Healthy Greek Yogurt Pancakes
Posted Jan 02, 2019, Updated Jun 10, 2024
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These healthy Greek yogurt pancakes are fluffy and moist. They are easy to make (one bowl) and are the perfect delicious and nutritious breakfast recipe that your whole family will love! Gluten-free & refined-sugar-free options.
My love for breakfast knows no bounds. I could seriously eat breakfast food all day every day and never get tired of it. Smoothies? Always. Oatmeal? Sign me up. Muffins? Yes Please.
These healthy Greek Yogurt Pancakes are my go-to recipe when I want to make a special breakfast for my family. They’re easy to whip up in one bowl, made with vanilla Greek yogurt, and are easily made gluten-free.
These Greek yogurt pancakes are so healthy that they don’t putย you in a pancake coma after you’re finished eating them. Instead, they leave youย feeling energized and ready to tackle the day. Especially when served with this Greek yogurt smoothie!
These healthy pancakes can hold their own even without maple syrup (although hello, why someone would not douse their pancakes in the best substance ever is beyond my realm of understanding).
Greek Yogurt Pancakes: Ingredients & Substitutions
Let’s take a minute to chat about the ingredients in this Greek yogurt pancake recipe, as well as possible substitutions.
- Oat flour. Make your own or use store bought. Or, substitute the oat flour with all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose gluten-free flour.
- All-purpose flour. I really feel like the blend of flours is important in this recipe. The addition of all-purpose flour with oat flour makes these pancakes more hearty and easy to flip. You can substitute gluten-free all purpose flour, whole wheat flour or more oat flour (but if you make this choice the pancakes will be more delicate).
- Vanilla Greek yogurt. If you use plain Greek yogurt you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe. Or, use a flavored yogurt for different varieties.
- Granulated sugar. Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe! For a refined sugar free version use coconut sugar or honey.
- Milk. Any dairy-free or regular dairy milk works perfectly in these healthy greek yogurt pancakes.
- Mix ins. you can add up to half cup of mix ins like chocolate chips (try these chocolate chip pancakes – yum), nuts, dried fruit, etc.
How to Make Greek Yogurt Pancakes
Let’s walk through the process of making this Greek Yogurt Pancakes Recipe step-by-step to ensure your success!
Make Oat Flour
Since we always have old-fashioned oatmeal on hand, I choose to make homemade oat flour because it is easy and inexpensive. To make oat flour to use in these Greek Yogurt Pancakes,
- Measure 1 cup of old-fashioned oats and put it in the container of a Vitamix (or another high-powered blender.
- Blend for 10-15 seconds.
- Remove and use in the recipe.
You can choose to use store-bought oat flour as well! It is an inexpensive, gluten-free baking flour.
Make the Batter
Next, combine the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. You will only be using one bowl in this recipe, so be sure to choose large enough to accommodate all the ingredients.
I recommend using a wire whisk to combine the wet ingredients. This will ensure that they are all fully combined and there are no lumps of yogurt or wisps of egg left in the batter!
Since this is a one-bowl recipe, the dry ingredients are whisked in after the wet ingredient mixture is smooth. You can always mix the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and add them to the wet ingredients if you prefer.
The batter should be smooth & thick before proceeding to cooking the Greek Yogurt Pancakes. If the yogurt is thin/watery or your eggs are unusually large, then you may need more flour, 1 Tablespoon at a time.
Once the batter is smooth, you can add your favorite mixins like sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, etc.!
Cook the Greek Yogurt Pancakes
Scoop 1/4 cup portions of the Greek Yogurt Pancake batter onto a greased skillet or griddle. Cook for 2-4 minutes per side over medium-low heat.
I recommend cooking these Greek Yogurt Pancakes in melted butter for the best taste and flavor. However you can use cooking spray or coconut oil to grease the pan/griddle as well.
I suggest cooking them on an electric or stovetop griddle with a temperature knob and cook them at 350 degrees F.
You can also cook pancakes in a skillet over medium/low heat, but just be sure to watch them carefully and adjust the heat as neeeded.
Serve
Serve these Greek yogurt pancakes with syrup, berries, or a slather of cinnamon honey butter or peanut butter. We love serving them alongside a greek yogurt smoothie.
Prepare in Advance
To prepare the night before: combine the wet ingredients in a glass bowl with a lid and store the mixture in the refrigerator overnight. Then combine the dry ingredients and store the mixture at room temperature. Then mix them together in the morning and cook!
Store
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Freeze
To freeze, cool pancakes completely. Lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer until they have hardened. Then transfer the frozen pancakes to an airtight container and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. Reheat in the toaster or microwave.
Greek Yogurt Pancakes Recipe FAQs
Here are a few commonly asked questions when it comes to making the best Greek yogurt pancakes recipe!
I do not recommend using yogurt as a substitute for eggs. In this Greek yogurt pancake recipe the eggs are important component to achieving the fluffiness pictured above.
To make this recipe gluten-free, just be sure to use gluten-free oat flour (gluten-free old fashioned oats blended into flour), and all-purpose gluten-free flour. You can also substitute the oat flour completely with all-purpose gluten-free flour.
Here are some tips on fluffy pancakes:
Leavening agents.ย baking powder and baking soda to give them a beautiful rise.
Eggs.ย Eggs also add to the fluffiness of these Greek yogurt pancakes.
Greek Yogurt.ย Using yogurt instead of milk makes these healthy pancakes super thick (but still light).
As you can see in the recipe card, this healthy pancake recipe only calls for 1-2 TBS of milk if the batter is not thin enough. So yes! You absolutely can use yogurt in place of milk when making pancakes, like these!
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Healthy Greek Yogurt Pancakes Recipe (gluten-free option)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flour (1 cup old-fashioned oats blended)
- ยผ cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ยฝ teaspoon baking soda
- ยฝ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ยฝ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1-2 Tablespoons milk (if needed) regular, almond, coconut, etc.
- salted butter or coconut oil (for greasing the skillet)
Instructions
- Preheat an electric griddle to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl mix together the Greek yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Whisk until mixture is smooth.
- Add sugar, oat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl. Whisk until completely combined.
- If the batter is too thick, add milk 1 TBS at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
- Grease a griddle or skillet by melting butter on it and moving it around until the surface is coated.
- Pour ยผ cup portions of pancake batter onto the greased, heated surface.
- Cook until bubbles start forming in the batter and the sides become set (about 2-4 minutes)
- Flip and cook for 2-4 minutes on the second side, or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
- Oat flour.ย Make your own or use store bought. Or, substitute the oat flour with all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour, or all-purpose gluten-free flour.
- All-purpose flour.ย I really feel like the blend of flours is important in this recipe. The addition of all-purpose flour with oat flour makes these pancakes more hearty and easy to flip. You can substitute gluten-free all purpose flour, whole wheat flour or more oat flour (but if you make this choice the pancakes will be more delicate).
- Vanilla Greek yogurt.ย If you use plain Greek yogurt you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe. Or, use a flavored yogurt for different varieties.
- Granulated sugar.ย Any granulated sugar works well in this recipe! For a refined sugar free version use coconut sugar or honey.
- Milk.ย Any dairy-free or regular dairy milk works perfectly in these healthy greek yogurt pancakes.
- Mix ins. you can add up to half cup of mix ins like chocolate chips,ย nuts, dried fruit, etc.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Just made these for breakfast and itโs taking me a while to write this review because I keep pausing to shovel delicious pancakes in my mouth! I was a little cautious when it called for mostly oat flour because that has led to pretty dense pancakes from other recipes Iโve tried, but these were fluffy and perfectly cooked! I added some vanilla protein powder instead of the all purpose flour and sugar and they were perfect. This will definitely be my go to pancake recipe!
I absolutely LOVE your recipes!! How many pancakes would you suggest as a serving?
I just made these and OMG! I made half the recipe, and cooked half of that, so I only devoured 1/4. But man these were phenomenal! I was famished so didnโt take a picture but will after I eat the other half after my workout! I have a question, though! Because this recipe is just too much for one sitting for me (clearly as I just ate 1/4) and I live alone, would the pancakes still be so great if I used egg whites instead of the whole egg? I donโt want to have to refrigerate half the batter of half thebrecipe eqch time I make it โ you can see why now! If I had others to feed, no problem! Please let me know! In the meantime, the rest of my batter is in the fridge and will be waiting for me after the gym!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these Pancakes! I haven’t tried egg whites, but if you do let me know! FYI these pancakes freeze really well…so if you ever did want to make a full batch you could pop the rest in the freezer to save for another day! ๐
These look so delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Delicious AND gorgeous! Those drips in the top photo are perfection!
Nice action shot with the syrup!
These pancakes are great! I used half oat flour and half corn flour since I had it on hand. They turned out nice and fluffy!
I tried this recipe this morning. They were good. My pancakes were just a little thinner than I like so I think I will bump up the oats next time. Also going to cut back on the sweetener as I am not a big sweets eater. Thank you for the recipe!
Hey Helen! you absolutely can bump up the oats next time! I’m glad you enjoyed this!
These turned out amazing! Thank you so much! I used rapadura sugar, oat milk, nutmeg instead of cinnamon, so I did screw with your beautiful recipe a bit (just making do with what I had!) but regardless they were fluffy, yummy and even looked pretty. We avoid wheat as much as possible so these are a brilliant alternative, and now that I know I can make oat flour (in my budget-end appliance too, just a fruit ninja!), this opens doors!
These pancakes are really good. I love that they’re healthy but don’t involve uncommon staple ingredients. While mine did not turn out as pretty as Laura’s (i am pancake challenged), they were super tasty and super filling! Will definitely make them again.