluten-free flours but some readers have had success. Check the comments section to see what’s worked for people. If you have success with a gluten-free flour blend, let me know in the comment section!

If you enjoyed this recipe please take a moment to share it via your favourite social media network below! I’d really appreciate it. Thanks, guys! And don’t forget to tag me on social media and use #runningornealfood so I can check out your pics.

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Comments

  1. I still love your blog and your commitment to being active is beautiful. I love your pancakes and you rock. Keep shining 🙂

    Reply

  2. A very tasty recipe.
    Definitely follow healthy diets and improve our overall health if they so good not cost us too much work.
    Replacing animal protein with plant protein seems a good and healthy decision.
    Do not forget to brush our teeth.
    Regards.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  3. I love the idea of protein packed pancakes!!! I just tried mixing these up- the batter is so runny. I used soy milk instead of water. Did I do something wrong?

    Reply

      • I’m not sure. I’ll have to test again…I haven’t made these for a while but I can’t remember having any problems with the recipe. I should be able to re-test next weekend. Thanks for the feedback!

        Reply

  6. Greetings from Brazil. I made some changes in the recipe but I loved it anyway. Really fluffly indeed!!! Thank you very much.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  7. I made them as written. Batter was very runny and as result didn’t rise to the lovely puffiness in your photo. Please let us know how to modify liquid. I, too, thought 1 1/2 c water was a lot for 1 cup of flour! I did add some chopped nuts and blueberries. The pancakes taste amazing. . . just not great texture.

    Reply

    • I’m thinking it must be 1/2-1 cup of water but unfortunately I can’t find my original recipe! I know I’ve said I’ll re-make them to figure out the liquid but I keep forgetting! It’s on my list for this weekend for sure though. I’m glad you were able to make them work..

      Reply

  9. I made these this morning and they were so good!!!! super simple and easy. For the protein powder I used Garden of Life Vanilla Raw Meal and it tasted really yummy with the slight vanilla flavor. I added a little more water then instructed but that’s just preference. I was amazed at how well they turned out and i’m gonna try and fight the urge not to make them every morning. I added sliced bananas in the batter and that was amazing! so glad i found this recipe.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  10. These were really good. I too had a runny mix with one cup of water so i just added a little extra flour and they came out fluffy. I also added a little cinnamon, yum.I doubled the recipe so I and my boy friend had some for the week. thanks!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  13. Could these be tweaked for coconut flour? I have a big bag in the cupboard and have no idea what to do with it… I know it doesn’t mix the same as other flours.

    Reply

    • Coconut flour is almost the best replacement for NOT healthy wheat flour. But it could be needed adding some thickener, it can be many things, but easier is to buy Xanthan Gum, which s needed very, very little – f.ex. 1/2 teaspoon for a not large cake. Or 1/4 teaspoon for pancakes.

      Reply

  14. If I wanted to make these using 2 tbsp of hemp protein powder, would I need to add 2 tbsp of flour as I would be cutting out 2 tbsp of the rice protein powder?

    Reply

  16. These pancakes are SO GOOD. I think this is the first time I’ve actually made successful protein pancakes that weren’t cardboard like. They are actually really fluffy like the picture and tasty and filling! I think the perfect amount of water is 1.25 cups.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  18. These sound so good! I love making pancakes with ripe bananas and coconut flakes! Gluten free but I do use an egg… I have heard you can use chickpea fluid from the can to substitute egg whites – have you tried!

    Reply

  23. Daryn loved this easy recipe..I do have to make it gluten free so I use a mixture of
    Gluten free flours for 1/2 of the cup of flour …the other 1/2 cup I use coconut flour….
    As far as people having trouble with the liquid…I used unsweetened Almomd milk…
    Started with 1/2 cup and gradually added another half with just water…the coconut flour really
    is great at absorbing liquids ..they came out really fluffy and yummy….not runny at all..
    Also another addition was apple butter for 1 tablespoon of the called for maple syrup…
    These are divine….
    For the original recipe do you have a calorie count….
    Thank you yummmmmmmm????

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  24. Worked great! Used half amounts of pea protein and rice protein and tasted good. Used 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Really happy because I find the pea and rice proteins fairly disgusting to drink in shaker with water. Won’t need to throw them in bin after all.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  26. I just made them for breakfast and they’re great. They taste really good and when you use toppings these pancakes reach the next level. I can’t believe that they’re so good AND with great nutritional values. Thank you so much for sharing this. I know I will come back to this recipe over and over again!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Yay! So happy you liked them! They’re awesome, aren’t they? I love loading them up with my fave toppings, so good. Thanks for your comment.

      Reply

  27. This is the best vegan protein pancake recipe!! Could these be made into waffles ? Would I have to modify recipe ?

    Reply

  28. Our family loves this recipe. We make it probably 2-3x a week! I just made a pumpkin spice version by adding 1/3C pumpkin puree and 1/2t pumpkin pie spice. So yummy!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • I haven’t tried it in this recipe and I can’t guarantee how it will come out without the gluten. I think the best bet for gluten-free would be a gluten-free flour blend. I think they’ll probably cook up okay with oat flour but I’m not totally sure, the texture would be different but I think they’d at least cook. Let me know if you try it!

      Reply

  31. My middle child makes these all the time for the whole family and loves them. We used half chai and half vanilla protein powder to get a chai vanilla pancake! Thanks for the recipe!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  32. I finally found the perfect protein pancakes recipe!! Thank you so much!! I no longer feel guilty eating pancakes! How cool is that!?!
    Thank you for this awesome blog, i found loads of good advices and discover stuff i didn’t know i could benefit from (motivational books for example!)
    keep’em coming!!

    Reply

    • Oat flour will not provide the same result in this recipe. You could try it with a gluten-free flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill but I haven’t tested any gluten-free options. Thanks!

      Reply

  35. I just tried this recipe and I love it! I used oat flour and Arbonne’s Vanilla Protein powder. I followed the recipe and just had to add “a little” more water. It is perfect for this Girl who has soooo many allergies. Simply [email protected]!

    Reply

  36. I first made these with coconut flour, attempting to keep them gluten-free. That did not work. It was a clumpy, doughy mess no matter how much water I added! I tried again with whole wheat pastry flour (all I had on hand) and it was delicious!! Just over 1 cup of water was the perfect amount for me to create the fluffiest pancakes! Topped with strawberries and some more pure maple syrup. The best!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Yes, unfortunately these would not work with coconut flour but they’d probably work with a GF flour blend such as Bobs Red Mill. Glad they worked out in the end!

      Reply

  37. Hi,
    I’m so happy I found this recipe. I make these almost every week and love them as much now as the first time I had them.
    Thanks for sharing!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  38. Made these with vanilla flavour Soy Protein (vegan protein) and agave nectar and they were amazing! Managed to slightly burn the first batch since I’d never made these sort of pancakes before but with some practice they’re gonna be great! Also, if anyone else is cooking for one, make up the powdered ingredients in a seperate container and just use a cup or so whenever you want pancakes. Add in a smidge of sweetener and add in a little water till it comes together!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Oh, that’s a great idea to make up the powdered ingredients separately for single-use!! I’m so glad you like these. Thanks for the tip on soy protein, it’s always good to know what kind of proteins work in this recipe. Thanks so much for your comment!

      Reply

  39. Loved this recipe. I used pea protein and unseeetened almond milk 🙂 I’m really searching for nice recipes which include a lot of protein and this is one of them. Turned out really great!! Thankyou so much for these yummy pancakes!! #greetingsfromholland

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  40. What an amazing recipe. I made them with half banana flour and half quinoa flour and with pea protein and they were light, fluffy and scrumptious. This is now my go-to pancake recipe. Healthy, quick and tasty. Brilliant!!!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • That’s awesome, so glad you enjoyed them~ Good to know they’ll work with banana flour and quinoa flour. I haven’t tried them gluten-free.

      Reply

  41. I used soy milk instead of water (1 cup) and added blueberries and lemon zest. The BEST pancakes I’ve ever had, hands down.

    ★★★★★

    Reply

  42. I think the thickness of the batter depends on the protein powder you use. I used 1 cup of liquid and the batter was way too thick, like cookie batter. 1 1/2 cups of liquid was just right! My teenage son loves these!

    Reply

  43. Hi, I tried two times…I don’t know what I could be doing wrong but they don’t cook on the inside. They bubble, I turn them they grow, look like cooked but if I cut they are runny. Tried to let them cook longer but the same. Instead of water I used almond milk but I doubt that could be it. Thank you for your answer 🙂

    Reply

    • Almond milk does actually change the recipe, I would recommend using water for best results! I’ve made these countless times and they have tons of great reviews so hopefully that’s the only issue. Are you following the recipe exactly as written?

      Reply

      • Found the mistake ! I was mixing them in a nitro ninja that killed the effect of baking powder . Tried with a stand mixer they came out perfect !
        Thank you

        ★★★★★

        Reply

  44. I must admit in the past I’ve only tried about 6 vegan pancake recipes over the years but none have ever cooked as well as these! They bubbled quickly, were easy to flip without falling apart and had a really awesome and satisfying texture. 10/10 there!

    Unfortunately, like many vegan pancakes, my fiance and I found the taste of the salt (which I actually halved) and the baking powder to be so intense that the pancakes were inedible on their own. Topping with apple sauce managed to cut through the overpowering flavour of the two but still I barely finished the second pancake before starting to feel quite nauseous and for a while, it was just too much.

    I would love to make these on the regular but what could I substitute to make this recipe work a bit better in this aspect?

    Reply

    • You can reduce the baking powder, they just won’t be quite as fluffy! I would try 1 tsp, as long as it’s fresh, active baking powder it should still do the trick. I don’t find it overpowering at all but I do have a number of other pancake recipes with tons of great reviews if you wanted to try a different one. You can find them all here: https://runningonrealfood.com/?s=pancakes. Thanks!

      Reply

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