Even the nuttiest of health nuts can’t deny the appeal of a giant, warm stack of pancakes topped with a generous pat of butter and absolutely soaked with syrup. That stack, though, easily puts you almost 1,000 calories in the hole (especially if you really love your syrup), so it’s typically reserved for special occasions, like when you can afford to lie on the couch in a sugar coma for the rest of the day.
Given that, what we’re about to tell you may be a little shocking (in the good way): You can actually eat pancakes every single day. No sugar crash, no all-day stomach ache, no guilt.
If you swap your average pancake batter for one made with healthy, whole ingredients, and balance it out with a little protein powder, you can cook yourself up a well-rounded breakfast that still tastes like a treat morning after morning.
Not convinced? See for yourself. We’ve rounded up a full week’s-worth of the most delightful protein pancake recipes the internet has to offer—so grab your go-to tub of protein and fire up the griddle.
1. Vanilla Blueberry Cake Protein Pancakes
With 38 grams of protein (woah) and just 13 grams of sugar in the entire batch, these pancakes from Protein Treats By Nicolette are a far-cry from IHOP’s sugar bombs. Six simple ingredients (vanilla protein powder, oat flour, egg whites, almond milk, cashew butter, and blueberries) transform into thick, fluffy cakes that taste like blueberry clouds. Make your meal feel extra-fancy by whipping up her homemade blueberry jam topping and vanilla protein glaze.
Quest’s Vanilla Milkshake protein powder bakes beautifully and adds just the little something-something these pancakes need.
2. Confetti Cake Protein Pancakes
Birthday cake everything is on fire right now—so why not turn your breakfast into a celebration? Friday Love Song’s recipe is loaded with fiber, protein, and (of course) sprinkles to satisfy your belly and your taste buds.
To make these truly birthday-worthy, try using Body Tech’s Birthday Cake Whey Tech Pro 24 whey protein.
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Pancakes
These pancakes by Peanut Butter And Fitness are just about as luscious as a peanut butter fudge mousse cake from your favorite bakery. The entire stack (peanut butter fluff topping, included) packs over 40 grams of protein from ingredients like whey protein powder, egg whites, Greek yogurt, and peanut butter.
Level up the chocolatey goodness of the pancakes by using Optimum Nutrition’s Double Rich Chocolate Gold Standard 100% Whey protein powder.
4. Pumpkin Spice Protein Pancakes
Whether Thanksgiving is a week or six months away, we’ll never say ‘no’ to a little more pumpkin spice in our lives. At just 100 calories, one gram of sugar, and 14 grams of protein per serving, this stack from Dashing Dish is an especially calorie and macro-friendly breakfast.
We like BPI Sports’ Snickerdoodle Whey HD protein powder for these—plus a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar on top, of course!
5. Carrot Cake Protein Pancakes
Do these count as veggies for breakfast? (We vote YES.) Jennifer Meyering’s carrot cake protein pancakes incorporate good-for-you ingredients like ginger, cinnamon, and, yes, carrots, for a colorful stack of pancakes complete with cream cheese frosting—because you can never skip cream cheese frosting.
Make these pancakes with Garden of Life Sport’s Vanilla Grass-Fed Whey protein powder for a little extra vanilla flavor from a quality source.
6. Cookies And Cream Protein Pancakes
Eating cookies for breakfast might seem like a no-no, but this cookies and cream protein pancake recipe from Sprinkled With Health is your ‘go-ahead’ to go ahead and do it! You won’t feel a shred of guilt knowing this breakfast is loaded with wholesome ingredients like oat flour, coconut flour, plain Greek yogurt, and egg whites.
PES Cookies ‘N Cream Select Protein powder really takes these dessert-inspired pancakes to the next level.
7. Cinnamon Bun Protein Pancakes
You can go to Cinnabon and tear through almost 900 calories and 60 grams of sugar as you lick icing off your fingers, or you can whip up this stack of cinnamon bun protein pancakes from The Big Man’s World. These sticky-sweet pancakes are high in protein and low in sugar, so you can feel like you’re indulging without actually indulging.
Make these with Dymatize’s Cinnamon Bun Iso-100 whey protein powder for the most cinnamony cinnamon bun cakes you ever did taste.