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 pancakes are not:
- Made with weird ingredients
- Boring
- Flavorless
- Diet-busting
- Dry as cardboard
- Hard as bricks
Just making sure we’re clear here.
Healthy Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 7-8 pancakes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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 (spoon & leveled)
- 1/2 cup (43g) old-fashioned whole rolled oats or quick 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.
Keywords: whole wheat oatmeal pancakes, whole wheat pancakes
I make these every weekend! And each time they’re perfect. Actually satisfying and don’t leave you hungry 30 minutes later. They freeze and reheat well too!
★★★★★
Can I use rolled oats for this recipe?
Yes, you can use whole rolled oats in this recipe instead of the quick oats.
My very favorite pancake recipe!
Soo hearty and you don’t feel gross after eating these!
★★★★★
I’ve made these a million times and they are delicious every time! They freeze really well too and heat up nicely in the toaster. Would recommend!
★★★★★
Excellent recipe, as always! I sprinkled in some chocolate chips and topped them with peanut butter and banana slices for my toddler and she’s doing a happy dance while eating them
★★★★★
Made this twice now. It’s delicious, filling and healthy!
★★★★★
I too love all pancakes. Banana pancakes, pancakes with peanut butter, with blueberries inside and out..the list goes on. But I haven’t made wheat pancakes because like your article says most require ingredients that I can’t pronounce or cost more money than I want to spend. Your recipe is perfect with staple pantry ingredients. I made a double patch and they turned out amazing. These are definitely going in the pancake rotation.
★★★★★
Made these vegan with VegEgg, oat milk, and oat yogurt. Delicious and fluffy!!!
★★★★★
These were a special Easter treat! Hearty and full of flavor and easy enough even for me!! Loved, loved, loved!
★★★★★
Thank you for this recipe! It has become my all-time favorite pancake recipe (AND my kids’)!! I also love adding a generous shake of nutmeg to the batter.
Can I use regular flour instead of whole wheat flour if I don’t have?
Yes you can, Kerry!
Can I substitute quick oats with rolled oats? If so, what do I need to do?
Hi Vivian! You can actually use your old fashioned oats – just place them in a food processor or blender and pulse them a few times to break them down and you will have your own quick oats Pulse them and then measure. Enjoy!
I doubled the recipe for our family of three, and we ate them all! Followed it exactly as u said, and they were amazing! All wholesome ingredients. Our toppings: fruit and cheese, but also PB&J, and Nutella. Will make again! Thank u!
★★★★★
I made these this morning as my family has shifted to eating more whole grains, vegetables and healthy proteins. I happened to have Greek yogurt on hand, so since I don’t like it by itself, I use it smoothies and other recipes. These pancakes were a hit with my family!! Not too sweet, great texture and satisfying. Delicious! Goodbye, boxed pancake mix.
★★★★★
These pancakes were SO delicious! Thanks for a great recipe! I substituted vanilla oat milk for regular milk and they were still very yummy. I highly recommend this recipe!
★★★★★
We make these pancakes almost every weekend. Hearty and filling and they taste delicious! Another great Sally pancake recipe.
★★★★★
Hi, I live in France and there IS not Quick oats. Is it possible to put old fashion oats instead? Will the batter rest a little bit before cooking to hydrate the oats?
My 3 kids are in-lov with the old fashion cookies with oatmeals!!! Yours recipes are Amazing and surprinsling healthy!!!! So m’y New objectif is to test every oatmeal and whole floue recipes 😉
Thanks for thé answers
★★★★★
Hi Sabrina! You can actually use your old fashion oats – just place them in a food processor or blender and pulse them a few times to break them down and you will have your own quick oats 🙂 Pulse them and then measure. Enjoy!
Here in the UK, quick oats are known as ‘porridge oats’. They’re in the middle price bracket whereas old fashioned oats or whole porridge oats here are more expensive. Hope that helps 🙂
Delicious pancake recipe! I added blueberries and used blueberry Greek yogurt since that’s what I had on hand. Thanks for the recipe!
★★★★★
Love love love these Sally!!! I didn’t know that such a healthy pancake could taste so good – in my opinion they taste even better than regular ones… Definitely a regular in my house from now on – I can’t believe I didn’t try these before!❤
These were great! All I had was full fat vanilla Greek yogurt and they turned out perfectly!! Thanks for another great recipe!
LOVE these pancakes, exactly what I have been looking for! Made them with blueberries-delish! thank you!
Thank you for this awesome pancake recipe. They were absolutely delicious. I made them this morning and my husband also loved them. I usually only eat one pancake but today I ate two!
Tried this recipe today and they’re very delicious. I followed it to the letter, used chocolate chip as mix-ins and topped it with sliced bananas and chopped pecans. It was easy to make and the pancakes turned up fluffy and soft, sweet but not overly sweet, even with the semi-sweet chocolate I added on. This will be my go-to wheat pancakes from now on. Thank for sharing!.
I can’t believe I haven’t found this recipe before now, for all the searching for healthy oatmeal pancakes I’ve done. I really appreciate the addition of the Greek yogurt too, for its health benefits as well as the moisture it incorporates into the pancakes… a tough feat for WW pancakes!
Just finished making (and eating!) my first batch and they are beyond my expectations delicious! This recipe is bookmarked now. Thanks so much for sharing!!
I made these pancakes just like the recipe said and put the chocolate chips in them too. Oh my goodness!! They are soooooo good!!! Thanks for the receipe!!
I have made these twice now and they are legit. Even my picky kid eats it happily. Thank you!!
Hi Aisha! You can use oat flour for the whole wheat flour in these pancakes, but I don’t recommend subbing for the whole oats.
Another idea! You can use oat flour in these breakfast cookies. I would use 1 and 1/2 cups of oat flour and the rest oats (so 1/2 cup + 1/3 cup oats). Does that make sense?
Yup, got it! 🙂 I’m sure my kids will love having cookies for breakfast. Can’t wait to try it out–Thanks!
We LOVE these pancakes for breakfast on Sunday mornings. I was wondering if we could use oat flour instead of regular oats. Thanks!
Sally, these are so great!! Thank you!!