These super easy Vegan Protein Pancakes are ready in 15 minutes for a quick post-workout protein breakfast. Plus, these pancakes are also the most fluffy and nourishing with 6 grams of protein each and also perfect for vegan breakfast for kids.
I have to admit it, I love making pancakes. They are my kids’ favorite breakfast and the whole family enjoys eating a stack of my Baby Banana Pancakes, Banana Oat Pancakes, or Vegan Oatmeal Pancakes.
But Damien and I also happen to work out daily and so we enjoy having a sweet recovery breakfast that helps recharge in protein. Proteins are essential to help the body build and repair muscles. So I love making protein pancakes for these mornings.
Are All Protein Pancakes Vegan?
No, most protein pancake recipes are made of eggs, milk, oats, or banana. And quite often, protein powder is made from whey, an animal protein. So, to make delicious vegan pancakes with protein powder, you need to follow this vegan recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
All you need are a few simple pantry ingredients and just 15 minutes to whip a batch of these vegan pancakes.
- All-Purpose Flour – Feel free to use a gluten-free all-purpose blend if you are intolerant to gluten. Note that this recipe won’t work with almond flour or coconut flour. You can swap 1/4 cup of the flour with oat flour to make the recipe higher in plant-based protein.
- Vanilla Protein Powder – we tested the recipe with three types of plant-based protein powder, including pea protein powder, almond protein powder, and peanut protein powder. The best fluffy pancakes come from pea protein powder.
- Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk or any non-dairy milk you love, like oat milk or soy milk. Prefer to use unsweetened milk to make balancing the sweetness easier.
- Baking Powder – This is the key to fluffy pancakes.
- Crystal Sweetener – We used sugar-free erythritol, but sugar or coconut sugar works as well.
Batter Add-Ons
This vegan protein pancake batter is even better with some flavoring and add-ons to increase the flavors. Feel free to stir in some of the below ingredients in the batter before cooking the pancakes:
- 1/4 cup of berries – strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries.
- Dark vegan chocolate chips
- 1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon
- 1/4 cup of old-fashioned rolled oats
How To Make Vegan Protein Pancakes
This is probably the easiest vegan pancake recipe.
- First, prepare dairy-free buttermilk. To do so, simply whisk the almond milk and apple cider vinegar together in a mixing bowl and set it aside while you prepare the remaining ingredients.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients: flour, protein powder, sugar, and salt.
- Pour the the vegan buttermilk into the dry protein pancake ingredients.
- Whisk the pancake mixture until a thick batter forms.
- Warm a pancake griddle or non-stick pan over medium heat. Rub the frying pan surface with a piece of absorbent paper slightly oiled with olive oil or coconut oil.
- Then, scoop out 2 tablespoons of pancake batter per pancake and spread in a round shape. The batter is pretty thick, and that’s normal. If it’s really too thick and won’t spread, add a splash of extra almond milk to your pancake batter to thin it out.
- Cook the pancakes for 2 to 3 minutes or until the edges are drying out and bubbles form in the center of the pancakes.
- Flip and cook the pancakes to the other side until the vegan protein pancakes are golden brown and puff.
- Let the pancakes cool down on a wire rack and keep cooking the remaining batter, following the instructions above.
Serving
These vegan pancakes with protein powder are delicious plain or topped with some of the vegan-friendly toppings below:
- Fresh berries like raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries.
- Coconut yogurt
- Peanut butter or almond butter
- Vegan chocolate chips
- Sliced almonds
- Chopped peanuts
- Coconut chips
- Homemade baby jam
- Maple syrup or brown rice syrup for a low GI sweetener
- Vegan date caramel
Tips for Choosing The Protein Powder
The key to making fluffy protein powder pancakes is to use:
- The exact amount of protein powder needed by the recipe.
- The same type of protein powder
In fact, each protein powder has different water absorbance, and as a result, your protein pancakes will have a different texture based on what you choose. You can weigh your protein powder with a kitchen scale or use a measuring cup and use the scoop, sweep method to measure. Don’t overpack the powder in the cup for better measurement.
The best protein powder for vegan fluffy pancakes is pea protein powder. You can use vanilla, caramel, or chocolate flavors. For a less fluffy vegan protein pancake, use nut or seed protein powder, like:
- Peanut protein powder
- Almond protein powder
- Hemp protein powder
Note that we didn’t try the recipe with a whey protein powder. Whey is not vegan. It’s made from cow milk.
Storage Instructions
You can store these protein pancakes in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. To rewarm pancakes, bring them in a bread toaster, sandwich press, or hot pancake griddle.
You can also freeze pancakes with protein powder very well. Freeze them in individual bags to avoid the pancakes sticking to each other. Thaw them at room temperature the day before serving and rewarm them following the instructions above.
More Vegan Protein Recipes
Below I listed more vegan recipes made with protein powder for a high-protein vegan breakfast.
More Vegan Pancake Recipes
I have plenty of other vegan pancake recipes on the blog. If you don’t feel like using protein powder, the ones below are delicious as well!
Did You Like This Recipe?
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Vegan Protein Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons Apple Cider Vinegar - or lemon juice
- 1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk - or non-dairy milk you love
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour - or white whole wheat flour
- ⅓ cup Plant-based Vanilla Protein Powder - pea powder works the best (40g/1.4 oz)
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 2 tablespoons Sugar - we used sugar-free erythritol or coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon Baking Powder
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk almond milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside while measuring the remaining ingredients.
- In another mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients evenly: flour, protein powder, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Stir the almond milk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients until a thick pancake batter forms with no lump. It should be pretty thick, and that's normal.
- Warm a pancake griddle greased with a tiny bit of coconut oil over medium heat.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of pancakes batter per pancake on the griddle and spread in a round shape. If the batter is too thick, thin it out by adding an extra splash of almond milk.
- Cook the pancake for 2-3 minutes on low-medium heat until dry on the edges, then flip and cook an extra minute until it puffs.
- Cool down on a wire rack and cook the remaining batter.
- Serve with vegan toppings you love like peanut butter, maple syrup, chia jam.
Storage
- Store leftovers for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge or freeze and thaw at room temperature the day before serving. Rewarm on a hot pancake griddle or in a bread toaster.
Mine were really good! I appreciate you making this recipe
Hi.
Saw note that 1/4cup oat flour can be swapped but you think could I use all oat flour besides AP ?
Perfect fluffy pancakes without the taste of baking powder! New favourite recipe. Did have to add an extra 1/4 cup of milk and used protein works salted caramel wondershake powder so they were very sweet
Unfortunately you can’t replace the entire amount of all-purpose by oat flour, the batter will be fragile and pancakes not fluffy. You can do so if you make my banana oat pancakes because the banana act as a binder.
This recipe was awesome! I added a bit more milk and some maple syrup into the batter and it turned out perfect!
tried these they weren’t as fluffy and the batter was very thick so i added a bit more milk, they tasted great though
Depending on the protein powder you used, the pancakes can be more or less fluffy. I noticed that pea protein powder make them ultra fluffy but peanut, almond or hemp protein powder keep them a bit flatter.
these were very good!