Christmas is less than a week away! Are you ready? I’ve got the star of your Christmas breakfast menu ready to go: Gingerbread Protein Pancakes! I’m really digging gingerbread this year and these fluffy protein pancakes are totally my jam. They have all the classic gingerbread flavors but in a better-for-you breakfast format. And who doesn’t love pancakes?!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to recreate these Gingerbread Protein Pancakes:
- Oat flour – I’ve made these pancakes both with store-bought oat flour and home blended oat flour, and I have to say that the store-bought stuff makes fluffier pancakes because they can get it so much finer. I wouldn’t recommend directly subbing this out for regular flour since the ratios of other ingredients may not work out.
- Protein powder – I like a whey/casein blend protein powder here for the best texture, but whey protein will work in a pinch. The texture will be more chewy though.
- Milk – I used almond milk, but any neutral tasting milk will work.
- Greek yogurt – Keeps these pancakes moist and tender. In a pinch, blended cottage cheese would work as a substitute. I don’t recommend using applesauce or similar since it will make the batter too runny.
- Egg whites – Whipping them up really helps get some body into these pancakes, plus they help hold everything together. Don’t skip!
- Molasses – Key to nailing the gingerbread flavor. Be sure to use regular molasses, not blackstrap. Blackstrap is much more bitter and won’t taste good here.
- Brown sugar – Brings sweetness to the pancakes, but also helps keep them tender. You could use maple syrup in a pinch, but I prefer the flavor and texture of brown sugar here. Light or dark works great.
- Spices – If you’re a spicy gingerbread fan, be generous with the spices here! You could bump up the ginger to a full teaspoon, the all spice to 1/2 tsp, and the cinnamon to a heaping teaspoon.
- Baking powder and baking soda – I used both here to get the pancakes to rise well (baking powder) and to help them brown nicely (baking soda).
Shop for This Recipe
I recently bought the Cuisinart griddle pictured here because it’s an America’s Test Kitchen winner. Here’s some of what they had to say about it:
“This griddle heated quickly and evenly, consistently searing burgers and speedily cooking dish after dish with ease. Its 1-inch-tall sides kept grease safely contained, and its large cooking surface easily fit eight pancakes at a time.”
Gingerbread Protein Pancakes
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 2/3 cup oat flour, (54 grams)
- 2 scoops PEScience Select Whey and Casein Blend Protein Powder, Snickerdoodle, (64 grams)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp all spice
Wet Ingredients
- 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, (2.66 fl oz)
- 6 tbsp Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Greek Yogurt, (3 oz)
- 2 egg whites
- 2 tbsp brown sugar, (27 grams)
- 1 1/2 tbsp unsulphered molasses (NOT blackstrap!), (0.75 fl oz)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk all wet ingredients except eggs until smooth. Vigorously whisk in eggs to incorporate some air into them, then fold into the other wet ingreidients.
- In a larger bowl, mix all dry pancake ingredients, then add wet ingredients and gently mix until just combined. Heat a pan or griddle over medium-high heat (6 or 7 out of 10) and spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Pour pancake batter onto griddle to form 3 to 4-inch round pancakes. Once top of pancakes begin to bubble and pop, flip and cook other side until cooked through.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information
More Holiday Breakfast Ideas
Here are some of the original photos of this recipe!
