I recently caught up with one of my best friends from college; we hadn’t seen each other in over a year! How does time pass that quickly? I’m not sure, but life does happen and as I’m hurling my way through my twenties, it has increasingly become more difficult to maintain the relationships I once had.
I feel like this should be an article on Thought Catalog.
Anyway, Callie (pictured in the middle) and I lived together throughout college, which reminded me of our absurd obsession with oatmeal. WE LOVED IT. I can’t tell you how many times we ate it for both breakfast AND dinner; it was just SO filling, good-for-you, and comforting! Big bowls of cinnamon oatmeal bliss for dinner topped with anything we could find. I miss those days.
In fact, I MISS ALL OF MY FAVORITE COLLEGE GIRLS! Life slow down for just a minute please. At least so I can find the time to make some oatmeal.
These days I crave oatmeal AND pancakes. This is a major dilemma, especially when I’m hypoglycemic hungry. The solution? Put oatmeal IN my pancakes, duh.
I make these hearty oatmeal cottage cheese pancakes at least once a week! They’re actually one of my favorites (especially after a tough cardio workout) because they include healthy carbs, fiber, and are packed with over 20g of protein! Note: Remember to use gluten-free oats! You can purchase them in bulk here.
The ingredients are simple and the batter is made in a blender! Ohh la la. All you need is gluten-free oats, baking powder, cinnamon, vanilla, cottage cheese, egg whites, and a splash of almond milk. Sometimes I add a banana to sweeten them up, but you could also use a packet of all-natural sweeter such as stevia.
Sometimes I’ll add blueberries or if I need a sweet fix, chocolate chips. To me, there’s nothing better than pancakes for dinner.
And at under 300 calories, these pancakes are a dream come true. They’re great for freezing too and then popping in the microwave in the morning! When I’m watching my weight, or what I’m eating, this is my go-to recipe.
I love topping mine with almond or peanut butter to get a little healthy fat in. Pure maple syrup or honey is also delicious! I hope you’ll enjoy this easy recipe.
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! You can also snap and picture and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen. And of course be sure to follow Ambitious Kitchen on Instagram. xo!
If you like this healthy pancake recipe, you might also like:
Whole Wheat Banana Bread Pancakes with Chocolate Chips
Strawberry Banana Oatmeal Greek Yogurt Waffles
Raspberry Almond Butter Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Fluffy Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread Pancakes
Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes with Wild Blueberry Maple Syrup
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Oatmeal Cottage Cheese Banana Pancakes {high in protein, gluten-free}
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup gluten-free old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 medium banana
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 large egg whites (or 1 egg)
- 1/4 cup fat free (or low-fat) cottage cheese
- 1-2 tablespoons unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- Optional add-ins:
- 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 with butter or 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.
These pancakes were so delicious. I was worried about using cottage cheese because I don’t like the taste of it, but you do not taste it all. I’m so impressed. .You’d never know there was no wheat flour in these either. Just amazing! Thank you! I have a daughter who does not like bananas. Do you think it would change the texture of the pancake if I leave it out? Do you think you would taste the cottage cheese flavor without the banana?
So happy to hear that! I haven’t tested these without banana, as it adds a necessary sweetness and texture to the batter. You could try applesauce, but the flavor will likely be different as well! Otherwise, my yogurt pancakes are a great banana-free option.
I replaced the 1/2 banana with 1/4 cup applesauce and they were really good. I don’t taste the cottage cheese. Adding blueberries was delicious. Thank you!
Perfect! Glad you enjoyed!
Insides would not cook no matter what I did. Very disappointed
So strange! Did the batter seem overly wet or thick? Did you cook them on medium-low with just 1/4 cup of batter?
Makes way more than 3 to 4 pancakes: more like 12. I am making these right now, with pears, walnuts, and real maple syrup. Very good and easy. Pour the batter into the pan directly from the blender.
Perfect! Pears sound delicious!
Such an easy recipe to make. Love the creative ingredients for protein. These pancakes taste great and super simple to make.
Absolutely! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
SO GOOD! It’s hard to find ways to get protein in as a vegetarian, but these fit the bill perfectly! Love the taste, easy to make, can’t ask for anything more.
Note: The texture of these are amazing, much better than most banana oat pancakes I’ve tried.
The perfect vegetarian-friendly breakfast! Glad you love them!
These tasted amazing, we added blueberries to some and chocolate chips to the others. As far as cooking/flipping it was a flop. My partner and I tried 2 different pans. They stuck or fell a part when cooking/flipping. I ended up pouring the rest of the batter into a big pan and cooked them like an oatmeal mush. Next time were going to try an 8×8 and bake them in the oven.
Wow these are great! I’m not GF, so I just used the oats I had in the cupboard. When I first blended everything together, I was worried that the batter was thinner than expected, but these puffed up amazingly. I made 3 pancakes and they were very filling. So happy that I had all of the ingredients on hand and that these were super simple to make. Five stars!
Perfect breakfast! Glad you love them!
Wow these are great! I’m not GF, so I just used the oats I had in the cupboard. When I first blended everything together, I was worried that the batter was thinner than expected, but these puffed up amazingly. I made 3 pancakes and they were very filling. So happy that I had all of the ingredients on hand and that these were super simple to make. Five stars!
Really yummy! Sweetness definitely depends on the bananas you have but with a little honey or syrup, it’s a delicious healthy breakfast treat. I didn’t have cottage cheese on hand and ended up using Greek yogurt which still had a nice consistency!
Yay! I am so glad these turned out great for you!
Amazing! Very light and deliciously flavorful (and well balanced with some fruit and nut butter)!!!
This recipe is so easy and amazing! My new favorite breakfast!
I’m on the 6-week Whole Life Challenge, and this recipe is compliant with my nutrition plan (no wheat, grains, dairy) but cottage cheese and butter are allowed. I didn’t have any almond milk so used water. I was surprised how good these are! Next time I’ll use almond milk, and perhaps a little salt. I sprinkled a little monkfruit sweetener and sliced the rest of the banana on them. I’ll definitely make them again. Thank you!
Absolutely! Glad you are enjoying this recipe ❤️
Hi Monique! I’m going to make these now but thought I can put in a mini waffle maker?!! Would the batter be ok for that?thx!!
Sure!
is one serving 3-4 pancakes? Or is 1 serving only one pancake?
Hi! Sorry for the confusion — we just updated the nutrition info! One serving is the whole batch / 3-4 pancakes 🙂
Such a delicious recipe. One of my favorites! Thank you for sharing.
Easy, awesome and 5 year old/hubby approved! I tripled the recipe and used 1 large banana and 4tbsp milk. Love that this is GF so I enjoyed them too. Thank you so much!
So glad you all loved these and that they came out amazing!!
I have been making this recipe from your website for a few years now and it is my favorite!
Aw thanks so much, Jen! Happy it’s a go-to for you 🙂
Made these today for my 8 month old and I and they turned out so yummy! I doubled the recipe and ended up adding a bit more oats and some ground flax seeds just because the consistency was a little thin. Drizzled my berry chia jam through the pancakes when they were in the pan and she (and me) devoured them! Thank you!! Question: do you think you could use this recipe and turn them into muffins?? 🤔🤔
SO glad you loved them! Good to know about the consistency — good call on the oats and flax! I haven’t tried them as muffins so not totally sure, but I have another oatmeal banana muffin that you might like 🙂
Prior to trying this recipe, I tried a similar recipe that did not include banana. I think the banana was a huge improvement to add flavor and a touch of sweetness. I added vanilla and almond extract to the recipe which seemed to enhance the flavors. I forgot to add almond milk, but I like a thicker pancake that is not thin. I am looking forward to making these pancakes again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed these, Casandra — thank you!