Having a little nostalgia moment here as I rework and reshare this incredible pancake recipe from 2017. Yes, FIVE whole years ago! Before Tony and I even got married let alone had 3 amazing little boys. For perspective, here’s a little snapshot from 5 years back:
“Listening to the new Drake album gives me pure inspiration to get my booty out of bed in the morning, throw around twenty pound dumbbells at the gym (not literally throw) and make some legit protein pancakes topped with all da berries and nut butter. Yesterday Abra and I went through and did a major brainstorming session for May. We’ve got our content calendar all mapped out including recipes and videos. The most trouble I have when it comes to blogging is deciding on which recipes to share because if I had it my way (and enough time), I’d share a recipe every single day because well, I love food, obviously.”
It’s safe to say the days here at AK (and my workout routine) look quite a bit different, but the recipe testing and planning is very much the same. That’s why we’re bringing back this fluffy stack of cottage cheese pancakes that are flourless, naturally sweetened with banana, packed with 20g of protein, and perfect for piling high with your fav toppings.
Cottage cheese pancakes: your new favorite breakfast
Besides being incredibly fluffy and delicious, you’re going to fall in LOVE with this healthy cottage cheese pancakes recipe because it’s:
- Easy to make right — the pancake batter is made in your blender!
- Packed with 20g of protein per serving (thank you, cottage cheese!)
- Naturally gluten free and flourless
- Great for both kiddos and adults!
Ingredients in these fluffy cottage cheese pancakes
These cottage cheese protein pancakes are made with 7 super simple ingredients (including baking powder) and seriously taste like your fav banana bread. Here’s what you’ll need to make them:
- Rolled oats: these pancakes are nice and hearty thanks to old fashioned rolled oats. No flour needed! Be sure to use gluten free rolled oats if you want to keep the pancakes gluten free.
- Banana: you’ll need just half of a banana to naturally sweeten the pancakes.
- Egg: this recipe calls for 1 egg to give the pancakes the right texture.
- Cottage cheese: the key to fluffy, protein-packed pancakes!
- Baking staples: you’ll also need baking powder, vanilla extract and a little cinnamon.
What do cottage cheese pancakes taste like?
Whether you’re a big cottage cheese fan like our whole team or it’s not your thing, you won’t even be able to taste it in these protein pancakes. The banana gives these cottage cheese pancakes a lovely banana bread flavor, and you can feel free to add fun mix-ins in toppings (ideas below!)
Make them ahead & keep the pancakes warm
Feel free to make these cottage cheese pancakes ahead of time (or store leftovers) and keep them warm in the oven! Simply place your oven at 200 degrees F, add your pancakes to a baking sheet or oven-safe plate, and place them in the oven until you’re ready to serve.
Have fun with mix-ins & toppings
The best part about pancakes? All of the delicious mix-ins and toppings you can add! Here’s what we like to add to our cottage cheese pancakes:
- Fresh berries
- A dollop of yogurt
- Nut butter
- Chocolate chips
- Chopped nuts
- A drizzle of maple syrup
Freeze them for later
If you want to make these healthy cottage cheese pancakes ahead of time and serve them at a later date, you can place the pancakes on a baking sheet so they aren’t touching and place in the freezer for 30 minutes (this is called a flash freeze), then place them in freezer safe bags or an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, simply add pancakes to a plate and microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warm.
More pancake recipes you’ll love
- Fluffy Yogurt Pancakes (high protein, gluten free)
- Healthy Apple Pancakes (made right in the blender!)
- Outrageously Fluffy Vegan Pancakes
- Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes with Wild Blueberry Maple Syrup
- Healthy Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes
Get all of our pancake recipes here!
I hope you love these amazing cottage cheese banana oatmeal pancakes! If you make them be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked them. Enjoy, xo!
Cottage Cheese Banana Oatmeal Protein Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, gluten free if desired
- 1/2 medium banana
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup low fat cottage cheese
- Optional add-ins/toppings: Fresh berries, chocolate chips, peanut butter
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle nonstick cooking spray and heat over medium low heat. Drop batter by 1/4 cup onto skillet. Add desired toppings such as chocolate chips or blueberries.
- Cook until bubbles appear on top. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside.
- Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more cooking spray and remaining batter. Makes 3-4 pancakes
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by Monique Volz | Ambitious Kitchen, Photography by: Sarah Fennel
This post was originally published on April 25th, 2017, and republished on October 27th, 2022.
151 comments
Blender batters are the BEST!! These look so fluffy and I love the cottage cheese addition.
YUM! Do you think they’d freeze okay?
I have frozen mine before and they turn out fine!
Yum! These look amazing! I love pancakes that make you feel as good as they taste! 🙂
love all the protein in cottage cheese, but don’t love the texture. blending it into submission sounds like a good idea to get the protein without the texture! (:
My favorite protein pancake recipe EVER. I make them almost every week! Love the new pictures and video!! 🙂
WOW! I never saw any meal looking as good as this one! It has to be so yummy! I can’t wait for weekend so I can try making it. I’m not much of a chef, but hopefully my wife is gonna help me with this because I definitely need to try it!
OMG I’m LOVING that ingredient list! Must. Try.
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
– MAK
…Especially because protein pancakes need not contain protein powder. Love it!!
My toddler and I love the flavor of these (my husband thinks they are too healthy tasting), but I have made these multiple times and my pancakes are never fluffy like the ones shown. I always get flat discs, despite following the recipe exactly.
Also, I am not sure how this recipe makes 4 servings as I make a double batch which gives me 8 pancakes (4 corners of a square griddle, twice).
The recipe should not make 4 servings it is supposed to be 2! Not sure what happened there. This is updated! So sorry that you only get flat discs. I’m wondering if your banana is too large or your cottage cheese too watery?
Can’t wait to try these soon!
Would these work in a food processor? The only blender I have is a rinky dink magic bullet from ages ago!
I think that it would be best to use a blender because a food processor won’t process the oats as well.
It may not be ideal but I made these this morning (very good!) with a food processor and they turned out great. That being said, if you use the largest magic bullet cup, it would probably be big enough for one serving.
I also made these using my food processor and they turned out amazing. 👍🏼
I’d double the recipe so there are a few leftover!
Can I use plain Greek yogurt in place of cottage cheese?
I think that would work well!
I just did. They were fantastic!
I could REALLY go for a stack of these right now!
Taking this on vacay to Maine coast this summer!! Yum!!
I make these every Sunday for myself and my fiancé!! Great new photos!
Delish!! Added a little almond milk to thin but the recipe was great!
I tried these this weekend and we loved them! Definitely a keeper. My husband was shocked at how much like real pancakes they were! Thanks!
I don’t have many recipes memorized, but I’ve had the original recipe for these pancakes memorized for a few years now because I make them so often. LOVE them. I’ll have to try this new updated version ASAP!
xoxoxo
Came across this recipe this morning and just made these pancakes! They’re a new favorite!!! I added blueberries, smeared almond butter on top and drizzled them with maple syrup. So, soooo good.
FANTASTIC!
Hey, just wondering if two eggs would be necessary if i doubled the recipe… or if maybe one real egg and one flax egg would do the trick? I’m just concerned that it would taste too eggy… k, thanks.
I just doubled the recipe using two eggs and the pancakes were delicious.
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MY son is allergic to eggs, what can I substitute with ?
Only substitution I made was that I used nonfat plain Greek yogurt in place of the cottage cheese. I also added a tablespoon of peanut butter. These are fantastic!
I’d prefer not to eat bananas, how can I adjust the recipe so it all works out well?
Hi Caroline! You could use pumpkin or sweet potato, but they won’t be as sweet. You could also try out one of my banana-free pancake recipes here!
Any alternative to baking soda?
This recipe actually uses baking powder! If you’re out of that, you could try 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.
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These were just ok. Definitely tasted “healthy.” My 3 and 1 year old boys did eat them, though. My husband said they were edible as long as he covered them in syrup and butter. Good for health, not so for taste buds.
Hi Kadi! Thank you for the feedback – to help sweeten them up a bit I would make sure the banana you use is super ripe, and then use any add-ins that you like best!
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Hi Monique! I’ve made these before and they turned out GREAT! Just wondering if they would freeze well?
I’m so glad! And these should freeze just fine – put a piece of wax paper between them if you stack them up!
These are my post workout favorites! And I feel really good about giving them to my extremely picky toddler. What more could a mother want than her child eating cottage cheese, an egg, banana and oats for breakfast! Sneaky deliciousness!
Mine too! Happy to hear they’re kiddo-approved too 🙂 Sneaky delicious indeed!
These were delicious! Thank you for sharing your recipe! I would like to share this on my website. Would that be possible. Of course, I will link here and give you the full credit. So yummy!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these! Feel free to share a photo and link back to the full recipe in this post (rather than posting the full recipe on your site). Thanks so much!
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Delicious! I used super ripe banana and they were perfect without having to add syrup. Going to try the spinach and goat cheese quiche next!
Amazing! Such great breakfast options. Enjoy!
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Very nice but it is actually close to 490 calories and not at all 324 calories as stated. I am now wondering if I can trust any other given nutritional values on your website. I was so excited to try one of your recipes. I don’t think I will try anything else though, very disappointing.
Hi Phia! I just double-checked the nutrition here and got the same as I posted. If you’re calculating nutrition based on an online calculator I would make sure that the nutrition facts for each ingredient are coming from a verified source (rather than people inputting their answers).
I just double checked macros 1 by 1 on my fitness pal. Nearly dead on accurate. I got 2 kcal diff. Nutritional values are accurate.
I made these and I really liked it. I was wondering can I substitute apple sauce or apple butter for the banana?
Glad you liked them! I’m not 100% sure how the texture will come out – if you try either let me know!
I made these this morning for my diabetic mother and myself. Mom doesn’t like cottage cheese, so substituted ricotta. She loved them with a little whipped cream on top. I drizzled a little maple syrup on mine. Delicious, I will make them again. Used my Nutribullet to blend everything. Cooked in the electric skillet at 300 degree setting.
These were so delicious!!! I love your recipes and ideas! Keep ‘em coming 😉
So happy to hear that! Tons more to come 🙂
These came out great! They are perfectly fluffy and taste delicious. AND they are so simple to make!
Best breakfast! Glad you loved these!
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Yum! I used Quark instead of cottage cheese and they were great. My 3 year old wolfed one down with Nutella on top too. Thanks for the recipe
Perfect! Glad you two loved them 🙂
These are so good! Quick and easy to make with wholesome ingredients. And they taste better than traditional pancakes. Thanks Monique!
Love these!! So happy you liked them too 🙂
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Please post more high protein recipes, these look awesome! 🙂
You bet! I have tons 🙂 Check out these snacks, and these dinners!
Help! I’m obsessed with trying all your breakfast recipes cause that’s my favorite meal of the day, these pancakes were gobbled up by my 3 kids with almond butter spread on! Thanks for adding more nutrition to pancakes!
So….Made these again this morning with toasted pecans sprinkled on while they cooked, then maple syrup drizzled on. Better than IHOP for sure!
That sounds amazing!!
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Would it be possible to substitute greek yogurt for the cottage cheese in here??
Yes that should work, or you can try my oatmeal yogurt pancakes: https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/oatmeal-blueberry-yogurt-pancakes-gluten-free-high-protein/
I’ve made these with bananas and once with pumpkin purée in place of the banana. My kids gobbled them up, thanks.
Perfect! Glad the kiddos loved them!
I just made these and finishing the last bite. Since my blender is 50 yr old, had to add a little soy milk and then a small scoop of protein powder. So good and so versatile a recipe. Saved yr site to my tablet screen, to search more recipes. Also shared this with my daughter. Thanks.
Perfect! So glad you enjoyed, and I hope you find some more recipes that you and your daughter love!
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I just made these and finishing the last bite. Since my blender is 50 yr old, had to add a little soy milk and then a small scoop of protein powder. So good and so versatile a recipe. Saved yr site to my tablet screen, to search more recipes. Also shared this with my daughter. Thanks.
Delish!
Gawd, these are phenomenal. The only change I made was adding a whole banana, just cause I love bananas, but that’s it. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had a better tasting pancake in my life. Honestly just perfect.
Love that! Such a great breakfast 🙂
I always make these whenI have left over cottage cheese in the fridge. Very moist pancakes!
Great idea! Love these for breakfast.
I LOVE this recipe and never get tired of it. It’s so filling and tasty. Bravo Monique!
I’m so glad! The perfect breakfast 🙂
Tried for select 5 stars, but won’t let me. This was super filling and not overly sweet! My husband loves pancakes, but he is a traditional pancake guy and he loved this! I doubled the recipe for us & it made 6 pancakes using the 1/4 cup as a measure. Will repeat again!
Perfect! So happy to hear that 🙂
love all your recipes……
they are awesome….. I made some of your cookies & OMG….so good🙌
So happy to hear that!
Loved your protein pancakes but am confused as to whether the nutrition is per serving or for the total.
Thanks, Gayle
Hi Gayle! It’s per serving 🙂
These are the best pancakes ever! I like how they’re high in protein without the use of protein powder and they always turn out perfect. My 22 month old daughter loves them… she always asks for more! =)
Absolutely! The perfect breakfast 🙂
Great Such a nice breakfast. But i know like to eat pan cake, 1 egg and 1 tea of cup in morning 😀
Love it! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
Thanks for sharing such wonderful information from your blog,
You’re welcome!
Gosh these are my 18mo olds fav breakfasts and my fav to make him! So so sooo easy and sooo delish! Thank you for the wonderful recipe! 🙂
For those who need to substitute the egg for flax egg – I tried it and it works perfectly! And my egg allergic kid even ate these without syrup. Win win
So happy to hear that worked well, thanks for sharing! Glad you both loved them 🥰
I doubled the batch but for some reason I added 3 tablespoons of Almond milk but they came out so good! Love this recipe!!!
Haha glad they still came out amazing!! Thanks, Joanne 🙂
Delish! They are a hit with my toddler and healthy. I enjoy them too.
Late to the party in these pancakes. I’m always a little disappointed by protein pancakes, but these ones are great texture and taste wise! Defrost some frozen blueberries in the microwave and mix in a little maple syrup to the berry juice and it’s the perfect topping.
So happy you enjoyed these! And that topping sounds AMAZING 😍
Good morning, Monique 🌄. I tried cottage cheese banana oatmeal protein pancakes that I made. I spread peanut butter 🥜on top and added mixed berry 🍓🫐 and chocolate chips. Wow😲! It tested very delicious 😋, fluffy, nutritious, pleasant, and heavenly 😇. I enjoyed it very much 😀. You’re a wonderful chef 😊.
Those toppings sound amazing! I’m SO happy you loved them, Ana. Thanks for your sweet review!
Can you do these in the morning oven?
So good. I added 1/3 scoop of protein powder and splash of almond milk to make it pourable from the blender. This will be a go to post work out breakfast.
5 Stars
Yum! Thank sounds delicious. SO happy you’re loving this recipe!
The kids gave this a thumbs up! Thanks for the idea of sneaking protein in there since that’s a difficult thing for kids sometimes!
Absolutely! Happy you are all loving this recipe ❤️
I love the banana oatmeal pancake recipe but I don’t understand how you can make these without some sort of liquid? Like DF Milk
When you blend all of the ingredients together in the blender, it becomes batter-like and smooth. Perfect consistency for pancakes.
Delicious and healthy! The whole family loved them. Super easy to whip up, the longest part was just cleaning the blender
So glad these were a hit! To help speed up the cleaning process I like to blend warm, soapy water in the blender first – a little tip 🙂
I have made this several times and it is one serving, I use two egg whites, comes in less than 300 calories, I absolutely love it 😊
So glad you are loving this recipe!
These are AMAZING. So easy to make and loved by both the omnivores in the house as well as those with severly-limited diets. We’ve had them for breakfasts, lunches and dinners. I use an ice cream scoop/cookie scoop to form little pancakes. Been sprinkling mini dark chocolate chips on them. We can’t use cinnamon so just doubled the vanilla for a bit more flavor. Batter is thick and much gets lost to the bottom of the Vitamix. My solution: At the end, I add some water, blend it in and pour out the thinned batter onto the griddle. It makes one large crepe-like pancake and none of this deliciousness goes to waste.
Love this! So glad you found and are loving this recipe ❤️🙂
Loveeee the ingredients in this! Super tasty & can make it your own with toppings! Thank you 😊 Brief question- are the nutrition facts reflecting the calories for all 4 pancakes or just the 2? Thank you again!
These were delicious and my kids (ages 7 & 8) LOVED them! Very easy, and I love that these are high in protein thanks to the cottage cheese.
would it be possible to use sour cream instead of cottage cheese?
Yummy!!!… I love this favorite protein pancake recipe EVER!
I tried making this for my kids’ breakfast and even before I was able to snap a photo, they already devoured them! Good thing still have 1left for me to take a pic of and taste test! That’s how good it is and child-approved too! Thank you for posting! ☺️
Ah yay! I am so excited to hear that you and the kiddos are loving this recipe ❤️
These pancakes are amazing! I usually don’t make pancakes because they make me feel sluggish and tired afterwards but with the protein in these, I don’t get that. They are so filling, tasty, and easy. I’ve made them almost every morning for the past week!
Ah this is great, glad you are loving this recipe ❤️
Hi! I’d love to make these for my 1.5 year old but was wondering if it’s possible to bake them? If so, what temp and for how long? Thank you!!
Hey, these were great, but I want to note for anyone counting macros, that the math listed didn’t add up. I had to double the recipe to get the protein per serving up. I used 1/2c Daisy low fat cottage cheese (13g protein & 90 calories), 1c of One Degree Sprouted Rolled Oats (18g protein & 420 calories), 2 vital farms eggs (12g protein & 120 calories), and a whole banana (1.3g protein & 105 calories). All of that made 2 servings. This all adds up to 44.3g protein and 735calories for one doubled recipe. Or 22.15g of protein and 367.5 calories per serving.
Hi – As for all my recipes, the nutrition facts are based on the ingredients I use. Each brand will have different nutrition facts so the info will vary a bit.
I love this favorite protein pancake
Is this the nutrition for one pancake or all of the batter?
Nutrition is for 2 pancakes!
Love this recipe! I find with lots of recipes with oats in the blender like this, I end up having to blend for a long time, and there is still a bit of grittiness- which my texture-sensitive son hates. I now substitute oat flour- slightly less than the amount of rolled oats. The pancakes come out fluffy and delicious- so hard to tell the difference from a traditional wheat pancake!
YUM! Sounds amazing, glad it worked out great for you 🙂
Good morning, Monique 🌞. How are you? I’m fine. I have cottage cheese banana 🍌 oatmeal protein pancakes. I spread peanut butter 🧈 and added mixed berry 🍓 🫐 and maple syrup 🍁 on top. WOW 😲! It tested very delicious 😋, well-flavored, nutritious, mouthwatering, pleasant, and heavenly 😇. I loved it 🥰. You’re a captivating and wonderful chef 😊.
Good morning, Monique 🌞. How are you? I’m fine. I have done cottage cheese banana oatmeal protein pancakes 🥞 many years. I spread peanut butter 🥜 and mixed berry 🍓 🫐 and maple syrup 🍁 on top. WOW 😲! It tested very delicious 😋, well-flavored, nutritious, mouthwatering, pleasant, and heavenly 😇. I loved it 🥰. You’re a captivating and wonderful 😊.
Yay!! Such a great combo 🙂
Did you make these cottage cheese pancakes