Apple Protein Pancakes {gluten-free}
Behold, fall on a plate! These gluten-free Apple Protein Pancakes are going to be on your breakfast table for the entire fall season. Mark my words. They are made with oats, cottage cheese, eggs, and apples! You would never guess they don’t have any flour in them! They’re 106 calories each and have 7 grams protein each.
Table of contents
Why Make These Apple Protein Pancakes
These simple apple protein pancakes are made in the blender without any flour. Instead I used oats, eggs and cottage cheese (a trick I discovered when I made these Orange Protein Pancakes)! The combination of ingredients and technique amazingly cooks up to to fluffy moist pancakes that are perfect to flavor with seasonal ingredients.
Today I added in homemade applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg and fresh Macintosh apples for a fall version of this recipe.
Big bonus: I have discovered that they also freeze beautifully. Then just pop a couple into the microwave to reheat them in the morning. And boom! Protein boost! Day=Made!
Not to mention the fact that they are so cozy and fally. Yeah I know fally isn’t a word, but Seasonal is my middle name, and I happen to be on nickname basis with the seasons, so I think I can call it fally if I want.
Ingredients For Gluten-Free Apple Protein Pancakes
- 5 egg whites
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats, gluten-free if desired
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 Macintosh apple, peeled and grated or very finely diced
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- cooking spray, avocado oil or coconut oil
How To Make Healthy Apple Pancakes {Without Flour}
Step 1: Make Batter in Blender
Combine egg whites, eggs, oats, cottage cheese, applesauce cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg in a blender and blend until completely creamy and smooth, about 1 minute on high. Add shredded apple and baking soda and pulse to combine.
Step 2: Cook Pancakes
Heat a large griddle or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Coat with cooking spray or brush lightly with avocado oil or coconut oil. Ladle ¼ cups full of the batter onto the hot griddle (it will spread out into 4-inch circles.)
Let the pancake batter cook, undisturbed until browned on the bottom and the edges are slightly dry, 2 to 4 minutes.
Carefully flip the pancakes with a spatula and let cook on the other side until the center is cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes. Cook the remaining batter in batches, reducing heat as necessary to prevent too much browning. Serve hot.
FAQs
We do not recommend using Greek yogurt for flourless protein pancakes. The cottage cheese is better because it is not sour like Greek yogurt. It also has a “fluffy” texture when it is pureed that is perfect for making protein pancakes.
Yes! Some oat brands are contaminated with gluten, so if you are highly intolerant or allergic to gluten make sure to buy gluten-free oats.
Yes, freeze on a baking sheet until firm. Transfer to a re-sealable bag and freeze up to three weeks. To defrost and heat place two pancakes side-by-side on a microwave-safe plate and microwave until hot, about 45 minutes. Stack and drizzle with syrup if desired to serve.
Yes. Keep covered in the refrigerator up to three days. Reheat in the microwave about 20 seconds per pancake.
More Recipes To Try
- For more apple inspiration check out my round-up of 50+ healthy apple recipes.
- If you love low-sugar high-protein breakfasts, you’ll love these vanilla pear overnight oats I shared last week.
- I have been eyeing these Corn Flour Pancakes from Tessa and can’t wait to make them!
At Healthy Seasonal Recipes, we specialize in cooking with fresh veggies and creating weeknight meals. Sign up HERE to get more produce-forward dinner ideas for FREE! If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought! Happy Cooking! ~Katie
PrintApple Protein Pancakes {Gluten-Free}
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 11 1x
Description
Behold, fall on a plate! These gluten-free Apple Protein Pancakes are going to be on your breakfast table for the entire fall season. Mark my words. They are made with oats, cottage cheese, eggs, and apples! You would never guess they don’t have any flour in them! They’re 106 calories each and have 7 grams protein each.
Ingredients
- 5 egg whites
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups old-fashioned oats, gluten-free if desired
- 1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 Macintosh apple, peeled and grated or very finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- cooking spray, avocado oil or coconut oil
Instructions
- Combine egg whites, eggs, oats, cottage cheese, applesauce cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg in a blender and blend until completely creamy and smooth, about 1 minute on high. Add shredded apple and baking soda and pulse to combine.
- Heat a large griddle or skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Coat with cooking spray or brush lightly with avocado oil or coconut oil. Ladle ¼ cups-full of the batter onto hot griddle (it will spread out to 4-inch circles.) Let cook, undisturbed until browned on the bottom and the edges are slightly dry, 2 to 4 minutes. Carefully flip pancakes with a spatula and let cook on the other side until the center is cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Cook the remaining batter in batches, reducing heat as necessary to prevent too much browning. Serve hot.
Notes
Leftovers
Keep covered in the refrigerator up to three days. Reheat in the microwave about 20 seconds per pancake.
To Freeze
Freeze cooked pancakes on a baking sheet until firm. Transfer to a re-sealable bag and freeze up to three weeks. To defrost and heat place two pancakes side-by-side on a microwave-safe plate and microwave until hot, about 45 minutes. Stack and drizzle with syrup if desired to serve.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: breakfast
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pancake
- Calories: 106 cals
- Sugar: 3 g
- Sodium: 158
- Fat: 3 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 13 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 7 g
My son loves to eat apple and your tips are amazing recipes for me to prepare the healthy cakes for him. Thank you so much for your sharing.
I hope he enjoys them!
These pancakes are so delicious! We love them!
I loved it!! Such a great way to start my day!
These are so delicious! They are a perfect start to the day, and so filling!
These are delicious and love that they freeze well!
these look DELICIOUS & I’m so glad that they’re gluten free! can’t wait to kick off fall w this recipe
I made these last year and I am so happy I saved this recipe to make them again this year! I’ll wait until after apple picking 🙂 Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Hi Katie, I have never been disappointed with any of your recipes I have tried and am looking forward to making this one for my grandchildren. Your photographs are beautiful but I was wondering if you can provide a more printer friendly version of your recipes with out the pictures so that the amount of ink used is at a minimum. I have been copying and pasting the recipes in a word doc. to save them… Thank you for all your efforts to bring us such wonderful, healthy and creative options for our tables.
Hi Karen, Thanks so much for letting me know and your kind words. I am also having this problem with the printing, and have notified the tech folks who help me with this type of stuff. The print issue is relatively new one due to recent updates of two of my plug-ins and they happen to conflict! Ugh. The good news is a fix is on the way and they will be printer friendly too! Thanks for reading, cooking and commenting. I appreciate it. Have a great weekend.
Hey Katie…This pancake looks soooo delicious & yummy, such a this is perfect for healthy breakfast…i will definitely make this in few days ….Thanks for sharing…..!
I hope you like them when you try them Madison!
Could I use yogurt instead of cottage cheese? Many thanks!
I haven’t tested it. I would say thick Greek yogurt would work but the flavor may be on the sour side. If you try it let me know how it comes out.
What a beautiful fall breakfast/brunch! Gorgeous photos too!
Thank you so much Valentina. Have a great day!
Oh God, this is a great idea for my breakfast. This sounds fantastic! Looks tasty! This recipe is perfect for me and my family. Thank you!
I am psyched you are so enthusiastic about them Mary! That’s great!
These pancakes look amazing! Such a delicious recipe for weekend brunch!
Thanks so much Natalie.
Love these for protein packed breakfast!!!
Having protein for breakfast makes all the difference for me.
These would be so filling and delicious for brunch this Sunday!
They’re great on the weekends for sure. And I found that the left-overs freeze week for weekdays!