Healthy Pancakes
This Easy Healthy Pancake Recipe is the best! I’ve tested this recipe time and again and it’s our go-to whole wheat pancake recipe. You can use this same batter to make delicious waffles with crisp edges and soft centers!
This recipe has been a long time coming! I’ve been working on this healthy pancake recipe for months, to make sure it was just right before I shared it with you. That has meant a lot of pancakes for my family, but no one has complained!
This is my best easy healthy pancake recipe. We make pancakes or waffles about once a week, usually on Sunday mornings. I like to make enough so that we can freeze some for mid-week dinners.
Yes, I said dinners! I plan a breakfast for dinner night every week because it’s a fast, easy and budget-friendly meal. I never have to buy anything special because we always have eggs, fruit, and frozen pancakes or waffles on hand. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite with my kids, and I never hear complaining when these pancakes are on the menu!
Why we LOVE these whole wheat pancakes:
- The pancakes turn out light and fluffy and taste amazing.
- This recipe is so easy! My 9 year old daughter now makes these whole wheat pancakes for our family every weekend (all by herself!).
- They freeze perfectly for make ahead meals.
Be sure to also try my favorite light and crispy buttermilk waffle recipe! It’s healthy and super easy.
You can also use this same batter to make whole wheat waffles! How convenient is that? One recipe, two delicious, easy and healthy breakfast options. The waffles are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The pancakes are light and fluffy. Both are just perfect with fresh fruit and a drizzle of pure maple syrup. How will you choose?? 😉
I tested this recipe many, many times, with all sorts of adaptations. In the end, the simplest recipe is the one my family likes best. It’s funny how that’s often the case, isn’t it?
I tested this easy healthy pancake recipe with buttermilk, a combination of milk and Greek yogurt, homemade buttermilk made from milk + lemon juice, and regular whole milk. The regular whole milk is my favorite because it’s the simplest. The whole milk pancakes were just as good as any of the others, so we’ll go with simple! (If you’re looking for a pancake recipe made with buttermilk, try my favorite buttermilk pancakes.)
I also tried varying amounts of melted butter in this recipe. I found that you can get away with just 2 tablespoons of butter and still have great-tasting pancakes. Adding unsweetened applesauce to the batter allows us to use less butter and leads to healthier pancakes!
One more note about the applesauce: I wouldn’t recommend skipping it. One time we were all out and I substituted Greek yogurt. We really noticed a difference in the flavor and sweetness of the pancakes. Even though the applesauce has no added sugar, it does add sweetness to the pancakes. You’ll also add 2 tablespoons of honey (or pure maple syrup) to this batter to create just-sweet-enough pancakes.
If you need a substitute for the applesauce, I would recommend using mashed banana. Your pancakes will turn out sweeter because ripe bananas add a lot of sweetness to baked goods.
These healthy pancakes are made with whole wheat flour, which has fiber that will keep you full. They won’t spike your blood sugar the way that pancakes made from all-purpose flour might. I use white whole wheat flour because we prefer the lighter texture compared to regular whole wheat flour.
We cannot get enough of these whole grain pancakes! They don’t require fancy ingredients and you can mix up the batter in just 5 minutes. I know you’ll love them, too!
For those times when you want to get a little more creative with your pancakes, I recommend trying my Lemon Greek Yogurt Pancakes.
Tips for making this Easy Healthy Pancake Recipe:
- This pancake batter will be thick. Resist adding more milk, as that will create thinner pancakes. For light and fluffy pancakes, you need a thick batter!
- I’ve found 1/4 cup batter per pancake is the perfect amount.
- As I mentioned before, I recommend using white whole wheat flour in these pancakes. White whole wheat is made from a different kind of wheat berry and has a lighter color and a more mild, sweeter flavor than regular whole wheat.
- To make waffles, follow the recipe as directed and then cook according to your waffle maker’s instructions.
Best Easy Healthy Pancake Recipe (Whole Wheat Pancakes)
Ingredients
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 ¼ cups milk (whole milk is best in this recipe)
- 2 tablespoons honey (or pure maple syrup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (melted)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together white whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a medium bowl, combine eggs, applesauce, milk, honey and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Whisk in melted butter. (The batter will be thick, but avoid adding more milk or your pancakes may turn out flat rather than light and fluffy.)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just incorporated. It's ok if a few lumps remain; try not to over-mix.
- Heat a griddle or skillet over medium heat. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Scoop batter by scant ¼ cup onto the heated griddle. Cook on the first side until bubbles begin to form and the bottom side of the pancakes are lightly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until the second side is browned, about 2 minutes more. Serve immediately or keep warm in a 200 degree oven while you cook the rest of the pancakes.
- To make waffles, prepare batter as directed above and then cook according to your waffle maker's instructions.
- Pancakes and waffles keep well in the freezer. Let cool completely and then freeze in a zip-top plastic bag.
Notes
- This pancake batter will be thick. Resist adding more milk, as that will create thinner pancakes. We want thick, light and fluffy pancakes, which requires a thick batter.
- I recommend using white whole wheat flour in these pancakes. White whole wheat is made from a different kind of wheat berry and has a lighter color and a more mild, sweeter flavor than regular whole wheat.
- To make waffles, prepare the batter as directed and then cook according to your waffle maker's instructions.
Nutrition
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What a perfect stack of pancakes (and waffles) Kristine! I love that this recipe is on the healthier side. It’s so nice to have a staple recipe that you can over and over again. This looks just wonderful for a weekend breakfast!
Thank you, Gayle! My family needs an easy staple pancake/waffle recipe, we make them so often!
Your pancakes look really good! What fabulous way to introduce healthy and delicious into your lifestyle.
Thanks for sharing.
Velva
Tomatoes on the Vine
Thank you, Velva! These are our favorite!
Kristine,
Would you also be able to use Whole Wheat Pastry Flour or Sprouted Wheat Flour?
Thanks,
Mary
Hi Mary, I think either of those would work. Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Kristine,
Made them this morning with the whole wheat pastry flour and they turned out nice a fluffly! Thanks for the great healthy recipe!
Mary
I’m so glad you liked them, Mary! We make these pretty much every week. 🙂
These are my favorite pancakes! Only change was I made them with spelt flour and stevia instead of honey and they turned out perfect. Thank you for the great recipe!! 🙂
I’m so glad you like these as much as we do, Anna!
Wow! Those are amazing! I used spelt flour and strawberry applesauce and my 18 month old twins devoured them! 🙂
I’m so glad! I bet they were so good with the strawberry applesauce!
These were the best! Felt like a real splurge!! I stuck with unsweetened almond milk & whole wheat pastry flour as that is what I had. Amazing and fluffy!!
Would this work with gluten free flour?
I think this recipe would work with a 1:1 gluten free flour but haven’t tested it.
I’m an avid breakfast maker! These are great! Do you have the nutritional information for this recipe? (Calories, etc)
Thanks much for sharing this recipe!
I just updated the recipe to add nutrition information. I’m glad you like these! We make them every week. 🙂
We love this recipe and have made it several times! We are going camping this weekend and I’m wondering if I can mix the wet together now in a jar and the dry in a ziplock- would this be ok? Thank you!!!
Hi Anna, you can mix the dry ingredients together ahead of time but I would be hesitant to mix the wet ahead. I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe!
I’m looking forward to making these pancakes for our go to breakfast during school. Do you have syrup that you prefer besides Aunt Jemima? We really try to decrease out sugar intake in our household, but we’ve never been able to get away from Jemima syrup.
Thanks!
I always use pure maple syrup. It is more expensive, but I buy the large container at Costco (they also have it at Trader Joe’s and most grocery stores). Since it’s pure maple syrup, I would say it’s more wholesome than imitation syrups. It’s still high in sugar, so I think the key is to just limit the amount. 😉
Would this work with oat flour?
I haven’t tested this recipe with oat flour so I’m not sure.
Though a different recipe still loved it . But did little changes like no apple sauce so added 1/4 cup milk along with another egg , no honey so added molasses to it , no apple sauce so 1tablespoon more mollasses with 1 tablespoon more butter but molasses added more to the flavour yummy it tasted different cake like my family didnot it was healthy they thought I made Some gourmet version of pancakes
This looks great! Going to try this one for sure:)
Very good! And to think I never make pancakes since I never have buttermilk. THANK YOU!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! It’s our go-to for pancakes. 🙂
Made these today and they were so delicious! The texture is perfect. Even my picky 3 yr old loved them. I already can’t wait to eat them tomorrow lol
These pancakes were perfect for a quick and easy breakfast. I had ran out of applesauce so I replaced it with coconut oil and they still turned out wonderful. Thank you for creating a healthy go-to pancake.
Would regular white flour work? It’s all I have at the moment.
Thank you
Yes, that will work just fine. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for this recipe!! My fiancé absolutely loves pancakes but I don’t make them very often because I try to eat fairly healthy. We’ve tried some other healthy pancake recipes but they taste healthy. Not these, they taste as good as normal pancakes and my fiancé loves them (he’s picky!)
This pancakes are my favorite now!! Nice and fluffy and healthy… I love them! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
WOW! I rarely if ever leave reviews of recipes unless whatever I make actually turns out good. This recipe is great! I love the texture of the pancakes and they came out delicious. I actually halved all the recipes because I was afraid to “waste” anything just in case things turned out badly lol. Happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised. Will definitely be making this again and I might just stop buying store bought mixes. Thank you!
Ingredients**
Love love love these pancakes!! My 3 year old devoured them! We are making small lifestyle changes, swapping whole wheat flour for white flour being one of them, so I was desperately searching for a good pancake recipe. I took a chance on this recipe and I will never buy store mixes again! Thank you for sharing!
My favorite breakfast dish. Only I love them with chocolate cream or plain sugar. And I also make small ones in a small frying pan to make it easier to eat. Brilliant recipe, thank you for adding it.
These were delicious! I replaced the butter with the 2 T applesauce, and used almond-coconut milk. Super yummy! Thanks for the recipe!!