Chocolate Protein Pancakes

Enjoy a stack of chocolate pancakes for a healthy breakfast! While they may look like a decadent treat, these pancakes are packed with nutrition, including lots of protein.

If you’re in a breakfast rut, and scrambled eggs or oatmeal seem to be the only options, be sure to give these chocolate protein pancakes a try. They’re a fantastic way to start the day, especially topped with sliced bananas and chocolate syrup. (I’ve been known to top them with homemade hot fudge sauce.)

hearty Chocolate Protein Pancakes

Full of protein! Low fat cottage cheese is hidden in the batter (same as these lemon poppyseed pancakes). Seriously, the cottage cheese is indiscernible once the pancake batter is processed in the blender. Chocolate protein powder is added for even more protein. Eggs and milk round out the protein power, along with whole wheat flour. You’ll get 6 grams of protein in each pancake!

Looks (and tastes) like a special treat. All this protein is wrapped up in a fluffy chocolate pancake. Things don’t get much better than that for breakfast, wouldn’t you say? And kids love them!

Easy to make. Did I mention these pancakes are made in your blender? You can whip up the pancake batter in less that 10 minutes. Simply pour the batter out of the pouring spout of the blender container onto your griddle. Easy peasy!

Ingredient Notes

• Low-Fat Cottage Cheese: You’ll need a cup of cottage cheese. Any type of cottage cheese is fine. It’s completely invisible in the pancakes. (If you like this idea, be sure to try my breakfast cheesecake, too!)
• Eggs: Most pancakes have a couple of eggs but these protein pancakes have four eggs! Eggs have 6 grams of protein each.
• Skim Milk: With nearly 2 cups of milk, you add an appreciable amount of protein (8 grams per cup), calcium, and vitamin D. Other types of milk can be substituted.
• Whole Wheat Flour: Whole grain flour adds more than great taste and fiber. It also has 15% more protein than white flour. If you prefer a lighter textured pancake, substitute all-purpose flour, or go half and half.
• Chocolate Protein Powder: Chocolate flavored protein powder enhances the rich flavor of the chocolate pancakes and also sweetens the pancakes. If you happen to have vanilla or mocha protein powder, that’s fine, too.
• Canola Oil: Just a touch of oil is added so the pancakes don’t stick to the griddle.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds sweet flavor without sugar.
• Maple Syrup: Just a couple of tablespoons adds more sweet flavor. Use pure maple syrup if you can, not maple flavored pancake syrup.
• Cocoa Powder: Cocoa powder is used in baking and is generally found in the baking aisle of the grocery store. It’s unsweetened and has lots of antioxidants and and polyphenols.
• Baking Powder and Salt: Needed for leavening and seasoning.

How To Make Protein Pancakes

This is a blender pancake recipe. A blender is necessary to pulverize those little curds of cottage cheese (unless you don’t mind white chunks in your pancakes).

Mix wet ingredients. Start by putting the eggs, milk, cottage cheese, oil, maple syrup, and vanilla in the blender container. Give that a good whirl, blending until it’s nice and smooth, scraping down the sides if necessary.

Add dry ingredients. To the mixture in the blender, add the flour, protein powder, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Use the scraper or a spoon to lightly stir the dry ingredients before putting the cover back on the blender. Turn the blender on to mix the dry ingredients with the egg and milk mixture. Scrape the sides if needed.

Note: If the mixture is too thick for your blender, just stir it with the scraper. You may have to dump it all into a bowl if you don’t have a high-powered blender.

Fry up the pancakes. Heat up your griddle, grease it if necessary (if it isn’t a nonstick griddle), and drop the batter by quarter-cupfuls onto the hot griddle. It will take about two minutes per side to cook the pancakes. This makes a pretty big batch of pancakes, about 24 pancakes, depending on how large you make them.

Serve. Top the pancakes with chocolate syrup, if you like. Keep reading for more ideas. Enjoy!

Recipe Variations

• Use a different flavor of protein powder. If you don’t have chocolate protein powder in your pantry, you can use a different flavor, such as vanilla or mocha. If you use an unsweetened protein powder, you’ll probably want to add a little more maple syrup.
• Use different flour. This recipe calls for whole wheat flour but you can use any flour that you would typically use for pancakes, like all-purpose flour or a 1:1 gluten-free flour.
• Have fun with toppings. Maple syrup, mini chocolate chips, cacao nibs, unsweetened shredded or flaked coconut, and sliced toasted almonds are great choices. Try sliced bananas, peaches, or fresh berries, like raspberries or strawberries. If you’re looking for something more decadent, try caramel sauce! Try warm peanut butter or almond butter with the chocolate pancakes (microwave it until it’s soft and pourable).
• Don’t have a blender? Try my chocolate pancakes. They’re made without cottage cheese or protein powder. Totally delicious!

Make Ahead, Storage & Reheating

• Make Ahead: Make a double batch of batter, cook it all up into pancakes, and cool the pancakes in a single layer on a wire rack.
• Refrigerate: Leftover pancakes will keep in the refrigerator up to five days in a covered container or resealable bag.
• Freeze: Place pancakes in a resealable storage bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
• Reheat: Pancakes are best reheated in the toaster oven or microwave. There’s no need to thaw frozen pancakes first.