Out of flour but really want some cookies?! You can use pancake mix! These Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix Cookies are a cross between puffy pancakes and soft muffin tops! Simple to make with any ‘just add water’ pancake mix!
Have you ever tried Kodiak Cakes Flapjack & Waffle Mix? It’s a protein pancake mix that is versatile, low in sugar, and always on hand in my house. It’s the original inspo for all these pancake mix recipes you see on Project Meal Plan.
I buy the mix in bulk at Costco and use it for more than just pancakes! This time, it’s for these chocolate chip pancake mix cookies. But the best part is – you can use any ‘just add water’ pancake mix!
What are the ingredients in these chocolate chip pancake mix cookies?
Usually for cookies, you NEED a flour of some kind, as well as a leavener which usually consists of baking soda.
The cool part about these cookies is you don’t need either of those ingredients, because they’ll be present in your pancake mix.
To make these pancake mix cookies, you need the following:
- ‘just-add-water’ pancake mix – The beauty of just-add-water pancake mix is simply that: you only have to add water, but you can still get fluffy, delicious pancakes. That’s because these ready to use mixes have the flour and the leaveners all mixed in. For cookies, you need a few more things to achieve a cookie (instead of a pancake), but you don’t need to use any other flour or leaveners at all. Since most just-add-water mixes have this in common, you can use almost any one you find at the store.
- banana OR applesauce – adding just one mushy banana or some applesauce to the batter/dough helps add moisture and a hint of extra sweetness to the cookies. The applesauce adds even more moisture in my opinion, but either will work!
- peanut butter – For flavor, because I love peanut butter. Any nut butter will work here!
- real maple syrup – To help sweeten up these pancake mix cookies, I use real maple syrup. This would usually go on top of pancakes, so why not go inside the dough for these pancake mix cookies?
- milk of choice – Get a little extra moisture in there to help get the dough to the right consistency. I use unsweetened almond milk, but any kind of milk will work.
- cinnamon, coconut oil & vanilla extract – Some classic cookie ingredients to help with flavor and consistency. I love the taste of cinnamon but you could leave it out if its not for you.
- chocolate chips!!
What other desserts can I make with pancake mix?
Most of my experience making desserts from pancake mix stems from my love of Kodiak Cakes, so that’s the kind I normally use for all my creations. Here are a few other things that can be made with pancake mix in place of flour:
Hate to be cliché here but the limit is your imagination!
Testing notes for these Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix Cookies:
While testing these cookies, here are some things I noticed:
- Different pancake mixes will give you different textures of cookies. If one kind of pancake mix doesn’t work out, you can try another.
- Protein pancake mixes do work, but they do make the final cookies a little bit more dry.
- Applesauce or mashed bananas both work, but I do like the applesauce version better.
What pancake mixes can I use for pancake mix cookies?
I believe any ‘just-add-water’ pancake mix will work for this recipe. The key is to make sure the mix has a leavener, usually with baking soda. Here are all the ‘just-add-water’ pancake mixes I tested with this recipe, and the results:
- Kodiak Cakes Buttermilk Pancake Mix – I love Kodiak Cakes brand a lot, so this was my favorite of the three. It was slightly more dense than the Krusteaz version, but it also packed a lot more protein and better for you ingredients.
- Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix – From a purely taste/texture perspective, I liked these a lot. They were super puffy and soft, and reminded me of muffin tops. From an ingredients perspective, I don’t think Krusteaz is the healthiest option – I would prefer the Kodiak Cakes version.
- Trader Joe’s Buttermilk Protein Pancake Mix – This was my least favorite option (though still delicious), but it was also technically a ‘protein’ pancake mix, which always ends up a little more dense. While not the best taste wise out of these three, these ones pack lots of extra protein and were still completely devoured in our home. These ones were the most like normal cookies.
If you try any others, let me know the results in the comments section below!
How long do these cookies last?
On the counter in an airtight container, these cookies will last up to 5 days.
In the freezer in an airtight container, these cookies will last 3-6 months.
Store baked cookies in an airtight bag (such as a Stasher bag) or other container with a lid on the counter for up to 5 days.
Yes, you can freeze leftover cookies in an airtight container or freezer safe bag. Enjoy within 3-6 months for best quality.
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Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix Cookies
These Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix Cookies are a cross between puffy pancakes and soft muffin tops! With a few easy ingredients, they’re simple to make with any ‘just add water’ pancake mix!
- Total Time25 minutes
- Yield12 cookies 1x
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup applesauce or mashed banana (1 ripe banana)
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup real maple syrup
- 3–4 tablespoons milk of choice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups ‘just add water’ pancake mix (I prefer Kodiak Cakes!)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix up dough: Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine applesauce, peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, 3 tablespoons milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Next, add the pancake mix and cinnamon, and mix until a dough forms that has a thick consistency similar to cookie dough. If the batter seems dry, add another tablespoon of milk. Add chocolate chips and mix.
- Form & bake: Line a sheet pan with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet. Evenly space 12 balls of dough onto the cookie sheet. Top with additional chocolate chips (optional) and then use your hand to press the dough balls into a flat cookie shape, approximately half an inch thick (cookies will puff up, not spread out). Bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown on the edges.
Notes
Recipe Update 6/2022: Applesauce vs. Banana: I just completed additional testing on this recipe and decided applesauce is a better choice than mashed banana. Applesauce will make the batter a bit more wet, and the cookies will be fluffier and more moist. That being said, the recipe still works with banana if that’s all you have, so I’ve left it in the ingredients list, as well as the video.
Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal using Kodiak Cakes Waffle & Pancake Mix.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 211
- Fat: 10g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 7g
Did You Make This?
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This is a great cookie but definitely is not a chocolate chip cookie. I would more so label it as a banana chocolate chip cookie. Was expecting a chocolate chip cookie and in return we got a chocolate banana cookie. Again, still good, just not what I was looking for
This was a great idea to build off of – made a bunch of adjustments to my family’s liking and ended up with double chocolate chunk, double protein version – and a double chocolate chunk Mexican hot cocoa double protein version. Thank you for the great idea to get me out of my rut of the #Quaranbaking blues!
Woohoo! So happy to hear this Maybelle! I’m glad you enjoyed these cookies! And I would really love to know how you’re making the Mexican hot cocoa version! Those sound fabulous!! Thank you for your kind comment 🙂 -Daniele
We have only used the Trader Joe’s mix so far (I need to remember to get the Kodiak next time I’m at Costco!). To make the “double chocolate, double protein” version of your wonderful pancake cookies (I loved it as written but am using them as grab and go breakfast cookies!):
Subbed unsweetened organic applesauce (we have a banana allergy in our family)
Subbed smooth almond butter (we also have a PB hater.)
Subbed monk fruit and liquid allulose for the maple syrup
added sea salt
decreased cinnamon
added generous amount espresso crystals
added dry rolled oats and Chocolate Truffle Iconic protein powder (made your recipe set to 3x so one cup each in addition to the entire box of Trader Joe’s protein pancake mix)
* last time I added cocoa nibs with my chocolate chunks and chips but I ran out… but we really liked the added texture!
To half of this new batter I added pure orange extract, and ancho chile powder. These were the “Mexican cocoa style” ones. I think I need to tweak a little bit more so I’ll be satisfied with them but I got a lot of “mmmmm” and “omnomnom” sounds from the family, so these are a hit despite my pursuit of perfection!
Most of this was eyeballed but I kept track of what I was adding and subbing for continued tweaking for my family’s enjoyment. They have enjoyed your original and our two new variations. 🍪🍪🍪
Again, thank you so much for this brilliant idea! 🦄💗✨
Actually, INCREASED cinnamon! Ah, kitchen notes can get messy when you’ve got sticky fingers from “testing” as you go. 🤣
WOW Thank you so very much for sharing your methods! It is really helpful to know that applesauce would work instead of bananas. And I think adding oats is a wonderful idea too. These cookies have been increasing in popularity lately, I think because people are running out of flour! I have been meaning to play around with them again and do a blueberry cookie version and a peanut butter cookie version too. You’ve inspired me! You’re so welcome – it makes me so happy you were able to use this as a template to make them even better ❤️😍 -Danielle
Hahaha, glad you like the ideas! I’ve had to vegan-ize, paleo-ize, general gluten free-ize etc etc so many recipes I’ve got a whole sleeve of subbing options in my mental safe now. I’m looking forward to yor new tweaks on this!
(And the irony is, we have tons of flour – I just thought these sounded awesome!) 😋
Hello, I was wondering, can I substitute chocolate syrup for maple syrup? Thank you.
Hi Kimberly – I’ve never tried this, but I think it could work! The maple syrup functions as an extra sweetener, so in theory if your chocolate syrup is nice and sweet, it will work, plus some extra chocolate flavor. I say give it a try. Thanks for your question! -Danielle
Great recipe. Honestly, they aren’t really cookies though. They are more like mini scones. HOWEVER, they are still bomb af. I ate the whole batch by myself and now I make them weekly! Really good snack before I head to the gym or am on the go.
Hi Ron – So glad you like these! Yes, I definitely see how they could be like mini scones depending on the consistency. I bet the pancake mix might have something to do with it! Thanks for your comment 🙂 -Danielle
it tastes great!