This protein-packed camping pancake mix recipe is something I whip up before every trip to the great outdoors. It's easy, healthy, tasty, filling, & very versatile!
Pancake mix makes for the beginning of a perfect camping breakfast - minimal effort is key! - but store-bought mix just does NOT work for my dietary restrictions and health goals.
This pancake mix was designed to be high protein, low carb, and tasty - and I succeeded on all fronts!
This is the perfect pancake recipe to make ahead, for easy camping meals.
There’s nothing better than rolling out of your sleeping bag on the first morning of a new trip, pulling out a bag of your own pancake mix, and tossing it together for an easy breakfast.
Need to make a large batch? No problem, just use multiple bags, and increase the milk and egg ingredients proportionately.
They’re also very customizable - you can add spices, fruit, chocolate chips, whatever you like. Make apple cinnamon pancakes one morning, then blueberry or chocolate chip pancakes next time.
It’s a great way to keep things interesting!
So, when you’re planning your next camping trip, throw on a batch of this easy recipe for camping pancake mix.
There really is no better way to start a chilly morning by the lake, IMHO.
Ingredients
When making this camping pancake mix recipe, I tend to look at the dry mix ingredients in 3 sets, with one being optional:
1. The base mix. I make this as-is, without deviating from the recipe.
2. The additional ingredients you’ll need to turn that pre-made mix into actual pancake batter.
3. Optional add-ins. These are the things you can add to the batter when you’re making the pancakes, to customize the flavor to your personal preference.
I guess I’d add a 4th set: Toppings!
Anyway, looking at those sets of ingredients:
The Dry Pancake Mix
I try to keep to relatively healthy eating while camping - roasting marshmallows and Jiffypop nothwithstanding! - so I designed this pancake mix recipe to be low carb, gluten free, and high protein.
The mix is made with 4 simple ingredients:
1. Almond meal is NOT the same as super fine almond flour. It’s not as finely processed, and will not let you get the texture of regular pancakes if you use it.
2. Use a protein powder that you actually like the flavour of - don’t cheap out because it’s “just pancakes”.
We use Revolution Nutrition's High Whey Vanilla Cake protein powder, and LOVE IT. 10/10, highly recommend.
That said, this recipe should work well with any vanilla protein powder mix - you may just need to tinker with the liquid amount you add, as some will absorb moisture a bit differently than others.
Once you make your first batch, you should have a good feel for how much liquid yours will need, to get the batter consistency you like.
As written, this makes a thick batter, and fluffy pancakes.
3. You don’t NEED to use Vanilla. If you’ve got a great sweetened, flavoured protein powder, use it! We use a bunch of different flavours from Revolution Nutrition - Lemon Meringue, Mint Chocolate Chip, even Birthday Cake... as well as other flavours from different brands.
Have fun with it - just be sure to mark the flavour on the bag!
To Use A Mix:
You only need 2 ingredients to use these mixes: Large eggs, and milk.
If you’d like, you can add some oil - it’s a great way to get some extra healthy fats in!
In terms of then milk, you can use whatever you like. Regular 2% milk is fine, I tend to default to Unsweetened Almond Milk.
Oat milk, Cashew Milk, Flax Milk, and Macadamia Milk are all great options.
Even if you don’t need a plant based milk, I find that these all just taste better than dairy milk, especially when making something like camping pancakes, or baked goods.
As a bonus, many of the non-dairy milk alternatives are available in shelf-stable tetra packs! These are very convenient when fridge space is hard to come by.
If you are trying to work some extra oil in, you can add some MCT Oil, Liquid Coconut Oil, or Avocado Oil.
I generally don’t bother - the texture is great without it, it’s really only about meeting your macros, if needed!
You do, however, need some sort of oil to coat your pan. I use nonstick spray, but a bit of vegetable oil works, if you prefer.
Add-Ins
How you customize these pancakes is up to you - and depends a bit on the flavour you start with.
This is why I use vanilla more than anything - it’s a great neutral base, and pretty much anything you add will go great with it!
A few ideas:
1. Spices. Add ½ teaspoon or so of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, and/or other warm spices to 1 bag of mix, before adding the wet ingredients.
2. Fresh fruit. Add ½ cup of fresh berries or shredded apple to the batter, after you’ve mixed the wet ingredients in. (Hint: Apple with cinnamon!)
3. Citrus zest. You can add a bit of fresh or dried lemon zest, orange zest, etc to the batter at any point. This works especially well when adding berries, IMHO.
4. Chocolate chips or nuts. Pretty simple - Chopped Walnuts, Chopped Pecans, Chocolate Chips, and/or Mini Chocolate Chips - alone or in combination - can make for some fun pancakes!
Add them after the batter is mixed, or toss them in your mixes as you’re making them.
Toppings
These camp pancakes are the perfect base for any number of your favorite toppings.
A few ideas:
Sauces, etc: Pure Maple Syrup, Sugar Free Pancake Syrup, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, fruit sauces, melted jam, melted peanut butter... or just a square of butter, for minimalist tastes!
Fruit: Try fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc. Banana slices are great, whether raw or sauteed in a bit of butter and brown sugar - same goes for apples.
Other: Try candied nuts, chocolate chips, coconut flakes - whatever you like!
Equipment
As far as equipment goes, all you’ll need are some
1. Ziplock baggies - 1 sandwich size for each mix, larger ones to store individual mixes in!
2. A Sharpie marker - for labelling the mixes.
3 - Whatever you need to make and cook your pancakes. In my case, that’s a collapsible bowl or a pot, a fork to stir the batter, my Cuisinart Griddler, and a couple silicone spatulas.
As with RVs... your mileage may vary! 🙂
How to Make Homemade Pancake Mix
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the visual walk through.
To Make Mixes
Open as many sandwich bags as you’ll need for making mixes. The recipe is for 1 bag, each bag serves 2 people.
One ingredient at a time, measure each dry ingredient into each of the bags.
I’ll do the almond flour first, in each bag, then the protein powder, etc - assembly line!
Once all of the ingredients are measured into the bags, give a bag a bit of a shake to mix it up, then push all of the excess air out of a bag and seal it. Repeat with remaining bags.
Pancakes mixes should be used by the earliest expiry date of all the ingredients you use - use a sharpie to mark the expiry date on each baggie.
To Use Pancake Mix (Makes 6 Pancakes):
Heat a large nonstick skillet, griddle, cast-iron skillet, cast iron griddle, or other flat cooking surface over medium heat, spray with nonstick spray.
Alternatively, get some hot coals going, and set your grill grates over them, if applicable. Heat a cast iron pan over the hot coals.
(There are a million different ways to cook pancakes, depending on your base camp set up and equipment on hand!)
Empty a bag of pancake mix into a small mixing bowl. If you’re adding any spice, do so now.
A note on getting the right consistency: As written, this recipe makes a thick batter and fluffier pancake, which is how I like it.
If you prefer thinner pancakes, add a little more water or milk until you achieve the right consistency for your preference!
I know some people like to use a water bottle to pour batter onto the pan - you’ll definitely want some extra liquid if you’re going to do that!
If adding anything - berries, chocolate chips, shredded apple- stir that in now.
If you used a thick batter, use the measuring cup to spread the batter a little. Try to leave plenty of room between the pancakes - I am too impatient / lazy to, so I end up making a mess of them, LOL!
(You can do all 6 at once, if using a larger surface, like my Cuisinart Griddler. I’ve taken to using this exclusively lately, I like the better temperature control it gives me!)
Allow to cook on the first side until the underside is nicely golden brown, and small bubbles are breaking at the surface.
Carefully flip each pancake and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until golden brown on the second side, and JUST cooked through.
Note: for best results, take them off the heat as soon as they’re cooked through - overcooking can lead to dry pancakes!
Serve the camping pancakes with your favorite toppings - butter, Pure Maple Syrup, Sugar Free Pancake Syrup, more berries, etc - or just plain.
After cooling to room temperature, leftover pancakes can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple days.
More Protein Pancake Recipes
Looking for more healthy pancake recipes that are great on the road? We’ve got you covered!
Banana Protein Pancakes
Strawberry Protein Pancakes
Blueberry Protein Pancakes
Blackberry Protein Pancakes
Apple Cinnamon Protein Pancakes
Raspberry Protein Pancakes
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Camping Pancake Mix
Equipment
- 1 Ziplock Sandwich Bag
Ingredients
Pancake Mix:
- ⅓ cup Super Fine Almond Meal
- 2 Scoops Vanilla Flavoured Whey Protein We use Revolution Nutrition High Whey - Vanilla Cake
- 1 tablespoon Coconut Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
To Use A Mix:
- ⅓ cup Milk of choice we use unsweetened almond milk
- 2 Large Eggs
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil or MCT Oil optional
Instructions
To Make Mixes
- Open as many sandwich bags as you’ll need for making mixes. The recipe is for 1 bag, each bag serves 2 people.
- One ingredient at a time, measure each dry ingredient into each of the bags. I’ll do the almond flour first, in each bag, then the protein powder, etc - assembly line!
- Once all of the ingredients are measured into the bags, push all of the excess air out of a bag and seal it. Repeat with remaining bags.
- Store mix in a cool, dry, dark place until use.
- Should be used by the earliest expiry date of all the ingredients you use.
To Use Pancake Mix (Makes 6 Pancakes):
- Heat a large nonstick skillet, griddle, or other flat cooking surface over medium heat, spray with nonstick spray.
- Empty a bag of pancake mix into a small mixing bowl. If you’re adding any spice, do so now.
- Add milk, eggs, and oil - if using, use a fork to stir until well combined and smooth.
- If adding anything - berries, chocolate chips, shredded apple- stir that in now.
- Use a ¼ cup measure to pour batter out into 3 small pancakes. (You can do all 6 at once, if using a larger surface, like my Cuisinart Griddler.)
- Allow to cook until the underside is nicely golden brown, and small bubbles are breaking at the surface.
- Carefully flip each pancake and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until golden brown on the second side, and JUST cooked through.
- Note: Overcooking can lead to dry pancakes!
- If you only did the 3 pancakes to start, use the ¼ cup measure to pour the remaining batter into another 3 pancakes, repeat the cooking process.
- Serve the camping pancakes with your favorite toppings - butter, maple syrup, sugar free syrup, more berries, etc - or just plain.
Notes
Nutrition
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