Chocolate Protein Pancakes
Updated May 11, 2026
Chocolate Protein Pancakes are a gluten-free recipe that are made with no flour, but oats and protein powder! Each serving has 17g protein.
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Chocolate Protein Pancakes are soo good!
I’ve been making these chocolate protein pancakes on Sundays and my kids think I’m just making them chocolate pancakes. Which, technically, I am. But there’s a cup and a half of oats, protein powder, and two whole bananas in there with no added sugar, so I feel good about it. The batter comes together in one blender and makes about six or seven pancakes.
This protein pancake recipe also holds up really well for meal prep. I’ll make a full batch, let them cool, and stack them in the fridge. They reheat in the microwave in under a minute and the texture stays pretty close to fresh. On busy weekday mornings, that actually makes a real difference.
Happy Cooking!
– Yumna
Chocolate Protein Pancakes Ingredients
- Chocolate protein powder: I’ve used both whey and plant-based protein powder in these, and either works fine. Chocolate-flavored is the best choice to keep the flavor consistent; vanilla or unflavored will still work, but the chocolate taste will be less pronounced. For help, read my guide on protein powder for beginners.
- Dry ingredients: Rolled oats, cocoa powder, and baking powder. The oats get blended into a fine powder first, which is what replaces the flour in these chocolate protein pancakes. Use old-fashioned rolled oats, not quick oats or steel cut. Quick oats can make the batter gummy after blending. Use aluminum-free baking powder to keep the flavor clean.
- Wet ingredients: Two large eggs, two ripe bananas, and vanilla extract. The bananas do a lot of work here: they bind the batter and sweeten it, so the riper the better. Very spotty or nearly black bananas are ideal. If the bananas are too firm, the batter won’t be sweet enough and may be harder to blend smooth.
How to Make Chocolate Protein Pancakes
The step-by-step photos below are there as a visual reference. For the full ingredient list and instructions, head down to the recipe card, or jump straight to → Chocolate Protein Pancakes Recipe
1. Mix the Dry Ingredients
Start by blending the oats in a high-speed blender until they break down into a fine, flour-like powder. This takes about 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the blended oats to a medium bowl and whisk in the protein powder, cocoa powder, and baking powder until evenly combined. Set the bowl aside.
2. Blend the Wet Ingredients
Add the eggs, bananas, and vanilla extract to the same blender. Blend until completely smooth with no banana chunks remaining. The bananas should fully incorporate into the eggs so the base is even throughout.
3. Add the Dry Mix to the blended wet mix
Pour the oat mixture from the bowl back into the blender over the wet base.
4. Pulse the Chocolate Protein Pancake Batter
Run the blender in short bursts until no dry streaks remain. Stop as soon as it comes together. A few lumps are fine and the batter will be thick. Over-blending here can make the pancakes turn out dense.
5. Pour and Spread the Batter
Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat and coat it with cooking spray. Using a ⅓-cup measuring cup, scoop the batter into the pan in circles and use a spatula to spread each one out slightly. The batter is thick and won’t spread on its own.
6. Flip and Cook Through
Cook until the tops look puffed and the edges are set, then flip. The second side needs about half the time. The pancakes are done when they feel firm in the center and look cooked through on both sides.
Full Chocolate Protein Powder Pancakes Recipe
Chocolate Protein Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups rolled oats
- 3 tablespoons chocolate protein powder
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder aluminum free
- 2 large eggs
- 2 bananas
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Cooking spray for greasing the pan
Instructions
- Place the oats in a high speed blender and blend until the oats become powder-like. Transfer to a medium bowl, whisk in the protein powder, cocoa powder and baking powder, and set aside.
- In the same blender, add eggs, banana and vanilla extract, and blend until well combined.
- Return the dry ingredients to the blender, and pulse until just combined, being careful not to over mix; a few lumps are okay. The batter will be thick.
- Heat a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- Using a ⅓-cup measuring cup, pour 3-4 circles of batter into the pan and use a spatula to spread them slightly. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the pancakes are puffed on top and golden brown on the bottom, then flip and cook on the other side 1-2 more minutes until risen and cooked through. Makes 6-7 pancakes.
- Serve with maple syrup and fresh fruit, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure your pan is hot before adding the batter. To gauge the temperature of the pan, I like to make a test pancake first! You want it to be warm enough to start cooking your pancakes right away, but not so warm that they burn. It shouldn’t be smoking!
- Only flip your chocolate protein pancakes once. If you flip them too many times it can cause them to deflate and you may lose that wonderful fluffy texture.
- Make your pancakes in a wide, heavy bottomed pan or griddle. The wider the pan, the more room you have to flip them. Plus, a heavy bottomed pan will heat more evenly so you won’t get hot or cold spots.
- Use a measuring cup for evenly round pancakes. This helps to make sure the pancakes are all even so they make a perfect stack. It also helps you control the pouring situation!
Serving Ideas
- Add toppings: These high-protein chocolate pancakes are tasty on their own (or with maple syrup), but I also like to serve them with sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, or fresh whipped cream.
FAQs
Yes! This protein pancake recipe is gluten-free. But if you’re sensitive to gluten, be sure to check that your oats and protein powder are certified gluten-free.
Comments
Not really a fan of these.. they came out pretty dry and dense. :/ It’s possible something was off, but definitely not going to make these again.
Hi Lauren, sorry to hear they didn’t turn out well. Some protein powders can absorb a lot more liquid and make pancakes noticeably drier. If your batter seemed thick before cooking, this is probably what happened. If you do want to try again, you could try adding a splash of milk to the batter to help thin it out. Thank you for the feedback.
Ahh I see! I will try to tweak it and see if that helps at all. Thank you for responding!
You’re so welcome!
I LOVE this recipe and have made it on repeat multiple times! I like to top my pancakes with peanut butter for some more protein and berries for some sweetness. I have twins now and would love to make this recipe even easier. Any idea how to convert it to a sheet pancake recipe?
Yay, so happy you like it! I haven’t tried this particular recipe baked in the oven but I do have a Sheet Pan Pancakes recipe you may like. If you end up trying these chocolate protein pancakes on a sheet pan, I would love to hear how it goes!
I tried baking them at 375 in a standard sheet pan for 10 minutes and they turned out pretty good! They’re definitely dense but they are protein pancakes so my husband and I didn’t mind. I think next time I can even bake them for a little less time. I’ll definitely try out your sheet pancake recipe as well!
Yay, that’s great! Thanks for sharing your experience!!
Hi just made these using ATP ISOwhey vanilla protein and added two additional tablespoons of cacao – batter was sooooo liquidy …and then cooked super dense :(. Any ideas why?
So sorry to hear this, I am not familiar with that particular protein powder, but next time you could try adding more oats to thicken up the batter before it is cooked. The additional oats should also improve the texture.
I just tried these for a new high-protein breakfast. They are delicious and leave a great number of leftovers if you are cooking for 1.
I am going to heat them up for an easy breakfast tomorrow, they would also be great as a quick snack throughout the day. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed them, Meagan!
Just made them as snacks to pack for work. They were absolutely delicious. They cooked perfectly!
I am so glad you liked them!
Those were the best protein pancakes I have ever had. I can’t believe how moist delicious and very chocolatey they were. You are magic <3
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you!!
So yummy! I even substituted a couple ingredients and it worked great. I used vanilla protein powder and added an additional 2 tbsp of cocoa powder and I used almond flour instead of oat flour. So good 😋
Yay! That’s great to hear.
So glad to see this comment! My exact questions answered! I’m hitting “Post” and going to my kitchen to try this yummy-sounding recipe! Thanks!
Healthy, delicious and easy to make!
Exactly what I was going for! Thank you!!
Just tried this today, didn’t change a thing, and it came out amazing! Served it with some strawberries and blueberries and syrup.
That’s amazing! Yum!!
how many eggs do you need?
4 large eggs
Simple ingredients. Easy to prepare. Delicious pan cakes.
These are amazing !!! So easy to make and delicious. One question I have, would the batter be okay to store in the fridge or is it best to cook them and then store them?
Thank you! These pancakes are best enjoyed as soon as they are made, but the will keep in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days and you can also freeze them. You can then reheat them in the oven or microwave to serve warm.
ill be honest, i had really low expectations for these but they were amazing!! think of the best banana bread youve had, now multiply that by 5! thats how good these were! also very filling!
I’m so glad that these exceeded your expectations! Yay!!
The recipe was perfect. Loved the simplicity of it. I got so full off of just one pancake haha !
Loved that you found it simple to make! Thank you!!
Hi how many pancakes does this recipe make and is it 217 calories per two pancakes? Many thanks
It yields 8 pancakes and each serving is 2 pancakes for 217 calories total.
These are like having cupcakes for breakfast! But without the guilt!! So delish and not overwhelming with sweetness. We had ours with bananas and strawberries. Perfection!
I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed them!! Thank you for sharing!
Could you use vanilla protein powder? Is there another recipe for it to be vanilla flavored. I have vanilla protein powder
Oh yes, absolutely! And add a little more oats or vanilla protein powder to compensate for the cocoa powder. Enjoy it!
These were great! Followed the recipe except that I used an extra egg (mine were med sized). I used my NutriBullet to blend everything then topped the cooked pancakes with PB and real maple syrup. Made regular pancakes for my family and didn’t want to deprive myself OR ruin my healthy diet run, so made these for me. They were a little heavy (one was plenty) but I really like that they are filling! Froze the extras and now I have a special treat for when I’m craving something like cookies. Thanks for a great recipe!
Yay, so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing your feedback 🙂
I made these for my kids this morning. And boy did they enjoy them! I had a couple myself and must say they were pretty tasty. Thank you!!
Yay, so glad to hear it! Thank you!
how many pancakes are 150 calories?
That was for 1.5 pancakes. I updates the nutrition to make it for 2 pancakes, so it’s about 100 calories and 7.5g protein for each pancake.
Hey, how many pancakes do you class as a serving? According to my fitness pal app the 4 eggs alone are 260 calories 🙂
Thank you
I’m assuming it makes 8 pancakes and each serving is 2 pancakes. Hope that works!
Thanks. Is it special oats you use? I made this with just two eggs and they were delicious but the calorie count was around 560. How did you calculate your calorie count ?
My calorie count is for 8 total pancakes divided by 4, so the total for the whole batch is about 850 calories. Let me know if you want me to share the details 🙂
Can you use Cacao powder instead of Cocoa?
Yes, that works!
How many pancakes does it make?
Yields 6-8 pancakes 🙂
Loved the recipe!! It was really easy to make and just perfect for brunch/work from home! Hahaha
I also reheated them for dinner and they tasted just as good! 🙂
So glad to hear it. Thanks so much for sharing!
What brand of protein powder do you recommend?
I like using Orgain and Vega
Healthy and yummy. Took your tips and got best pancakes ever and guess what? All equal in shape and thickness. Love your blog
Can you suggest an alternative to using bananas? I don’t like bananas!
Instead of bananas, you can use applesauce.