Jump To Recipe
Author: Sally
Published: 11/04/2013Updated: 08/23/2022
Made with Greek yogurt, oats, whole wheat flour, and not much else. Simple, wholesome, and satisfying.
Healthy whole wheat pancakes are difficult to master because pancakes are meant to be light, soft, and fluffy. All things that whole wheat flour isn’t. However, finding the right balance of ingredients to make your pancakes whole-grain AND fluffy isn’t impossible. It just took me a few (um, several) tries.
I’ve never met a pancake that I didn’t like.
Correction. I’ve never met a fluffy buttermilk pancake that I didn’t like.I have, however, met several flimsy-dense-flavorless-whole-wheat pancakes in my life. And they’re quite a disappointment to say the least.
The chocolate chip version of this recipe is our favorite. Though I can never say no to a classic, maple-syrup drenched whole wheat pancake.
Making these pancakes is actually really simple. There’s no crazy ingredients you’ve never heard of. Nothing requiring you to spend $15 on a crazy sugar substitute you can’t pronounce. Just plain everyday ingredients like whole wheat flour, egg, quick oats, milk, and yogurt. The pancake batter is flavored with cinnamon and vanilla extract and is very lightly sweetened with brown sugar. Only 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar for the entire recipe. Not too shabby, right?
Let’s just discuss how thick these guys are. You have the baking powder to thank. Not too much baking powder so that your pancakes taste like chemicals, but just enough to give them a little lift. Ok, a lot of lift. And I’m lovin’ it!
The addition of oats adds fiber to your pancakes, as well as gives them a hearty, satisfying texture. The oats bulk up the batter without adding any unnecessary sugar or fat. You know when you mix oats with water/milk, they bulk right up? The same goes with this pancake batter. I always add a touch of oats to my batters. Oh and don’t worry, these pancakes won’t taste oat-y. If you prefer to skip the oats, try these whole wheat pancakes instead.
Greek yogurt adds a slight protein punch to the batter. It also keeps things on the lower fat side. I love using Greek yogurt in my healthier recipes; it’s like a softness inducing miracle ingredient. Yogurt also brings so much moisture to the resulting pancake.
These whole wheat oatmeal pancakes are:
- Soft
- Thick
- Healthy
- Whole-grain
- Moist
- Really, really good
These whole wheat oatmeal pancakes are not:
- Made with weird ingredients
- Boring
- Flavorless
- Diet-busting
- Dry as cardboard
- Hard as bricks
Just making sure we’re clear here.
More Pancake Recipes:
- Whole Wheat Pancakes&Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes
- Birthday Cake Pancakes
- Greek Yogurt Lemon Poppyseed Pancakes
- Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Homemade Crepes
Healthy Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
5 from 25 reviews
- Author: Sally
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 7-8 pancakes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Save Recipe
Description
Made with Greek yogurt, oats, whole wheat flour, and not much else. Simple, wholesome, and satisfying! Recipe may be doubled.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (123g) whole wheat flour or white whole-wheat flour()
- 1/2 cup(43g) old-fashionedwhole rolled oatsorquick oats(not instant)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large egg or 2 egg whites
- 1 cup (240ml) milk*
- 2 Tablespoons packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (63g) Greek yogurt*
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- optional: 1/2 cup add-ins like chocolate chips or fruit
Instructions
- In a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout, toss the flour, oats, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon together. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, whisk the egg and milk together. Whisk in the brown sugar and yogurt until no lumps remain. Whisk in the vanilla until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently whisk to combine. Make sure there are no patches of dry flour at the bottom of the bowl. The batter is thick and a few lumps are fine.Gently fold in any mix-ins you prefer.
- Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat. Coat generously with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Once it’s hot, drop/pour a heaping 1/4 cup of batter on the griddle. Cook until the edges look set and you notice holes in the pancake’s surface around the border, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side until cooked through, about 1–2 more minutes. Coat griddle/skillet with butter or nonstick spray again, if needed, for each batch of pancakes.
- Keep pancakes warm in a preheated 200°F (93°C) oven until all pancakes are cooked. Serve pancakes immediately with toppings of choice.
- Cover and store leftover pancakes in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Pancakes freeze well up to 3 months. Reheat frozen pancakes in the microwave. Or you can reheat frozen pancakes in a 350°F (177°C) oven. Place pancakes on a lined baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 6–8 minutes or until defrosted and warm.
- Can I make the batter the night before? No, I don’t recommend it. Baking powder is activated once wet. You can, however, mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together and keep them separate and covered in the refrigerator until the morning.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Electric Griddle, Griddle Pan, or Shallow Skillet/Pan
- Milk: Recipe tested with both skim and vanilla almond milks. Soy milk, 1%, 2%, buttermilk, or rice milk are OK.
- Yogurt: Recipe tested with plain 0% Greek yogurt. Regular yogurt, any milk fat and your choice of flavor, is OK.
