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These pumpkin protein pancakes need just 4 ingredients and come out soft, thick, and SO fluffy. Over 12 grams of protein per serving.
In need of more protein-packed breakfast recipes? Try my protein oatmeal, coffee protein shake, and protein waffles next.
If you’ve made my healthy pumpkin pancakes and protein pancakes before, you’ll love this hybrid of the two: protein pumpkin pancakes!
The texture of the pancakes is light, thick, and fluffy, and the pumpkin puree adds tons of moisture. They’re lightly sweetened and perfect any time of the year.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Just 4 ingredients. Simple pantry staple ingredients that are blended to make the batter.
- Diet friendly. Without even trying, these pancakes are egg-free, dairy-free, AND gluten-free.
- Lowkey healthy. Like my banana protein pancakes, these pancakes sneak in plenty of protein, fiber, and antioxidants.
- The perfect texture. Thick, fluffy, and pillowy, like all good pancakes should be.
Ingredients needed
- Pumpkin puree. Make sure to use unsweetened canned pumpkin and NOT pumpkin pie filling, which has tons of sugar and spices already added. I like to make my homemade pumpkin puree when I can.
- Rolled oats. AKA old fashioned oats. These will be blended to a flour-like consistency. If you have oat flour on hand, you’re one step ahead!
- Protein powder. I used vanilla protein powder, but opt for any protein powder with a flavor you enjoy.
- Milk. I used unsweetened almond milk. For more protein, use a high-protein milk like Fairlife.
- Maple syrup. Optional, but add this in for sweeter pancakes.
Find the printable recipe with measurements below.
How to make pumpkin protein pancakes
Step 1- Blend all the ingredients until a smooth batter remains. If the batter is too thin, add more oats. If it is too thick, add more milk.
Step 2- Rest. Transfer the pancake batter to a bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
Step 3- Cook. Spray oil in a non-stick griddle over medium heat. Once hot, drop spoonfuls of the pancake batter in the pan and cover immediately. Cook for 2-3 minutes before flipping and cooking for 1-2 more minutes. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Always cover the pan as the pancakes are cooking. My #1 hack for making pancakes. Covering the pancakes while they cook will trap the heat and yield super thick and fluffy pancakes.
- Store the cooked pancakes on a baking sheet in the oven at its lowest setting while you cook the rest.
- Know when to flip. When you notice bubbles forming on the top and the edges lifting from the skillet, it’s time to flip!
Variations
- Add warm spices. While optional, I like to add a little pumpkin pie spice. If you don’t have pumpkin spice, make your own with a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and ground ginger.
- Play around with mix-ins. Fold through some berries, chocolate chips, pecans, or almond butter.
- Don’t forget the toppings! I’m boring and keep my pancakes simple with maple syrup and butter, but you can add a dollop of Greek yogurt or a drizzle of caramel sauce for more flavor.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, covered, for up to one week.
To freeze: Place the cooked and cooled pancakes in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Reheating: Microwave pancakes for 20-30 seconds.
More pancake recipes to try
- Zucchini pancakes
- Healthy oatmeal pancakes
- 2 ingredient banana pancakes
- Eggless pancakes
- Or any of my pancake and waffle recipes
4-Ingredient Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup protein powder
- 1 1/2 cups milk I used skim milk
Instructions
- In a high speed blender, add the rolled oats, protein powder, pumpkin puree, and milk, and blend until a smooth batter remains. If the batter is too thin, add more oats. If it is too thick, add more milk.
- Transfer the pancake batter into a bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes, to thicken.
- Spray oil in a non-stick pan and place over medium heat. Once hot, drop spoonfuls of the pancake batter in the pan and cover immediately. Cook for 2-3 minutes, before flipping and cooking for a further minute or two.
- Remove the pancakes off the pan. Repeat the process until all the batter is used up.
BEST pancakes ever.
Love these pancakes! I substituted oat flour for the coconut flour, used Golden monk fruit (adds to the Fall flavors), and made 3 servings (meal planning y’know?). Thanks for such a yummy recipe!
Hey!!! So I know this post is old, but I just tried your pancakes! The taste was delicious, I omitted only the protein powder bc I didn’t have it, but the pancakes themselves didn’t stick together and had no bread like consistency to them. Do you have any suggestions bc the taste was AWESOME! Thanks!
Hi there! Perhaps you could add some baking powder and extra flour, but I haven’t tried it without protein powder! You could make my flourless pumpkin pancakes which are egg-free and made from rolled oats! 🙂
Would maple syrup or honey work in place of granulated sweetener?
You can try- I’d keep an eye on them while frying 🙂
Do you have to whisk the egg whites to peaks??? Ours ended up not very fluffy and a bit sticky, any suggestions?? SOOOOO YUMMMMM though!!
Hi Georgia! You don’t really need to, it sounds like the protein powder is the culprit here- Some fluff so much better than others 🙂
Hi Arman! I was going to make these for breakfast, but now its afternoon. Can I make the batter and spoon it into muffin tins to bake? Do you have muffin recipes? I love your site!
Hi Jen! I haven’t tried it that way, but please let me know how it works! I do have muffin recipes, enjoy! 🙂
I really wanted to love these but they completely fell apart. I doubled the recipe and couldn’t get one to turn out, but I may eat the piles of crumbs. 🙂
Hi Lynne! I’m so sorry to hear that- Did you alter the recipe at all?
Thanks for asking – I left out the protein powder, but no other changes other than doubling the recipe. I ended up adding quite a bit of coconut milk trying to get it to a batter consistency, but it remained pretty thick, I’m guessing due to the coconut flour. I’ve made coconut flour pancakes before, and they turned out great, but these would not flip. At all.
I have made these multiple times and they are by far the best protein pancakes – the consistency taste and texture are bang on! My go to and something I actually crave. Thanks 🙂
Oh fantastic- This means so much, Avtar- Have a fantastic day!
Can I use Ener-G egg replacer instead of the egg whties or flax eggs?
Hi Sarah! I’ve not had too much success with Ener-G egg replacers, unfortunately. I prefer using flax or chia eggs.
Great recipe Arman. Can’t wait to try them. I have this protein powder.
https://www.jarrow.com/product/264/Brown_Rice_Protein_Vanilla
Would that work in the recipe?
Thanks much,
Megha
Hi Megha! I haven’t tried that protein brand before, sorry!
These look great! I have made sooo many of your recipes. I know you call for protein powder for many of your recipes. If it’s optional I usually skip it because I don’t have it. My son and I are gluten-free and dairy-free. So what kind of vanilla protein powder do you use or recommend?
Hi Sarah- Check out my shop page which has recommendations of ones I use- The growing naturals brand is dairy free and gluten free.
These are great! I know this is an old post but I just tried the recipe and I was pleasantly surprised! I used teff flour instead of coconut flour and one whole egg instead of two egg whites. They came out SO tasty! The outside was light and crispy and the inside was fluffy and soft. I’ll definitely be making them again soon.
oh thanks so much for the feedback! 😀 I’ve never tried Teff flour before but you’ve got me intrigued! 🙂
Maybe I missed it, but any chance you have a nutritional break down? Wondering how many carbs, protein and fat is particular. Have been questing the perfect low-carb pancake, and adding pumpkin is just a wonderful bonus!!! Thanks!
Hi Jan! I don’t have the nutritional information on here but if you plug in the details into a calorie calculator, it’ll provide that breakdown for you! Cheers 🙂
I am eating these right now–thank you so much for the delicious recipe! The only change I made was to use apple cider for half the liquid. I used 1/2 tsp of Trader Joe’s stevia extract, the kind in the tall canister, as my sweetener, and Trader Joe’s unflavored soy protein powder.
I was a little pressed for time the last time I made these, but I wasn’t willing to skip my pancake day! =) I don’t have a pancake griddle and I didn’t want to use 4 frying pans in an effort to speed up the pancake making process. So, I spread the batter into a baking pan and tossed it in the oven while I got myself ready for the day. I had doubled the recipe (cooking for two) and used a 13 x 9 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. It took around 15-20 minutes at 350 and I cut the giant pancake into 4 smaller ones. It actually turned out really well! So, just letting everyone know that this is an option, as long as you don’t mind eating rectangular pancakes! =P
Is there an easy way to print your recipe? They look amazing and I must try.
Hey Sherrie! 🙂 That’s so kind of you! The recipe plugin should have a print feature? Is it not working for you?
Too much vanilla flavor! If you use vanilla protein powder, omit the vanilla extract (and vice versa)
Thanks for the feedback, Steph!
Really sad. Followed recipe exactly and the pancakes just fell apart. It was more like mush, but had a great flavor.
Hi Stacy- I’m sorry to hear that- Would you mind telling me which protein powder you used? I know that some brands of whey actually make liquids/baked goods fall apart (straight whey or pure whey isolate).
I had the same thing happen. I skipped the protein powder and added more flour. They were mushy and crumbly. I added another egg, but that didn’t help. First recipe of yours that I tried that didn’t turn out though. The rest have been great!
I’m so sorry to hear that Tiffany- the protein powder is really key here and the cooking method- It is more time consuming but low heat and covered elicits the fluffy pancakes! 🙂
Hi. Is 2T of coconut flour 2 Tablespoons? That just seems like too little to me, so I wanted to check first. Thanks!
Hi Hill! It is 2 tablespoons of coconut flour if you use the protein powder (Vegan or casein) as it absorbs liquid- If you use oat or another flour, you’d need to be VERY careful with the liquid you add in 🙂
Yum! Wow Arman, those pancakes look seriously fluffy! Even though I am gearing up for Spring-Summer everything, I could definitely go for a big stack of these pumpkin gingerbread pancakes!
Cheers, Alex. They were actually pillows…
There’s plenty of cookie recipes on my blog…just sayin. 😉
And yes I always sign up for too many and then get the notifications I have articles due lol. Clearly I’m so on top of my life.
Cookies are so good.
I made these for breakfast this morning. ABSOLUTELY amazing! I used stevia glycerite for the sweetener and Cinnamon Swirl Cellucor protein powder. These will be going in my regular rotation. Thank you!
Wow, Julie- Thanks so much for letting me know! How is that flavour? I’ve tried peanut butter marshmallow but wasn’t a fan!
It’s like Cinnabon in a bucket, one of the better flavored protein powders I have tried (and I have tried A LOT). I am going to try them with Isopure Creamy Vanilla tomorrow, post workout. And somehow, I have to fit your Gingerbread Latte into my macros! Can’t wait 🙂
Well. You have just added a new purchase for me!
I never even think about how totally different the weather is in your part of the world! I’m guessing most of your readers are in America? Thus the fall/winter-like recipes?
Anywho these looked so tasty when you pinned them to the pumpkin pinterest board so I’m including them in my next Lifehack round-up! Woot!
Yep, majority are so need to cater to them, also the email requests I get!
Cool, speaking of which, I need to get myself into gear with those articles…two cookie round ups. Stupid to get myself into those haha.
These sound right up my street and I’ve got a load of pumpkin puree in the fridge after Halloween 🙂
I hope you try them out 🙂
These look tasty, I never though you could use pumpkin in pancakes
Thank you! Hope you try it out- they add the perfect texture!
I have never had a protein pancake that cooked through, no matter how long I cooked it. Maybe the addition of coconut flour will help! I don’t use whey protein, which is often a problem, but I so want this to work!
Hey there! You don’t even need to add protein powder! I’ll be posting a recipe tomorrow for high protein pancakes without using whey protein- they turn out sooo fluffy and fully cooked through! 🙂
Oh, my, you’ve combined two of my favorites—pumpkin AND gingerbread! Beautiful pancakes, Arman. Thanks for sharing them on Gluten-Free Wednesdays. Our readers are loving your recipes!
Shirley
Thank you Shirley for hosting- you continue to motivate me to contribute different recipes 🙂
Yum I love pancakes and the gingerbread spices are speaking to me. These might be on the tomorrow morning pancake menu! Thanks for sharing!
Hope you enjoy it!
I love pumpkin pancakes – one of my favorite breakfasts! These look delicious!
Thank you, Kelly! I’m on a slight pancake kick right now…oops.
I want the cranberry oatmeal cookies!!!! These pancakes look SO bomb. Your pics…I die.
Stahhhp it. You’re pics make me want to consume chickpeas. That, my friend, is talent.
You make the pancakes, I’ll bring my own maple syrup.
How rude. Do you think I don’t have any?
(I actually don’t so please do. Also cereal).
I actually I think I felt my eye sockets grow half an inch when I saw the amazing foodie-photgraphy of those pancakes. Geebus. Those look incredible and I am adding ginger to my pumpkin cakes going forward. Side note, a can of pump is $1.99 on average, but sista’ is cheap and goes to the $1 stores for pumpkin. I am not opposed to “lower end” groccery shopping. Especially when their candy isle is on point! Lovely recipe my friend, thank you for sharing.
YES- Omg.
Sista shouldn’t come to Australia then. $7.99 a CAN.
I’ve never been a big fan of protein pancakes, but these actually look seriously good (ie. fluffy and not flat)! I’ve always loved gingerbread, even as a kid too. It might have something to do with our family tradition of making a gingerbread house every Christmas with $80 worth of candy on it (I’m not joking lol).
Dude, those are some legit pumpkin pancakes. Love that you used protein pow too, they’re like the perfect post-workout breakkie
Cheers mate- I ate them after working out- and by working out I mean cleaning my apartment. It’s pretty much like chest and shoulder day…
allow pancakes to cool? I can’t wait for that. Especially with these . Just pour the maple syrup in my mouth and let’s do this
Hahaha. I like your thinking!
Um I don’t see my Persian Cauliflower Soup as an option. For shame.
I love how fluffy these are and I think you meant to say when you live in America.
Google Osh Reshte- It’s a Persian soup my mum used to make (completely vegetarian)- I have always despised it. You would love it!
Oh heck to the yes! Candy buttons gross me out— give me all the gingerbread. Can you be in the NY area of the northern hemisphere sometime soon? Please? Thanks.
YES. Green card me.
Oh, yes! Definitely making these. Ginger and pumpkin belong together.
The 16 oz package of organic strawberries I purchased at trader Joe’s this weekend was $3.79. Kind of pricey and they aren’y very ripe. I may be switching to frozen for the next few months. Pumpkin is too darn expensive, in my opinion. At Trader Joe’s it is $1.99 a can but it varies within a dollar at other stores.
I am all in for any Persian recipes. Actually, all four of the recipes sound good. (I liked you on Facebook when I established my account.)
Thanks so much for liking my page- it means alot Sarah! and yes…they will all come out soon 😉
What a fabulous recipe! Need to try it soon!
Thanks buddy! 🙂
YUM!! I need these in my life. Pumpkin is on sale right now here too!!!
Don’t make me jealous…..
Yes yes yes – fluffy or nothing!! These look like the perfect consistency. And I love gingerbread. Reminds me so much of my childhood.
Lol. Questbar which change their shapes – totally is a summer symptom 🙂
It totally is- they shape according to season!
Can we just talk about how mouthwatering these look for a second? YOUR PHOTOS. The fluffiness is just way too much for me right now. I haven’t had breakfast yet and my plan for a bowl of oatmeal pales in comparison to that stack of pancakes. GIMME.
Thanks buddy! Ironically, I’m craving oatmeal now. Funny how that works.
YUM. The picture completely sold me … I eat pumpkin year-round, but may just have to make these soon to celebrate Fall!
Thanks Megan! Hope you try them out!
Come make pancakes for me. I like them, but I legit can’t be bothered to make them in the morning — too much manual labour 😉 I’m a smoothie, cereal, or oatmeal kind of girl. Pancakes for dinner, though… that I can do.
YES. Of course. But I want some dates, AB and sugar in return.
I loved gingerbread then and now! I am a sucker for a nice big piece with some whipped cream on top. I love the addition of pumpkin you added, it sounds like a new refreshing way to experience gingerbread! And I just so happen to have half a can in the fridge right now and was brainstorming something to do with it.
Thanks Hilary- hope you try them out!
Mmm these look so good and hearty. These look like a good idea for next Sunday morning! Strawberries aren’t in season here anymore, so they’re pretty pricey. During spring/summer they get down to $2 a carton, though.
We should do a life swap. I want to see those people walking in a line lol!
I’m jealous of your season change! It is fricking freezing here and I’m not dressed appropriately – I’m obviously still holding on to the idea of summer. Berries and mangoes have increased in price but the good thing is I can finally buy spaghetti squash again!
You jinxed me. It is like a winter abyss right now. It’s all over the news!
ohhh we’re on the same flavor wavelength. i just wrote down a pumpkin gingerbread recipe last night to test out today!
It’s a crazy good combination- excited to see your outcome!
You should definitely live in America. I mean, it’s logic! I already commented on your Insta, but these pancakes legit look like pillows and I want to sleep on them and then wake up and eat them. …..weird.
I do too. Need a food taste tester?
These look so thick. I could snuggle up with these in bed in the morning. Anything pumpkin and ginger is a must pin recipe!
These are actually my pillows 😉
As you probably know, since you followed my blog for a while…I used to love pancakes! Pumpkin pancakes being one of my top favorites! Thanks for sharing this! They look great.
Thanks Hollie- these are pretty epic!
Oooh another recipe I will definitely be making!
Strawberries here are rare now and shipped from Spain etc. About £3 for 15 strawbs approx. But they don’t taste good. Blackberries and raspberries are in season in Britain though and are priced reasonably so tucking into those right now!
We are the same with tinned pumpkin, the USA only store or the U.S. aisle in larger supermarkets and its £2 for the small tin. Hopefully it will get more popular and therefore will come down in price!
Wow, I’m jealous- you don’t even want to know how much blackberries and raspberries are here!
Absolutely, positively happening this weekend!!!!!
YES!!!!! 😀
Love that these call for coconut flour…definitely bookmarking to try! Hopefully fresh pumpkin works in place of the canned stuff- unfortunately I am yet to see the latter anywhere in Mumbai!!
YES- I recall you just got your first stash!
OMG im hoping these can still fluff for me without the egg whites! aka sucky egg replacer which kind of but not really helps in recreating masterpieces =l
Pumpkin is one of the foods i don’t check the price because whether or not it’s above my budget it’s going in the cart. Sorry I’m not sorry. Classic betch. Pumpkin everything. Except I do this shiz all year so hop off my bandwagon seasonal groupies.
BUT OMG spiced apple muffins and spicy chili PLEASE. i have a sweet tooth and a spicy tooth and nothing else. i have two teeth and yes i’m attractive AF.
Oh dang! I hope so- Ironically, it’s the egg whites which I find make them fluffy! Haha you totally do. You should never ever ever tan.
Oh I love gingerbread and definitely more than candy dots! We used to buy boxes of the ginger snap cookies at home and I would dip them into mint tea or hot chocolate as a kid.
Anything gingerbread is welcome…hint, hint (:
Apple spice muffins get my vote. Apples are my favorite fruit so fall is just amazing….kabocha, apples and broccoli/cauliflower hoarding continues…
I love ginger snap cookies! I think I need to recreate them somehow!
YES- Expect the recipe shortly- in bar form 😉
Haha, what is this? A mashup of Christmas recipes with fall? 🙂
Not really! 🙂
Ung I love how dense they look. Yes I love a dense pancake! Sadly, I’m waiting on an amazon delivery of a Libby’s 4-pack (it’s so hard to find pumpkin here and when you do it’s like £3-4 a can) so this one has to wait 🙁
I loved gingerbread, but always felt self conscious eating it (I didn’t want people to be like ‘HAH that ginger girl who eats gingerbread!’)
I try not to let it put me off now…
Omg, Australia sucks- Amazon is fine as long as you DON’T order edible products- fail whale.
Please eat gingerbread…you already adore carrots 😉
Yup yup, ohhhh yes.
Give me all the pancakes. Correction, give me all the PUMPKIN pancakes.
and true story, I actually had no idea I even liked gingerbread until last year. I feel like I wasted 25 years of gingerbread binges. Here’s to making up for it now!
That needs to be rectified STAT!
I used to LOVE eating ginger snaps at my grandma’s house so now I always think of that when I have gingerbread things! Those pancakes look awesome 🙂 Happy Monday!
Thanks Liz! 🙂 I love gingersnap biscuits!
I wouldn’t know what the price of strawberries are these days because they entered the too high in price for me towards the end of August so I stopped buying completely. Probably $4.99 a container on a good day right now…I always loved Pepperidge Farm Gingerman cookies as a kid. Still do.
Haha, I thought pepperidge farm was an actual farm, until a reader told me it was a cookie brand!
No better way to start out your monday morning than being called a stunner lol thanks for that. I love when pancakes look/taste hearty. These look really really good, and if they’re still fluffy after using pumpkin and coconut flour that’s really impressive. Gingerbread is never a flavor I think to use but I bet it’s so good with this!
Hahaha, I just dish out the compliments..and pancakes! Yes- the key is ironically the egg whites- they tend to really fluff up with coconut flour.
Allllll the gingerbread! 😉 Looks fab
Thanks Tiff-any. I totally just liked your facebook page because I couldn’t WEIGHT. Ha. Ha. HAA.
Looks Scrumptious! Any leftovers for me?
…yes. Give me 10 minutes 😉
I’m so with you on the fluffy pancakes thing! I tried a recipe for almond flour pancakes a while ago and it was so bizarre because it was just…all kinds of dense. Michael and I made pancakes this weekend and they had absolutely no nutritional value in them whatsoever, but they might have been the most delicious recipe I’ve ever tried. Fo realz!
Those pancakes are the best pancakes 😉
Gingerbread and pumpkin are two of my favorite flavors to mix! Peanut butter and ginger also go verrrrry well together, just saying!
YES- stay tuned buddy 😉
Mmmmm gingerbread!
Slow Cooked Persian Chicken please. 🙂
Strawberry season just finished in Scotland mate, I could get about 500g worth for £2.50.
I eat lots of Strawberries and make them into my Strawberry Whisky Cheesecake too! 😀
Of course- It’s similar to the saffron chicken dish but slightly spicy! wow, that’s a pretty decent price- although today there was 3 punnets (250 gram each) for $5!
I love gingerbread. I used to eat the Jamaican gingerbread by the bucket load as a kid. I should so try and make that. These look awesome and so do your photos mate! Did you see that storm!?
YES! It was/is crazy!
These look so good! I’m heading back to NY in a little under a month and these are definitely on my home to-make list.
I also demand your mom’s Slow Cooked Persian Chicken recipe immediately- slow cooker recipes are my latest obsession and I trust Mom recipes implicitly!
YES- You bet that recipe is to come! Good to see you back on here! 🙂
I’d love to see the spiced apple muffins recipe!
I like gingerbread a lot ! We have pretty good gingerbread in Germany, even different kinds. And I’m sure you also know Spekulatius cookies, they tate like gingerbread and have an awesome texture! Especially when dipped into tea 😀
Strawberries are about 3 euros a package (250g on average) when in season. That’s pretty decent!food is so cheap over here but nobody realised it!!
You, my friend, are in for a treat- although I made them into bars 🙂 I think Germany have the BEST gingerbread I have ever eaten!