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Out of flour but really want some cookies?! No sweat – you can use pancake mix! 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!
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I have a bit of a love affair with Kodiak Cakes Pancake & Waffle Mixes. I promise this is not sponsored in any way – it’s just a brand that I love! I make pancakes at home all the time and I always opt for Kodiak Cakes (I get it at Costco!).
The most popular pancake recipe on my site is these Banana Protein Pancakes. And it should be no surprise they’re made with Kodiak Cakes. 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.
What’s 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 – adding just one mushy banana to the batter/dough helps add moisture and a hint of extra sweetness to the cookies. I love banana pancakes, so why not add banana to my pancake cookies?
- 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 to sweeten. 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!! because duh
Why does pancake mix work in place of flour?
The cool thing about ‘just add water’ pancake mix is that it the mix will have its own flour and its own leavening agent. You can double check this by reviewing the ingredients list. It should have “leavener” or “leavening agents” listed, and baking soda should be one of them.
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.
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!
More dessert recipes from Project Meal Plan:
- Freezer Friendly Sweet Potato Brownie Bites
- 2 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookie Balls
- Espresso Crunch Cashew Butter Cups
Did you make this? I want to see how it turned out! Tag me in your social media post @projectmealplan and use #projectmealplan when you share!
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!
Ingredients
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup real maple syrup
- 3 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
- Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine mashed banana, peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, 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. Add chocolate chips and mix.
- 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
Nutrition information estimated with My Fitness Pal using Kodiak Cakes Waffle & Pancake Mix.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 211
- Fat: 10g
- Carbohydrates: 20g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 7g
Show me your Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix Cookies!! I’m curious if other pancakes mixes will work with this recipe – there was no way I could test them all! Tag me in your post so I can see it, or use #projectmealplan to share with me!
Madison Foster says
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
Maybelle G says
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!
Danielle says
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
Maybelle G says
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! 🦄💗✨
Maybelle G says
Actually, INCREASED cinnamon! Ah, kitchen notes can get messy when you’ve got sticky fingers from “testing” as you go. 🤣
Danielle says
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
Maybelle G says
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!) 😋
Kimberly Harrington says
Hello, I was wondering, can I substitute chocolate syrup for maple syrup? Thank you.
Danielle says
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
Ron says
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.
Danielle says
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