16 Healthy Pancake Recipes
Incredibly scrumptious and made from wholesome ingredients, these healthy pancake recipes will have you eating pancakes all year round.
Pancakes are my go-to breakfast meal any day. From soft, fluffy pancakes dripping in chocolate and maple syrup to blueberry-infused stacks, you can never go wrong with pancakes any time of the year.
Plus, most pancake recipes are beginner-friendly, quick, easy to make, and fail-proof.
I’ve compiled my top 15 healthy pancake recipes for a healthy breakfast and brunch. I have also included several vegan pancake recipes so no one is left out.
Pancakes or Waffles?
Pancakes and waffles are two of America’s most popular breakfast foods, and there’s always an ongoing debate about which is better.
I honestly love both because you can add custom ingredients to the batter and eat them with various toppings.
But I can’t say which is better, though I make pancakes more often than waffles. And that’s simply because getting out a waffle maker can feel like a chore to me sometimes.
While pancakes and waffles are often made with the same basic ingredients, they can differ in appearance, texture, flavor, and taste.
For starters, waffle batter is usually thicker than pancake batter and typically contains more fat and sugar. Additionally, waffles traditionally have a more crispier texture than pancakes.
Ingredients for Making Healthy Pancake Recipes
Here is all you typically need to make a classic pancake recipe:
- Flour: All-purpose flour, spelt flour, whole wheat flour, or Einkorn flour, depending on the recipe requirement and your dietary needs
- Milk: Regular milk or dairy-free milk for vegan recipes
- Egg: For fluffy pancakes. Make sure to replace it with about a tsp of apple cider vinegar when making vegan recipes.
- Oil: Lightly flavored cooking oil
- Baking Powder: To give your pancakes a nice rise. You can also substitute melted butter instead.
- Sugar: Regular cane sugar, coconut sugar, or brown sugar. You can even omit the sugar altogether if you’re on a low or no-sugar diet.
- Salt: To balance the flavors
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the taste of your pancakes. Adding vanilla extract to your pancake batter is optional, but it greatly enhances the flavor.
13 Pancake Recipes For a Healthy Breakfast
Here are my top 13 healthy pancake recipes. They’re made with wholesome ingredients and are incredibly delicious.
1. Almond Milk Pancakes
Have you ever imagined enjoying the nutty taste of almonds in your pancake? This recipe brings your imagination to life. The nutty flavor of almond milk gives these pancakes a delicious, irresistible taste
You can make them wholly dairy-free by excluding the egg. Plus, they’re very healthy, containing only a little sugar and oil.
Mixing the batter for this homemade pancake recipe is as easy as using a boxed pancake mix. You only need one bowl to mix the ingredients, and it’ll take about fifteen minutes to have your batter ready for frying.
2. Chocolate Protein Pancakes
Throw cocoa powder and Greek yogurt into your pancake batter, and you’ll get these scrumptious chocolate protein pancakes. It has a super moist texture and a delicious melt-in-your-mouth taste.
These pancakes are not only delectable, they’re also healthy. The recipe contains coconut sugar-which is lower in glycemic than regular sugar, and cocoa powder, which is excellent for heart health.
Like most of my recipes, this chocolate pancake recipe is pretty simple. You only need one bowl to mix your batter, which saves you the stress of washing too many dishes.
Top your pancakes with chocolate chips, maple syrup, and a little butter for a delightful breakfast.
3. Oat Milk Chocolate Chip Pancakes
I added oats, oat milk, apple cider vinegar, and chocolate chips to regular pancake ingredients to create this healthy, fluffy, and tasty pancake recipe.
Replace regular milk with dairy-free oat milk, as I did in this recipe, and you’ll be amazed at how light, fluffy, and tasty your pancakes will turn out. The addition of apple cider vinegar contributes significantly to its fluffiness.
This recipe is so simple that you don’t need to wait for the weekend to try it out. It’s a dairy-free recipe, so use dairy-free chocolate chips if you’re vegan.
4. Vegan Buttermilk Cornbread Pancakes
You’ll love this pancake recipe if you like cornbread as much as I do. Replace your regular flour with cornmeal, and you’ll get cornbread pancakes. The buttermilk gives this recipe a nice, tangy flavor and enhances its fluffiness.
The best part is that you can even make the buttermilk yourself. All you need is dairy-free milk and apple cider vinegar.
These vegan buttermilk cornbread pancakes are sugar-free. Therefore, drizzle some pure maple syrup over them for a delicious breakfast experience.
5. Moist Pumpkin Oat Flour Pancakes
These moist pumpkin oat flour pancakes are perfect for breakfast any time of the year. Combining oat flour and pumpkin puree produced these melt-in-your-mouth soft and fluffy pancakes.
Pumpkin puree is full of moisture, so you only need a little oil or butter to make this recipe. You can use canned pumpkin puree or create your own.
Like most of my recipes, this one is dairy-free. I use apple cider vinegar instead of an egg to ensure my pancakes are light and fluffy. This recipe also contains cinnamon, ground cloves, ginger, and nutmeg for an added burst of flavor.
6. Vegan Protein Pancakes
If you’ve been sleeping on yogurt in your pancakes, you’ll want to add yogurt to all your pancake mix after trying this recipe.
These delicious vegan protein pancakes will have your taste buds jumping for joy. And they’re a great source of protein to start your day!
Adding dairy-free Greek yogurt moistens these pancakes and gives them a nice tangy flavor. Because this is a vegan recipe, I used dairy-free Greek yogurt and dairy-free milk.
You can use regular ones and get the same fantastic results if you’re not vegan. A little vanilla extract and a sprinkling of cinnamon in this recipe enhance the flavor of these pancakes.
7. Einkorn Pancakes
These Einkorn pancakes are the classic definition of a healthy, and super tasty breakfast. They’re moist, fluffy, easy to digest, and perfect for those on a low-carb, gluten-free diet. And they’re delicious, too.
You’ll enjoy a delectable breakfast with all the goodness of whole grain. If you must, you can substitute the Einkorn flour for whole wheat flour to achieve almost the same result.
It’s a simple recipe requiring only basic ingredients and only takes about 15 minutes to whip up. If you’d like, you can add some dried fruit and nuts to your batter to make your pancakes even more delicious.
Top them off with pure maple syrup or your favorite pancake toppings.
8. Oatmeal Blueberry Pancakes
Blueberries are delicious add-ins for almost every baked good, and these pancakes are no exception. Combining oat flour, fresh blueberries, and a sprinkling of cinnamon produced these yummy pancakes bursting with flavor.
This recipe contains wholesome ingredients and is great for healthy breakfasts and desserts. Aside from oat flour, these pancakes contain another secret healthy ingredient – ground flax seeds.
It’s a rich source of omega 3s and tasteless, so no one will know it’s in there except for you. It takes about 35 minutes to have your pancakes ready for serving. Enjoy them with pure maple syrup or whatever you fancy adding on top.
9. Sugar-Free Pancakes
Who says you can’t eat pancakes because you’re on a sugar-free diet? These pancakes are sugar-free and just as delicious as regular ones, or even more so!
This is a healthy, sugar-free, protein-rich recipe that even sweet-toothed people like me will enjoy.
This recipe only needs one large mixing bowl and the basic pancake ingredients. And, of course, Greek yogurt for added protein, moistness, and fluffiness. For a healthy and delightful breakfast, top it with fresh fruits or dried nuts.
10. Vegan Applesauce Pancakes
Applesauce in pancakes? Oh yes! And it’s so undetectable that no one will know unless you tell them. Beside being incredibly moist, light, fluffy, and yummy, these pancakes are very healthy too.
Besides the unsweetened applesauce, they contain heart-healthy oat flour and a sprinkling of cinnamon for additional flavor.
Although this recipe is vegan, anyone can enjoy it. But you can make yours regular by using dairy milk and including an egg, if you want to. It is a quick and easy-to-make one-bowl recipe.
11. Chocolate Oatmeal Dairy-Free Pancakes
If any recipe can boast of being sweet, super delicious, and healthy, it’ll be this one. A delightful combination of oatmeal, cocoa powder, dairy-free milk, and apple cider vinegar creates these tasty, fluffy, and chocolatey pancakes.
These dairy-free chocolate oatmeal pancakes are so delicious, moist, and soft that you can’t eat just one. And they’re also healthy, which adds so much to their appeal.
This recipe contains wholesome ingredients: heart-healthy, low-calorie cocoa powder and oatmeal. It has no oil or butter and very little sugar, so you’ll get low-calorie and low-fat pancakes.
Top them with pure maple syrup, butter, or dairy-free chocolate chips for a memorable breakfast or dessert.
12. Dairy-Free Pancakes
This is one of my healthiest and easiest-to-make pancake recipes. Don’t be fooled by their simple, plain look; these pancakes are as fluffy and tasty as pancakes can get. It’s the non-dairy version of the regular pancake recipe.
You’ll only need basic ingredients, which you probably already have in your pantry. Simply omit eggs and replace regular milk with non-dairy milk, and you’re good to go. Enjoy with pure maple syrup or your favorite topping.
13. Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes
Chocolate chips in pancakes? Oh, yes, definitely a must! Every bite of these healthy vegan chocolate chip oatmeal pancakes is pure bliss.
They’re perfectly fluffy, light, and great for a tasty and healthy breakfast or dessert any day. Adding oats gives them a chewy, whole-grain taste while supplying your body with needed fibers.
While the ingredients in this recipe are vegan, you can make yours non-vegan and get the same incredible taste. Simply substitute dairy-free milk and chocolate chips with regular ones, and you’re good to go.
Top these pancakes with pure maple syrup and butter, and relish your meal.
14. Restaurant-Style Fluffy Pancake Recipe
With this easy recipe, you can make your very own restaurant-style pancakes right at home. With their moist and super fluffy texture, you’ll be delighted at how delicious they are. Your family is sure to enjoy every bite!
Making your own pancakes from scratch is such an enjoyable experience. You can even customize these pancakes to your liking, by adding in chocolate chips, chopped nuts, etc.
These pancakes are amazing topped with pure maple syrup and a little butter. Or whatever you fancy topping them with.
15. Fluffy and Light Egg-Free Pancakes Recipe
These egg free pancakes taste absolutely incredible. You won’t believe they don’t contain eggs, because they come out so fluffy and airy. They’re also super easy to make right in your own kitchen.
Enjoy with your favorite pancake toppings.
16. Scrumptious Oat Flour Pancakes
These oat flour pancakes are all kinds of delicious. They have the ultimate wholesome flavor, and also the most soft and moist texture. They contain good for you oat flour, which makes them the perfect breakfast option. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy.
Add-ins and Toppings for Delicious and Healthy Pancakes
You don’t have to make basic, plain pancakes every time. You can customize your pancakes in several ways for a more savory and exciting breakfast experience. Below are my favorite pancake add-ins.
- Blueberries: Adding fresh blueberries to your pancake batter gives you a healthy and delicious batter. You can also use frozen blueberries. Just ensure they’re frozen solid so they don’t break up and discolor your batter.
- Applesauce: I love adding unsweetened applesauce to my pancakes sometimes. It’s barely detectable but adds plenty of moisture instead of an unhealthy amount of oil or butter. I prefer to use unsweetened applesauce due to the lower sugar content.
- Chocolate chips: For sweet, chocolatey pancakes. You can’t go wrong with adding some of these!
- Pumpkin: Add a little homemade or canned pumpkin puree to your pancake batter for super moist pancakes.
- Ground flax seed: While this add-in is hardly noticeable, it makes your pancake healthier, as it’s a great source of omega-3s.
- Banana: Adding some mashed banana to your pancake batter will give your pancakes a naturally sweet flavor.
- Greek yogurt: For added moisture and protein.
My favorite toppings are:
- Pure maple syrup
- Butter
- Fresh fruits: bananas, strawberries, blueberries, etc.
- Sliced/Chopped Nuts: almonds, peanuts, cashew nuts, or pecans
Tips for Making Healthy Pancake Recipes
- Don’t overmix your batter: It’s actually normal to have small lumps in your batter. Therefore, you should only combine it till all the ingredients are incorporated. Allow your batter to sit for 8 to 10 minutes before using it for the fluffiest pancakes and optimal texture.
- Include apple cider vinegar. It helps your pancakes rise better and makes them more fluffy. It’s especially useful in batters that don’t contain eggs or vegan pancake recipes.
- Mix whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour:
- Grease your pan or griddle with oil, even if it’s non-stick, just to be on the safe side.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do I Store Leftover Pancakes?
You can freeze your leftover pancakes or refrigerate them for a couple of days. And you don’t have to let them thaw before warming and serving.
Just heat the frozen pancakes in the microwave for a few minutes before serving them. Or reheat them in an oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes.
Can I Use Plant-Based Milk to Make Pancakes?
Yes, you can. I use plant-based milk in many of my recipes, including both vegan and non-vegan pancake recipes. Unsweetened almond milk is my favorite plant-based milk, sometimes even oat milk.
But you can usually use whatever plant-based milk you prefer in most cases.
If I’m making blueberry pancakes, should the blueberries be thawed or frozen?
Use frozen blueberries when making blueberry pancakes. Thawed berries can break up while mixing your batter, turning it blue unless you don’t mind that happening.
Can I store pancake batter overnight and cook it in the morning?
Yes, you can. Put the batter in an airtight container, preferably a glass container, and store it in the refrigerator. Pancake batter can be refrigerated for up to four days.
How do I get rid of lumps in my pancake batter?
Small lumps in your pancake batter are actually expected. They usually dissolve while you’re cooking the pancakes.
How do I make vegan pancakes?
It’s easy. Many of my healthy pancake recipes are vegan and only require one bowl. For vegan pancakes, it’s really just a matter of omitting eggs and using non-dairy milk instead of regular milk.
Additionally, if a recipe calls for butter; just substitute with dairy-free butter.