How to Make Pancakes With Protein Powder

Getting your recommended daily intake of protein can be difficult, particularly if you have special dietary needs or you’re in training to tone up or put on muscle. But making sure you have enough protein in your meals and snacks is a must. This macronutrient repairs tissue, helps to build muscle and boosts your immune system, and more generally it’s essential for your overall health and wellbeing.

If you’re looking for imaginative ways to get extra protein into your diet, how about using some of your favorite protein powder to create tasty pancakes? Whether you're looking for a satisfying breakfast or a post-workout treat, there are times when only a stack of pancakes will do. Also, once you’ve made the batter, it will keep in the refrigerator for a couple of days - giving you a quick fix when you don’t have time to cook from scratch.

To help you prepare this delicious and nutrient-packed dish, we’ve put together this guide to making pancakes with protein powder.

Perfect your batter

The foundation to any good pancake is a flavorsome and light batter - and there’s certainly no shortage of options for you to try out.

Don’t worry if you have specific dietary needs. There's a batter out there for everyone; it’s just a case of selecting the right one for you. To give you a head start, here are two great recipes that are appetizing and quick and easy to prepare.

Vegan batter

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of vegan protein powder
• 1 banana (peeled)
• 1 cup of rolled oats
• 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk (or another plant-based milk of your choice)
• ¼ teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Method:

This recipe is super simple. Just place all of the ingredients, apart from the oil, into a food processor and whiz until smooth. Stop as soon as you reach this point to avoid overworking the mixture.

Next, heat up a little of the oil in a nonstick skillet. If you want to limit the amount of fat you’re using, go for a spray bottle instead of a regular pouring bottle. Once the oil is hot, add a few tablespoons of the batter mixture.

Continue to cook on a low to medium heat for a few minutes. Once you see bubbles starting to form on the surface of the batter, flip the pancake over and cook for another few minutes. Once it’s ready, turn it out onto a plate.

Then repeat this process for the rest of the batter. You should find you have enough mixture for around eight pancakes.

Gluten-free batter

Ingredients:

• 2 heaped tablespoons of gluten-free protein powder
• 2 eggs
• 6 tablespoons of almond milk or water
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil

Method:

Mix the protein powder, eggs, baking powder and almond milk (or water) in a bowl until they are thoroughly combined.

Next, heat up a little of the oil in a nonstick skillet. Once this is hot, pour a third of a cup of batter onto the skillet. Wait until you see bubbles forming on the surface and then flip.

Repeat this process until you’ve used up all of your batter.

Top tip

These batter recipes are great, but if you want to make them a little more exciting, you could try adding ingredients like fresh or frozen berries or chocolate chips to them.

Choose mouth-watering toppings

One of the best things about pancakes is the fact that you can mix and match different batter recipes with a host of toppings, giving you lots of delicious combinations to try.

For a healthy topping choice, it’s hard to beat chopped fresh fruit. Whether it’s strawberries, blueberries, bananas or anything else, this is sure to taste divine and you can eat your pancakes with a clean conscience. You could add a helping of coconut yogurt for extra creaminess too.

If you’re after something a little more indulgent, perhaps maple syrup or honey would be your topping of choice. Or you could melt some of your favorite chocolate over the pancakes. Peanut butter and almond butter are popular choices too, and they are a great way to get even more protein into the dish.

With pancakes, the fun is in the experimentation, so don’t hold back when testing out new flavor combinations.

Other dishes you can make with protein powder

Protein powder is a remarkably versatile product, so once you’ve perfected your pancake game, why not move onto other tasty dishes that use this supplement? For example, you could get creative with your protein shakes. Maybe a peanut butter jelly recipe would get you salivating. Simply add some frozen banana, frozen strawberries, almond milk and peanut butter to your protein powder, blend and enjoy the results.

Keen to test out your baking skills? You can create anything from satisfyingly gooey cookies, to decadent chocolate brownies, to aromatic spice-infused cakes using protein powder as a key ingredient.

Whether you’re making any of these dishes or you’re simply having your protein powder in a shake, you’ll be helping to ensure you get enough of this important nutrient in your diet.