What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than with a fluffy stack of warm Healthy Red Velvet Protein Pancakes? 😋 Toss all the ingredients in a blender, cook on the stovetop, and dress them up in your favorite toppings! Don't worry, they're also macro-friendly!
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celebrate Valentine's Day with these sweet red velvet pancakes
Whether you're treating yourself or your partner this Valentine's Day, these warm and fluffy Healthy Red Velvet Protein Pancakes are the most delicious way to start to the day!
I love to use food to celebrate almost every holiday. In my opinion, it makes life a little more fun and festive. I think people often associate fun and festive with extra work they don't have the time to do. But that's not true!
Doing a *little* more work to elevate your normal meals is such a fun change of pace and can really elevate your mood. And to bring these Healthy Red Velvet Protein Pancakes to life, all you need to do is grab a few extra ingredients you may not have, toss them in a blender, and cook on the stovetop in a skillet or griddle. That's it! You'll be enjoying the sweet red velvety flavor with your favorite toppings in no time, making your Valentine's Day super sweet!
These pancakes are also high in protein and low in fat, making them macro-friendly as well! But trust me, they still taste like the real deal. 😉
Ingredients for Healthy Red Velvet Pancakes
Cooking Spray: To help keep our pancakes from sticking.
Oats: I used rolled oats in this recipe. They'll get pulsed in the blender to create oat flour!
Milk: I used nut milk, but you could use regular milk if you'd like.
Eggs: These will help provide structure to our pancake batter.
Applesauce: To sweeten our pancakes!
Protein Powder: I used a brownie batter flavor. However, you could also use vanilla.
Baking Powder: Makes our pancakes nice and fluffy!
Vanilla Extract: For some more sweetness.
Raspberries: Use FRESH raspberries! You won't regret it.
Red Food Dye: I used this to make my pancakes look more like red velvet.
Toppings: Try powdered sugar, syrup, cream cheese frosting, or fresh berries like strawberries and raspberries.
Tools you'll need
To make these Healthy Red Velvet Protein Pancakes, you will need: a blender, griddle or skillet, spatula, whisk, and measuring cups and spoons.
Let's get flipping! How to make your pancakes:
- Add rolled oats, nut milk, applesauce, and eggs into a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Next, add protein powder, baking powder, and vanilla extract into the blender and pulse until batter is completely liquified.
- Then, whisk in the red food dye. You can add as much as you’d like. I added enough until the batter turned red.
- Heat a griddle to medium heat. Spray with cooking spray
- Next, pour the batter into 4-6 inch sized pancakes and let sizzle on the griddle.
- Then, add fresh raspberries to the pancakes. Flip. Ensure they are cooked on the bottom prior to flipping. See my notes below for instructions.
- Remove from griddle and top with desired toppings. Enjoy!!
Pancake tips & tricks
Making pancakes may seem simple enough. Just pour and flip, right? I wish! Here are my tips to achieve the perfect light and fluffy texture everyone loves:
Don't burn your pancakes!
Use medium heat and no higher. High heat will burn the outside of your pancake while the inside remains raw. Secondly, use clarified butter, AKA ghee, or a neutral vegetable oil. The milk solids in regular butter burn super fast, so clarified butter (butter with the milk solids removed) works better for pancakes. If you are using regular butter, you should wipe your pan between each round of pancakes and re-grease in between.
How do I know when to flip my pancakes?
To achieve perfectly cooked pancakes, you need to flip them at the right time. This is NOT when you see bubbles covering the entire surface of the pancake. You want to see the bubbles pop and stay open before flipping. You’ll also know it's time when you see the edges of your pancake slightly drying out.
What should I put on top of my pancakes?
Pancakes are a blank canvas for ALL of the toppings. For these red velvet pancakes, here’s a few of my suggestions:
- Fresh berries
- A yogurt drizzle (TwoGood Vanilla would be so delicious)
- Chopped nuts
- Powdered sugar
- A cream cheese glaze: Toss 4 oz cream cheese into a blender with ¼ cup milk. Blend together. Then, add 1 cup of powdered sugar and blend together until smooth. Pour on top of the pancakes and enjoy!
- Whipped cream
- Nut butter like this dreamy Red Velvet Cupcake cashew butter
Healthy Red Velvet Protein Pancake Q+A
How do I store these pancakes?
You can store extras wrapped in tinfoil or in an airtight container for up to a week in your refrigerator.
Can I freeze these pancakes?
Yes, you can definitely make a large batch of these and freeze some. Freeze in a large Ziploc bag with a square of parchment between each pancake to prevent them from freezing together. To reheat, microwave in 30 second intervals or toast in the toaster.
Do I need to use the food coloring?
Red velvet is essentially just chocolate with coloring, so yes you can absolutely leave it out. Some alternatives to regular food dye include beet powder or juice. Beets have a sweet and subtle earthy flavor, but you won’t need much to dye your pancakes. The taste won’t really even come through.
I don't have applesauce. Is there something else I can use?
You can use a mashed banana in the same amount.
Can you recommend a protein powder?
I used Clean Simple Eats Brownie Batter Protein powder (CODE: APAIGE10) because that's been my favorite at the moment. Alternatively, iHeartMacros (CODE: PAIGE) also has a lot of great protein powders!
Try these recipes, too!
Healthy Berry French Toast Bake
Red Velvet Protein Pancakes Recipe
Equipment
- blender
- griddle or skillet
- spatula
- Whisk
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup rolled oats
- ½ cup nut milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup applesauce
- 1 scoop brownie batter protein powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup fresh raspberries
- 1 tbsp red food dye
Topping ideas:
- powdered sugar
- maple syrup
- cream cheese frosting
- fresh berries
Instructions
- Add rolled oats, nut milk, applesauce, and eggs into a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Next, add protein powder, baking powder, and vanilla extract into the blender and pulse until batter is completely liquified.
- Then, whisk in the red food dye. You can add as much as you’d like. I added enough until the batter turned red.
- Heat a griddle to medium heat. Spray with cooking spray
- Next, pour the batter into 4-6 inch sized pancakes and let sizzle on the griddle.
- Then, add fresh raspberries to the wet pancake batter and flip. Ensure they are cooked on the bottom prior to flipping. See my notes above for instructions.
- Remove from griddle and top with desired toppings. Enjoy!!
Notes
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It's my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved, something that you think it might need, or just say hi!
Looking for this in MyFitnessPal?
If you're using MyFitnessPal, search 'A Paige Of Positivity' and find Red Velvet Pancakes
½ batch of pancakes (with Clean Simple Eats protein powder): 32 grams Carbs | 9 grams Fat | 23 grams Protein
**Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
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