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Red Velvet Pancakes

Cake for breakfast.

heart

Good morning, indeed.

I’ve written before about my friend Andrea.

I still think of Andrea as my chatterbox middle-school friend with braces, always chasing after boys. So it’s funny to see her now, as a married mom of a five-year-old daughter. Kristin (her daughter) is the sweetest little girl, and I’m always excited when they come to visit.

This morning, I told Kristin I would make her whatever she wanted for breakfast. After quite a long period of deliberation, she decided on the red velvet pancakes, swayed by her mom’s suggestion they’d be a good Valentine’s Day treat.

heart pancake

Although I do have a red velvet pancake recipe floating around the blog, I made today’s pancakes a little bit differently. I omitted the food coloring and tried using raspberries instead. As you can see from the photos, the result isn’t extremely red… but they’re red in spirit!

Healthy Red Velvet Pancakes

This is a Single-Serving Recipe.

  • 2 tbsp whole-wheat pastry flour (or white, spelt, or Arrowhead Mills gf mix)
  • 2 tbsp plus 1 tsp oat bran (You can sub flour if need be.)
  • 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • scant 1/8 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder (For a more brownie-like taste, try dutch cocoa.)
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup pureed raspberries (or sub 1/3c milk of choice)
  • 1 tablespoon oil (Omit only if you like the taste of fat-free pancakes.)
  • milk of choice – Use more or less, depending on how thick you want the batter
  • 1-2 tbsp sugar, or 1 stevia packet (If using liquid sweetener, decrease the milk.)
  • If not using the berry puree, you can add food coloring if desired for the red color (Whole Foods sells a natural brand, called Select.)
  • optional: Feel free to add some mini chocolate chips.

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet and mix. Then make your pancakes! (Serves 1)

Note: The nutrition information for this recipe is pretty much the same as for the other version. You can see that information here: Pancakes Calories and Nutrition Facts.

These pancakes were inhaled!

Heart Healthy Red Velvet Pancakes

Above, topped with my special Homemade & Healthy Cream Cheese Frosting.

Published on February 12, 2012

Meet Katie

Chocolate Covered Katie is one of the top 25 food websites in America, and Katie has been 
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Huffington Post, and 
ABC's 5 O’Clock News. Her favorite food is chocolate, and she believes in eating dessert every single day.

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177 Comments

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  1. Tsutsui says

    Those pancakes look so pretty! If the frosting were pink it would be even more “Valentine-y” 😀

    I wonder what the “Chocolate Chunk Love Cookies” are like. . .
    I’d love to see what a regular chocolate chunk cookie would turn into for valentines day :d

  2. Sarahishealthy says

    I have to choose??? How???!
    Ok I’ll go with the jelly roll cake, just because they’re usually complicated so I’d love to see if your version is easier! I bet it is!

  3. Lauren says

    Hey CCK, I’d love either the chocolate chunk love cookies or the truffle pie. These pancakes look delicious, btw. Oh, and congrats on the tv gig! I hope you continue to have success in your venture; I look forward to visiting your site everyday!

  4. Kathy says

    Mini jelly roll cake! It sounds the most interesting!
    I love the pictures, and the pancakes look so fluffy and gooey, and layered with the cream makes it look so decadent!
    I wish I could make these today for breakfast, but I’m sick and therefore must eat congee (rice porridge)!

  5. Lena says

    I say either chocolate chunk love cookies or hot chocolate on a stick! And these pancakes look awesome – I think I might go and make one for myself, in a bit. 😀 (And the way you decorated it reaaally makes me want to make it for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day!)

  6. Sarah says

    Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Pie is my vote– also, have you ever heard of scotcheroo’s? They are incredibly unhealthy peanut butter rice krispy treats with chocolate butterscotch on top. Do you think you could make these healthy?

  7. Sonyanijntje says

    And did Kristin like the pancakes? 😀 I’m sure she did.

    As for tomorrows post… I can’t decide between the ‘Mini Jelly Roll Cake for One’ and the ‘Strawberry-Chocolate Truffle Pie’…..

  8. Sophie says

    Here are my top 3 picks:

    1. Chocolate Chunk Love Cookies
    2. Hot Chocolate on a Stick
    3. Strawberry-Chocolate Truffle Pie

    Thanks Katie! These sound delicious!

  9. Alan Kleesattel says

    Hello,

    I was wandering how large you normally make these pancakes and all the other pancakes you have on this oh so wonderful blog! Thanks

  10. Karla says

    Mm, those pancakes look good. You should post bigger servings along with your single-serve so I don’t always have to do the math! I almost always make the recipes for me and the kiddos.

    Hm… either jelly roll or chocolate chunk cookies.

  11. Jennifer says

    These look amazing! I love all of your pancake recipes. Actually, I love ALL of your recipes period.
    Hmm all five sound so yummy, but I’d like to see the strawberry chocolate truffle pie or the chocolate chunk love cookies 😀

  12. Christi says

    Jelly Roll Cake for one please….b/c of my past love of swiss cake rolls, that aren’t even real food, but they remind me of being little plus I love recipes for one.

  13. Melissa says

    Wow! Those look delicious! I love raspberries and chocolate together! 🙂 The picture almost looks like the heart on top is photo-shopped in!! You take such great pictures.

    I say the Jelly Roll – that sounds super yummy! But then they all do – so very hard choice…

  14. Anna Lynn says

    These look AMAZING! So craving a big stack of pancakes right now….

    As much as I wanted to say chocolate chunk cookies, my vote goes for the mini jelly rolls for one! It sounds different and delicious!

  15. Rande @ The Vegetable Centric Kitchen says

    Your original Red Velvet Pancakes have been made MULTIPLE times here at my place, I’ll have to try this version as well. Beautiful pics, as always, happy Valentines!

  16. Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says

    Katie these look so good! The recipe, the frosting and sprinkles, the little heart cutout, the pictures with all the pink going on…I love this post 🙂

  17. Kelsey says

    Strawberry-Chocolate Truffle Pie!
    By the way, your blog has been a life-saver for me. I’m not a vegan, but I am severely lactose-intolerant, so I cannot digest any food or baked goods with milk, butter, or cream in them. I love that your recipes are healthy, lower-calorie, and don’t use any artificial sweeteners, since my stomach can’t handle them, either. Your blog fits my needs perfectly, and even kindled a love of oatmeal (I always hated oatmeal before I tried your recipes!) You are truly talented!

  18. Samantha says

    It is such a toss-up between Strawberry-Chocolate Truffle Pie and Chocolate Chunk Love Cookies for me. I think I will vote for the Strawberry-Chocolate Truffle Pie.

    Tomorrow I should be trying the the Chocolate Bar Pie with these Rescue Chocolate Peanut Butter Pit Bull chocolate bars. Never tried the bars or the recipe. I am very excited. 🙂

    Looking forward to whatever you decide!

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      LOL I see it… Maybe it just took awhile to show up on your end?

      I hope you like the chocolate pie! I’d never heard of those chocolate bars before, so I googled it and am amazed. What an awesome cause!! I will have to buy some :).

      • Samantha says

        I literally just learned about them myself this week. I will let you know what I think of them (I picked my favorite combination). I think it is a great cause too and really admired her thought into the rescue and quality side.

        (PS. I think you are right, comments were just clogged. :))

  19. Lisa says

    You can also make it red by using a roasted beet puree with a little lemon juice 🙂
    The key to dye-free red velvet using beets is keeping it acidic!

  20. Nathalie says

    I’d have to vote for the roll cake! It sounds the most unique =D

    I have a “recipe” I tried that’s kind of Valentine’s day-ish. But instead of red coloring from berries like raspberries or strawberries, my red/pink element was from candy canes…. That still counts though, right? Especially with chocolate?

  21. Katie says

    They all sound so good but I’m most intrigued with the Mini Jelly Roll Cake! I’m sure whatever you post will have me drooling as usual;)

  22. Alexis @ A New Art History says

    I vote mini jelly roll cake for one. My boyfriend is in Germany, while I am in the US this Valentine’s day, so I need some of your single serving recipes to get me through. And I can only imagine that mini jelly roll cakes look so good photographed!

  23. Jane says

    Jelly Roll Cake gets my vote! I remember having this amazing Swiss chocolate roll cake with vanilla ice cream before I became vegan-it was unbelievably delicious!

  24. Cheryl says

    Here’s something we made… Strawberry shortcake waffles with vegan whip cream & maple agave syrup. My guys just ate it up. Thanks for the inspiration. Warmly, C.

  25. mrsluckypants says

    Strawberry Chocolate Truffle pie and/or the Jelly Roll Cake. Darling pancakes!!!! I bet Kristin was thrilled with her beautiful plate of pancakes. They sound great can’t wait to try them out on my kids.

  26. Emilia says

    Yum! I’m quite the nervous pancake maker, I can never seem to flip them properly, but I will have to get over that fear to try these. The raspberry puree is such a good idea! A little late, but I would love to see the strawberry-chocolate truffle pie 🙂

  27. Diandra says

    Some time ago I read about someone using beets in chocolate cake, kind of like people use applesauce. She said the taste was great, and it should give a nice red color, don’t you think?

  28. Heather says

    Made these pancakes for my teenager this morning. I didn’t have any bananas so I used dark chocolate almond milk and sliced some banana on top. I made a double portion and he gobbled them down. Said they were very tasty. So I just made myself one for lunch – and I agree – Yum!

  29. Emily @ Glitz Glam Granola says

    OMG this officially looks like the most amazing pancakes ever- I need to make these next weekend! I love how you didn’t use any artificial dye in these too! Even better! I actually made your Fat Blueberry Pancakes this weekend (though I subbed raspberries) and they were DELICIOUS and I ate every bite!

  30. Megan E. says

    Thanks for the recipe! My DH is allergic to red food coloring so it’s nice to see an alternative.

    (PS. I would vote for any of the chocolate recipes!)

  31. Marie says

    You mentioned in the last week or so about a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mug Cake. Can you post that some time soon? I love your chocolate and mocha single serving cakes and have been drooling ever since you mentioned this version :). Thanks!!

    PS–Thank-you for all your amazing recipes!! I tried the Snickerdoodle Blondies this weekend and loved them. Your Cookie Dough dip was also wonderful!!

    • Chocolate-Covered Katie says

      Here’s the recipe so far, but it’s not perfected… I’m thinking it tastes a little dry right now, but maybe not? If you try it, let me know what you think!

      •1/4c spelt flour (or maybe another flour like peanut flour?)
      •1/8 plus 1/16 tsp salt
      •1/8 tsp baking soda
      •2 tsp sugar or evaporated cane juise
      •1 stevia pack or 1 tablespoon more sugar
      •1 tablespoon oil (coconut or canola or veg)
      •3 tablespoons milk of choice
      •1/4 tsp vanilla
      •2-3 tsp chocolate chips
      Combine dry. Add wet. Microwave 1 min, 20 seconds (or more or less, depending on your microwave).

      • Marie says

        Katie,
        I just wanted you to know, this mug cake has quickly become my new favorite! Yum!! Thank-you for letting me test it out before you had the recipe completely finalized. So good!!

        Marie

        PS–I’m bring the cookie dough dip to my monthly bunco night tomorrow. I know they’re all going to love it too! Thanks for all the healthy, easy, YUMMY recipes!!

      • Connie Badstuebner says

        I’m going to try the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mug Cake you’re working on but I’m going to try maple syrup instead of TBSP of sugar….will let you know how it comes out….one of your devotees….xoxo

        • Connie Badstuebner says

          I made the C C C Dough Mud Cake just now with the maple syrup & decreased the milk by a couple of drops….came out deeeeevine not dry at all…..put it in micro for 1:35 at level 9 then added a spoon of nutella (healthy) when I was ready to dive in……..OOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

  32. Marie says

    Katie,
    Thanks for the recipe for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Mug cake. I just made it…definitely didn’t need it, but wanted to try the recipe. It’s Valentine’s Day after all :). I used 1 T applesauce instead of the oil and accidedentely used baking powder, instead of soda. It’s fantastic. Mine didn’t turn out dry at all. In my microwave, I cooked it just over a minute. Thanks for sharing the recipe early!! It’s definitely a keeper!

    Marie

  33. Amy says

    Yum, these pancakes were delicious! However, I had a bit of an issue with the consistency; the batter was so thick that the pancakes wouldn’t flip, and even after leaving them on the stove for some time, didn’t seem to want to cook through. We kept adding more water to the batter until it became a better pancake-y consistency, and turned out soooooo yummy!

  34. Jenn says

    Stumbled across this blog looking for a mug cake recipe and found the chocolate chip one in the comments. Mmmmmmm, SO good! Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  35. Rachele says

    These are absolutely delicious!! We didn’t have raspberries so I purreed strawberries instead. I had to add a little more almond milk to get the right consistency and doubled the recipe for my daughter and I to share. Delicious!! I love that they are healthy. Thank you!!

  36. Heather says

    ok so I think I might be missing something but is there suppose to be water or some sort of almond milk in this recipe?

  37. Chelsea says

    Hi Katie,
    I love your blog, and I frequently use your pancake recipes which are usually a great success. But I just was wondering, maybe I am doing something wrong, but everytime I attempt to make a pancake recipe with a significant amount of fruit in the ingredients ( I also experienced this problem with your strawberry pancakes), my batter never turns out when I cook it on the skillet. What ends up happening is the outsides become burnt, and the inside remains undercooked, therefore causing me to throw them out 🙁 Do you have any tips or suggestions to solve this issue? Thanks a lot 🙂

  38. Claudia says

    I’m a single gal too and I’m becoming obessed with all your Single Girl Recipes, what a great idea. I’m loving this one especially, yumm! Keep the great recipes coming!

  39. Keith says

    Hi, Katie! Just tried these. I didn’t use a nonstick pan, which you might want to recommend — they blackened pretty quickly in a pan which I usually use to make pancakes.

    They cooked like pancakes, but they remained a bit “loose” in the middle. Toasting them in the toaster oven very low helped.

    All that said, they were yummy. Thx!

  40. Sophie says

    Alrighty, so I want to make these for breakfast tomorrow, but I have one question. Could i use wheat bran instead of oat bran? I have a big bag of wheat bran just waiting to be used up!

  41. kylee says

    how do you measure these? i used 1/4 cup to pour the batter in the pan and i only got three pancakes out of this. please help!

  42. Melanie says

    I made the mistake of making this recipe late at night when I was reeeallly hungry! I over doubled the recipe and added quite a bit more sweetener than required (though I didn’t add anything on top), and of course splurged on the chocolate chips. 🙂 This made such thick, moist pancakes that when I layered them and topped them with just a smidge of my best life buttery spread, I basically had made a giant, delicious, moist chocolate layer cake in a skillet! However it was so rich and thick I had to keep it covered and eat it over the course of a few days. I’m proud to say it stayed moist the entire time, though not un-invaded by my hungry family. Thanks again for another great recipe!

  43. Katlyn Barrette says

    Pretty awesome recipe if I do say so myself! Your Blog is just amazing! I can eat clean and enjoy it too! Never though that I would be able to rearrange my lifestyle and become healthy while enjoying what I am eating at the same time! Keep them coming!! (BTW, Your sloppy joes….HELLO, honestly best thing I have ever had! Whole family loved them and they are carnivores lol, so that tells you something!)

  44. Elizabeth says

    Hi
    Love your recipes.
    Just wondering if anyone has tried making any of the pancake recipes using waffle iron? Do you think it would work?

  45. Hony Keooudom says

    This is the first Recipe I tried… And frankly it wasn’t all that good.. Because it was actually beyond delicious! I love how you have single recipes. I love to cook and bake and I’m still learning so I do end up having major mess-ups. The single recipes allows me to practice without using up all my ingredients. It’s awesome that they’re healthy too! I am trying to watch what I eat, but I love to be in the kitchen, so cooking healthy is soooo AMAZING, all thanks to your recipes! <3

  46. Kaitlyn says

    SO good…just like everything else on this blog! tested these pancakes this morning & plan on making them again for my husband’s birthday tomorrow. thanks Katie!

  47. Al Green says

    You’ve got to be kidding! Do you come up with these yourself?

    My mouth is watering just thinking about them. Between the cookies and cream and this one I don’t know what we want to make on Sunday morning.

    Thanks a ton.

  48. Jessica says

    Hi Katie! I was wondering, since I don’t have a lot of time for preparing in the mornings, can the batter be made the night before and stored in the fridge until morning usage?

  49. Haley Shepherd says

    I love making your pancakes but I can never get the right texture. They are always kinda mushy and not fluffy. Any tips?

    • Unofficial CCK Helper says

      Did you read CCK’s troubleshooting tips on her FAQ page at the top of the blog? Please read through and then if you still have questions you can reply here with more specifics about the flour and ingredients you are using so someone can hopefully help you.

  50. Stefanie Dawson says

    These pancakes were fabulous!!! We didn’t eat them with the frosting, just pure maple syrup, but they were so delicious! Thank you!

  51. Christina says

    These were good, but I could taste the raspberries — which was not what I wanted with red velvet. Fortunately, the chocolate helped disguise the taste some. Next time, I would try replacing the raspberries with beets or beet juice. Canned beets, at least have a more neutral flavor.

    Overall, I enjoyed this recipe — especially when topped with a generous serving of your Greek yogurt frosting and pink sprinkles!

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