Banana Pudding Pancakes
- Nicole Collins
- 2 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Banana Pudding Pancakes- These pancakes start with a boxed mix, but there’s a secret ingredient making these both delicious and a little better for you. And, it’s not banana!
June 8, 2025 by Nicole Collins
Today, we’re making Banana Pudding Pancakes!
First, a disclaimer…these pancakes are hiding a secret ingredient. This secret ingredient is having a REAL moment right now. It’s everywhere you turn! It’s especially popular because of the protein element that it adds to a meal. But let me just say this, I’m not claiming that these pancakes are “healthy” or high protein. However, I will say they’ll make you feel good about what you’re eating, and they’ll leave you feeling fully satisfied.
Now, have you guessed the secret ingredient yet?
It’s cottage cheese!
That’s right, we’re blending trendy cottage cheese into our pancake batter AND making a cottage cheese “pudding” to drizzle over our pancakes. If you’re a cottage cheese hater (like me), fear not. I have a MAJOR issue with the texture of cottage cheese, and I’ll be the first to say “EWWW” when I hear someone say the words. But, I’m telling you…blending the cottage cheese is kind of a game changer. So, trust me on this one.
We’re going to start with the pudding part of our banana pudding pancakes. I like to use a personal sized blender to do this, because it makes things nice and easy. So to the cup of the blender, we’ll add our cottage cheese, some instant vanilla pudding mix, and a little bit of unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Blend…DONE. We’ll transfer the mix to a bowl, and toss it in the fridge to it can start to set up while we work on the pancakes. It’s that simple!
Now, just a quick note on the cottage cheese. I’m no cottage cheese expert, but I can tell you that lowfat cottage cheese does not work well in any recipe I’ve tried. Definitely, stick to the 4% milkfat for the best results.
Using the same blender cup we used for the pudding (without having to clean it out first), we’re going to make our pancake batter. So, we’ll add some store bought pancake mix to the cup along with the same ingredients we used for the pudding: pudding mix, cottage cheese, and almond milk. Now, I will note that I recommend filling the cup with the wet ingredients closest to the blade of the blender. This mixture is pretty thick, so your blender may struggle with the dry ingredients at the bottom. So, we’ll blend the mix. Then, I like to transfer it to a bowl to rest for a few minutes while we heat our griddle.
From here, we’ll butter a large griddle (faster) or a large non stick skillet (more accessible), and get ready to prepare our pancakes. Like I said, this batter is on the thicker side. So, I like to use an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter to the griddle. Then, we’ll gently flatten them out a bit and let them cook for a couple minutes per side until they’re beautifully golden.
When it’s time to assemble, we’ll grab a plate, and layer on our pancakes, some pudding, some fresh sliced bananas, then repeat. You can stack these as high as you can handle. This is optional, but I like to finish the stack with a squeeze of whipped cream and a crumble of nilla wafers. It just makes these pancakes look so beautiful!
These pancakes are DECADENT. The pancakes themselves are thick and cakey with little caramelized bits where some of the cottage cheese may not have fully blended. The pudding is perfectly creamy and not too cloyingly sweet. Then stacked together with the ripe bananas, this tastes like a sinful dessert and not a cottage cheese loaded breakfast. For a cottage cheese hater, I can give these a solid 12/10 without hesitation.
I kind of want to keep experimenting with cottage cheese. What should we make next?!?
In the meantime, enjoy! And, let’s eat!
Banana Pudding Pancakes
Serves: 5 Print
Ingredients:
For the Pudding:
½ cup cottage cheese
1 tbsp instant vanilla pudding mix
2 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk
For the Pancakes:
1 cup pancake mix
1 tbsp instant vanilla pudding mix
1/3 cup cottage cheese
¼ unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1-2 ripe bananas, sliced
Whipped cream and crushed Nilla wafers, for garnish
Directions:
Make the pudding: To the cup of a personal blender or mini food processor, add ½ cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp pudding mix, and 2 tbsp almond milk. Blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a bowl, and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
To the same blender cup, add pancake mix, 1 tbsp pudding mix, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, and ¼ cup almond milk. Blend until fully combined. The batter will be thick. Transfer to a bowl, and allow batter to rest for 15 mins.
Preheat an electric griddle or large nonstick skillet to medium heat. Melt butter over the surface of the griddle. Using a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, scoop batter onto prepared griddle, and flatten out the batter to about ¼ inch thickness. Cook for 2-3 mins per side until golden.
To assemble, allow the pancakes to cool slightly. Top each pancake with a spoonful of pudding, a few slices of banana, and whipped cream with crushed cookies, if desired. If stacking pancakes, only add whipped cream and cookies to the top layer. Serve immediately, and enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*Be sure to use 4% milkfat cottage cheese. Lowfat cottage cheese does not do well when heated. I also like to use small curd cottage cheese, but any curd will work since it’s being blended anyway.
*I don’t like to use sugar free pudding mix, because I don’t like the taste of artificial sweeteners. But if you are fine with it, feel free to use the sugar free variety.
*When filling the blender cup with the pancake ingredients, I recommend layering in the wet ingredients closest to the blender blade. This batter is thick and will not mix as well if the dry ingredients hit the blade first.
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