Protein pancake bowls are the best hack to meal prep your pancakes for healthy breakfasts! They make the most delicious high protein breakfast, with over 30 grams of protein, healthy fats, and fiber to keep you feeling great all morning long! These baked pancakes require less hands-on time than typical pancakes and you can still top them with all of your favorite toppings! They’re gluten-free, dairy-free, and contain no added sugar!
Easy Pancake bowls
I love me some pancakes – sheet pan pancakes, regular pancakes, protein pancakes.. but this pancake bowl has been my absolute hyper-fixation right now! Arguably one of the most fun breakfast recipes, a pancake bowl is essentially one extra fluffy pancake that fills an entire bowl, rather than having to flip several pancakes on a skillet on the stove! The pancake mix is quickly mixed together, poured into a bowl, and baked. Honestly they just require less hands-on time which is so nice!
Looking for more healthy breakfast ideas? Here is a round-up of 45 healthy breakfast recipes!
video – Watch me make a high protein pancake bowl!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- Makes a healthy breakfast! Packed with fiber, healthy fats, and 30 grams of protein, this pancake bowl will keep you full and satisfied all morning! This pancake bowl is gluten-free, dairy-free, and contains no added sugar. It’s naturally sweetened with just a little mashed banana!
- Customizable to your liking: Load these pancake bowls up with all your favorite toppings. Chocolate chips, peanut butter, banana slices, fresh berries, etc.!
- Easy: All you do is blend and bake! It comes together in under 5 minutes. Pancake bowls require less hands-on time than typical pancakes. You don’t have to stand over the oven and flip multiple pancakes. You can bake the pancake bowl while you’re getting ready in the morning!
- Meal prep: You can meal prep pancake bowls as a healthy breakfast for the week and reheat them when ready to eat!
- The whole family will love this healthy breakfast and it even makes a great option for kids!
Are pancake bowls healthy?
This pancake bowl is packed with fiber, protein, and healthy fats to keep you satiated and satisfied! Depending on the protein powder you use, this pancake bowl can contain 30 grams of protein! You can even top pancake bowls with greek or coconut yogurt, nut butter, hemp seeds, or additional toppings for extra protein! Pancakes are NOT just for the weekends with this healthy meal prep breakfast!
How to make Protein pancake bowls
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom of this post! Here is an overview of what you’ll need and steps!
Equipment
- Blender
- Ramekin or oven-safe bowl – I love using these glass bowls as they are perfect for meal prep and reheating!
Ingredients
- Banana – we use just 1/4 of a banana for this pancake bowl, which adds some natural sweetness and texture to the pancake bowl!
- Protein powder – plant-based protein works best here, I wouldn’t use whey! Use a protein powder you really love the flavor of as it’ll add flavor and sweetness to the recipe. I used Macro Mike salted caramel protein (you can use my code “amb-dani” for a discount!).
- Flax seeds – We use just a tad to up the fiber content, however it’s optional!
- Egg – this works as a binder for the pancake bowl while also adding protein, healthy fats, and essential nutrients like choline! I have not tested this recipe with a vegan/egg-free alternative so I can’t say for sure how it’ll turn out!
- Almond flour – just a few tablespoons are used to help add texture and fluffiness! You can use tiger nut flour for a nut-free option!
- Tapioca flour – this helps adds some structure to the pancakes. You can also use arrowroot flour.
- Pantry staples: Vanilla extract, sea salt, baking powder
Steps
- In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth.
- Pour the pancake batter into greased ramekin or oven-safe bowl.
- Bake! Bake for 30ish minutes until set. Use a toothpick to ensure the centers are cooked through. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
Pancake bowl variations
- To make gluten-free and dairy-free: These are naturally gluten and dairy-free! They are also grain-free, refined sugar-free, and can be made nut-free.
- Stir in chocolate chips for chocolate chip pancakes.
- Top with peanut butter or almond butter.
- Add in blueberries for blueberry pancakes.
- Fold in sprinkles and add 1/8th teaspoon almond extract for birthday cake pancakes!
- Fold in white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts for white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes.
FAQ’s
- What is the texture of baked pancakes like? They’re fluffy just like typical pancakes! Be sure to top them with your favorite toppings and a drizzle of maple syrup or honey for the full experience!
- Do I have to add protein powder? This specific recipe is formulated with protein powder, so I can’t say for sure how they’ll turn out if you substitute it with something else!
- What if I want a sweeter pancake? I wanted to formulate this pancake bowl to be blood sugar balancing and satiating, so you aren’t hungry an hour later. There isn’t any added sugar because of this, as it’s meant to be a healthy breakfast, not a sugar bomb! However, if you want a sweeter pancake, feel free to add 1-2 tablespoons of sweetener of choice. You can also top them with maple syrup or honey afterwards!
- If for some reason you remove them from the oven and the pancake to be raw in the center, you can pop them in the microwave for a minute or so!
Storage
Once baked, these pancake bowls stay fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days! I like to use these glass containers for meal prep as you can easily remove the lid and reheat. To reheat, simply remove the lid and place in the microwave for about 45 seconds-1 minute! Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy.
More healthy breakfast recipes to try
- Banana chia pudding
- Lemon blueberry chia pudding with yogurt
- Birthday cake overnight oats
- Oatmeal cookie dough overnight oats
- cinnamon roll overnight oats
- Pb&J chia pudding
- Peanut butter espresso protein shake
- Cinnamon roll protein shake
- Easy spinach wraps
- Tofu scramble breakfast bowl
If you try this recipe and love, it’d mean the world to me if you left a star rating and review below! Tag me in your creations on instagram @danishealthyeats!
Protein Pancake Bowl
Ingredients
pancake bowl
- 1/4 cup mashed banana
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup plant-based protein powder *see notes
- 3 tbsp almond flour *or tiger nut flour for nut-free
- 1/2 tbsp ground flax seeds *can omit
- 1 tbsp tapioca flour or arrowroot flour *see notes
- 2 tbsp milk of choice *see notes if not using plant-based protein.
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract & pinch of sea salt
- 1 tbsp sweetener of choice (optional!)
optional additions
- cinnamon, chocolate chips, berries, banana slices, etc.
Instructions
- Note: this pancake bowl itself is made without any added sugar because I know some protein powders have a sweeter taste & most people like to top their pancakes with some maple syrup or honey. However, if you want a sweeter pancake, feel free to add a tablespoon or two of sweetener of choice to the batter! I wanted to keep this recipe more blood sugar balancing and satiating than a typical pancake recipe!
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a deep ramekin or oven-safe bowl.
- Add all the ingredients to a blender & blend until smooth. After blending, you can stir in any optional add-ins (chocolate chips, berries, etc). Then pour the batter into your bowl.
- Bake for 28-35 minutes, until the center is set to touch. I like to check on them around 28 minutes. You can use a toothpick to ensure it comes out clean, but be careful not to over-bake them too much or they'll dry out!
- Remove from the oven. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!
- Topping ideas: peanut butter drizzle, yogurt, coconut whip, berries, cacao nibs or chocolate chips, drizzle of honey or maple syrup, or Monk Fruit Maple Syrup!
