Nothing says fall like a stack of light, fluffy, and warmly spiced pumpkin protein pancakes! Made with just six simple ingredients, this easy recipe comes together in under 5 minutes right in your blender. You’ll get two servings of soft, deliciously healthy pancakes — perfect for a cozy, high-protein breakfast that tastes as good as it makes you feel.
I love all things pumpkin—especially for breakfast! So when pumpkin season rolls around, these blender pumpkin protein pancakes are on repeat in my kitchen. Thanks to the combination of egg whites and cottage cheese, each serving packs 13 grams of protein. They’re satisfying enough for busy mornings yet cozy enough for a lazy weekend breakfast.
Honestly, high-protein pancake recipes like these have completely ruined traditional pancakes for me — they don’t keep me satisfied the way these do. Some mornings, I’m in the mood for my Cottage Cheese Protein Pancakes. Other times, it’s my Box-Mix Protein Pancakes. But once fall hits, nothing beats these cozy Pumpkin Protein Pancakes for a delicious, energizing start to the day.
Need a substitute for pumpkin pie spice? Use 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, or simply 1 tsp cinnamon.
Ingredients Highlights for Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
This protein pancake recipe is a leveled-up version of a traditional pancake. Made with rolled oats, egg whites, and cottage cheese, they have an outstanding balance of protein and complex carbohydrates without the sugar overload.
Keep in mind that rolled oats work best for this recipe — they create the perfect texture and help everything hold together beautifully. I also tested the recipe with quick oats, which work fine in a pinch, though the texture is a bit softer. Steel-cut oats, on the other hand, are too hard and won’t work here.
💡 Pro Tip: 100% pure pumpkin purée is often mistaken for pumpkin pie filling — but they’re not the same thing! Pumpkin pie filling has added sugar and spices, so be sure to grab the plain purée (trust me, I’ve made that mistake before!).
If you can’t find pumpkin purée, sweet potato, or butternut squash purée, make great substitutes. Both offer that same naturally sweet, creamy texture.
How to Make Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
Grab your blender and don’t look away—these pancakes come together in a flash (aka in under five minutes).
Our favorite pancake add-ins and toppings
If you like adding a topping to your pancakes but want to avoid extra sugar from maple syrup, try topping them with coconut butter or almond butter. So good!
My kids almost always ask that I stir chocolate chips into the batter (so much for avoiding extra sugar, lol), but it’s delicious. My hubby requests walnuts and raisins, which are delightful as well.
Thanks so much for reading! You can watch the video down below, and if you make this recipe, I would love for you to give it a ★ rating below.
Pumpkin Protein Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 3/4 cup egg whites about 6
- 1/2 cup cottage cheese
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 tbsp. maple syrup
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Pop everything into the blender and blend until you have a pancake-like batter.
- Heat a nonstick skillet over a medium heat. Lightly coat the pan with coconut oil or cooking spray and drop cup rounds of batter onto the pan. Cook until edges are bubbling and then flip and cook another two minutes or until edges are golden brown and pancakes are cooked though.
- Top pancakes with any favorite toppings, such as chopped nuts and maple syrup. Makes 2 servings.
Notes
These pancakes freeze really well. Sometimes I double or even triple the recipe, and keep extra pancakes stored in the freezer for busy weekday mornings.
Let pancakes cool completely, then place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer-safe bag, label, and store for up to 3 months. Reheat in the microwave or toaster oven until warmed through. If making extra pancakes for a crowd, place the cooked pancakes in a 200ºF oven to keep them warm while cooking the remaining pancakes.
Comments
Sandie says
Wondering if there is any substitute for the cottage cheese in the Protein Pumpkin Pancakes?
Dani says
I’ve never tried it but I would think Greek yogurt OR ricotta cheese would do the job.
Karina says
I use greek yogurt all the time in my protein waffle recipe (similar to this) and it works great! Depending on the quality of the ricotta, it may be a bit watery and you may have to take that into account in the recipe. 🙂
Robin says
Looks great. I think I will try to use greek yogurt instead of the cottage cheese.
Dani says
Would love to hear how it turn out. Keep me posted!
Brian Vaught says
Great recipe. How many pancakes do you consisder a serving? Have you ever stuffened the egg whites and then folded them into the better? Our pancakes came out a little flat, and thought this could be a potential help to add volume.
Dani Spies says
Hi Brian! I love the idea of stiffening the egg whites first. I haven’t tried this but I would like to – great thought. This recipe makes two servings so about 5-6 small pancakes per serving.
Krista Morris says
I also use a quarter cup measure for putting the batter onto the pan. This makes about 12 to 13 pancakes of equal size. 1/2 of the recipe is a serving. My nutritional breakdown using the cronometer app shows that one serving is 242 calories, 17.6 g of protein, 29.7 g of carbs, 3.9 g of fat, and 5 g of fiber.
Dani Spies says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing this.
Krista Morris says
I have been stiffening the egg whites every time I make this. It works really well to make fluffy pancakes but they have to cook on low for quite a bit longer to cook through because they are so puffy that they can end up Raw. I even put a lid on my frying pan to really make sure they heat through. Very similar to the technique for making a Japanese souffle pancakes. But once they’ve cooled down they do deflate and end up pretty flat on your plate anyway so I’m not sure if it’s worth the trouble! Haha
Christine says
Is it supposed to be pumpkin spice for the last ingredient?
Dani says
Yes…. sorry about the confusion. It’s fixed now.
Kelli says
Just checking, is the additional 1 tsp. pumpkin puree actually supposed to be pumpkin pie spice?
Dani says
YES! Thanks for pointing that out… I just fixed it.
Tina says
Love this recipe. I haven’t had breakfast yet and now I know what I’m eating. I have used just the oats, cottage cheese, egg whites, vanilla and baking powder recipe for a few years now and love it. I think this will be a nice change. Thanks for posting and all the tips. I really need to have these on hand. My other recipe is a single serving recipe and takes so long to make each morning. I will definitely use your tips on freezing these.
Sheri says
I hate to waste all of those egg yolks. Any idea how it would work with using the full egg or half eggs and half whites?
Dani says
Absolutely – for every 2 egg white use one egg. Whole eggs would be perfectly delicious in this recipe.
Katelyn says
Hi, I’m wondering if the batter could be made ahead of time and frozen, maybe thawed over night and cooked up quickly in the morning? Or am I asking too much of my pancakes? 🙂
The Squishy Monster says
Great video. Your directions are so clear and I love the accessibility of this breakfast staple…healthy AND delicious…win all the way!
Cara says
I also make my pancakes with oats, eggs and cottage cheese! So much easier, and so much more filling than “regular” pancakes – and yet they taste just the same 🙂
Deborah says
I have been making protein pancakes for years and they are a staple in my fridge, always have them on hand.. My recipe is pretty close except I add either a ripe banana or mashed sweet potato and a little agave. I always use the cartons of all egg whites (trader Joes has cartons of cage free egg whites)the cottage cheese makes them so moist and you can just grab and go for a quick snack.. But my favorite is peanut butter and raspberry jam on a pancake. I believe I first saw the recipe right here on your blog years ago and have been tweeking it since..
Anna says
Very interesting reciepe! Will try use cottage cheese and canned pumpkin, which never used before – always fresh raw graded one, which cooks fast and wonderfully tasty 🙂 I recently switched to GF food and make pumpkin pancakes with Bob’s Red Mill GF all purpose flour which is made out of couple different beans ( which are very good source of protein as well )and I use my own raw milk kefir . I don’t trust canned products and cottage cheese has a long list of ingridients on label 🙁 even though I like the taste of it . I am from Russia originaly where pumpkins grow for food and we use it in many dishes ( never had canned ones in stores ).I also like for the change pumpkin with graded apples in pancakes. Try and you would love it ! No sugar requierd though for the butter since pumpkin and apples sweet enough if used raw. Bon appetite!
Norma says
Could whey protein be added ?
Alix says
Hey Dani! I tried making these this morning and I doubled the recipe. They came out mushy in the middle and I cooked them long enough. Could this be because of the cottage cheese? Thanks!
Hope says
Thank you so very much for this recipe. My son is a body builder and he LOVES this recipe. I enjoyed it as well. I made 10 pancakes with the recipe. Each pancake is only 1 point on weighwatchers!
Melissa says
If I don’t eat dairy, can I leave out the cottage cheese? I just want to make sure they will come out right because they look so delicious!
Dani says
These aren;t going to work without the cottage cheese:(. Maybe you can try some type of non-dairy substitute, like coconut or soy yogurt?
Bonnie says
I just finished making these and they are super tasty!
The only thing I would do different next time is to spread out the little blob of batter on the pan so the pancake is a little thinner. I found the one I made that was kind of big and thick was a bit doughy but the two small ones I made were wonderful.
I highly recommend!
Susan says
My batter was too thick. I tend to like thinner batter anyway. I added another half cup of cage free egg whites. These are so tasty!! And I love that there aren’t a lot of ingredients.
CJ says
Is there a substitute for egg yolk?
Linda says
Hi We loved the pancakes. In your video you mentioned that you had some recipes to use up the left over egg yolks. Where can I find these on your site?
Thanks
Jessica says
hi, i was wondering
how many pancakes will this recipe make. you said two servings but how many are in one? i want to make them about the same size as yours. thank you
Marlene says
Delicious! I used low fat cottage cheese and light maple syrup.
Sally says
What is light maple syrup?
Petra from NL says
Dear Dani,
Made these today. I used whole eggs (3) as I haven’t found the eggwhites yet here in the Netherlands. I used sweet potato instead of pumpkin puree and cinnamon instead of the spices. DELICIOUS!
I will make these more often for sure. I think the hubby will like them too.
Dani says
🙂
Erin+Johnson says
These are so good! I use 3 whole eggs instead of 6 egg whites though because the egg white version sticks too much to my pan.
Dani says
Great tip! Thanks for sharing.
Jeannette says
Great recipe and easy to make, I substitute the pumpkin purée for mashed sweet potato and it tastes delicious.
Sally says
Love this recipe! I’ve been making it for awhile, recently I was out of pumpkin and swapped it for overripe banana and left out the maple and spice and tossed in some mini chocolate chips. Delicious!
Regina J says
Can steel cut oats be used instead???
Charlene says
These pancakes are delicious! Thank you so much for this recipe! 😀
Dani says
Anytime, Charlene! So glad you enjoy them 🙂
Leïlla says
Delicieux
Mo says
If I were to use oak flour will it still be 1 cup?
Dani says
I think so!
Mary beth Gutierrez says
Hi Dani,
I love your recipes, I make them all them and I love your channel! You may have said this already but what are the macros/calories on these pancakes? Thank you!
Dani says
That info is at the bottom of the recipe card 🙂
Sally says
I love these pancakes and have been making them for a few years now. I would like it if they could be a little more fluffy and less dense. Any ideas? baking powder/soda perhaps? I have trouble getting them to cook all the way through. Thanks!
veganko says
not dani but there’s a trick you add 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsbp of lemon juice to activate it and it will help with fluffyness
Dani says
Love this! Thank you Veganko.
Mae says
Made these for breakfast this morning and they were delicious and hearty! Me kids loved them, I loved them, and my husband, who isn’t a big pumpkin fan, loved them too! Will be making these again soon. Not sure why people are trying to make these without cottage cheese, but if it’s because you don’t like it, no worries-you can’t tell there’s cottage cheese in them at all.
Dani says
So glad you enjoyed them Mae! I’m a super big fab of them as well.
karen says
Can I replace the cottage cheese for yogurth , banana or protein powder? I am not sure whats the role of the cottage cheese in this recipe lol!
Dani says
You can definitely switch with some yogurt 🙂
Jane Baudelaire says
I made these today and found the texture to be gummy. Any idea on how to prevent this or what causes it? I’m excited to try some of the variations mentioned in the comments. This is a great base recipe to play with.
Dani says
That’s a great question Jane! I’ll have to experiment a bit 🙂
Julie says
I love these pancakes an I found the 3 eggs to work best. They freeze really well. Great recipe.
Dani says
Thanks Julie. So glad you enjoyed them.
Julie says
With the state of the economy nowadays this recipe has been a life saver.
Anna says
We really enjoyed these! I left out the maple syrup in the recipe and at them with fresh raspberries.
Veena says
Great recipe! I used 4 whole eggs and Greek yogurt and came out perfect!
Debra says
These are very good. I followed your recipe but mine did not turn out fluffy like your picture. Can you tell me why?
Rebecca says
I made a double run of these exactly as the recipe called for and they were great! It came out to 4 servings of 3 pancakes each. Topped with pecans, syrup, and whipped cream and you can’t go wrong.
Dani Spies says
YAY! I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Rebecca. Thanks for taking the time to review and letting me know.
Anne Habeck says
Just made this and OMG it’s delicious! So easy to make and comes out amazing. Thank you!
Shinai says
I’m dairy free so I substituted the cottage cheese for cocojune coconut vanilla yogurt and it worked well. I also used 3 whole eggs instead of 6 egg whites so I don’t waste anything. Is there a reason there’s no baking soda/baking powder or salt in the recipe? I added 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp baking powder and a couple pinches of salt to mine. Overall I would say it turned out well. 4/5 🙂 would make again.
Dani Spies says
Hi Shinai! Thanks for sharing this – it’s super helpful for others who are dairy-free to know that the coconut yogurt worked well. As for the salt and baking soda I will try that myself next time.
Johnston Emily says
can you suggest a df substitute for the cottage cheese?
Dani Spies says
I haven’t tried this myself, but I bet Greek yogurt would be a good substitution for the cottage cheese.
Sue says
Amazing!
Made these this morning and this recipe is another keeper. Not sure I will ever make a different pancake ever.
I didn’t have cottage cheese but had ricotta so I used it.
Question, my pancakes were much thinner than your in photo. Mine still very tasty but what might I do or have done different? Id like to make them fluffier. Either way I will continue to enjoy. Thank you.
Sue says
Just wanted to add to my last comment/ review.
Made these AMAZING pancakes again. This time I used cottage cheese since I had some now. They made the pancakes even better! I had used ricotta last time cause that’s what I had in fridge at the time.
Well, pancakes were fluffier and tasted even better than the 1st time.
Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. I did purchase your cook book on line but I may need to get a physical copy. Could I get one signed by you?
Elizabeth H says
Made the pumpkin protein pancakes tonight. First I was happy to make them without adding a protein powder, so thank you for that. To make them a little more fluffier, would I add a little baking powder or soda?
Dani Spies says
Yes! 1/8th-1/4 teaspoon baking soda will help to make them fluffier for sure!
Sally says
Hey Dani
I’d like to try this with mashed banana instead of pumpkin. (I’ve been eating the pumpkin ones foramy years, delish!) Do you think I could do a straight swap of banana for the pumpkin?
Thanks
Kari Downs says
Very delicious
Rosalie says
These were so light and flavorful! I added a tsp of baking powder for rise and some walnuts. Served them with carmelized banana and some Greek yogurt. Perfect fall breakfast treat! Thanks Dani
Lisa says
These were AMAZING ! There is no need to change up this receipe as many have in the comments. They are PERFECT – fluffy & not overly sweet ! Thank you for a recipe that does NOT have Protein Powder, Bananas or Yogurt ! Topped mine with equal parts Maple Syrup & Sunflower Butter mixed together with Cinnamon & chopped Walnuts … SO good. Dipped my Apple slices in the leftover topping.
Kate Woodhouse says
Awesome result!