This loaded pancake is stacked with nutrition from the tip of Santa’s hat to the bottom of his beard. With my Jumbo Oatmeal Pancake as your canvas, you (and your little helpers!) will become the Picasso of pancakes.

A festive Santa face made from strawberries, banana slices, and whipped cream arranged atop a Jolly Jumbo Pancake on a white rectangular plate to resemble Santa’s hat, face, and beard.

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This creation is meant to be shared— sharing is caring and you want to be on Santa’s nice list. 😉

A few tricks: The riper the banana, the better (you can microwave for 30 seconds to 2 minutes after poking through the skin with a fork or sharp knife on all sides to help ripen). You can use maple extract or maple natural flavor. And make sure to liberally coat the pan with nonstick oil spray for easier lifting and flipping—there’s nothing worse than a broken pancake.

Each jumbo pancake serves up 21 grams of protein and 7 grams of fiber, and is dairy-free, gluten-free (if you use GF oats) and has zero added sugar. It’s one gigantic fab-flapjack.

Oatmeal arranged as a Santa face with strawberries and raspberries for the hat, whipped cream and banana slices for the beard, and chocolate chips for the eyes creates a festive scene reminiscent of a Jolly Jumbo Pancake breakfast on a white platter.

A quick but important note before you start: This recipe is designed for quick-cooking rolled oats—not old-fashioned rolled oats, and definitely not steel cut oats (not even the quick-cooking steel cut variety). Using the wrong oats will leave you with a dense, heavy pancake. I explain exactly why down in the recipe notes, so grab the right oats and you’ll be golden!

Try these Strawberry Santas!

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Jolly Jumbo Pancake

With my Jumbo Oatmeal Pancake as your canvas, you (and your little helpers!) will become the Picasso of pancakes.
Yield: 2 servings
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
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Ingredients
 

Jumbo Oatmeal Pancake

  • ½ cup quick-cooking rolled oats
  • 1 small to medium ripe banana, mashed
  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon maple extract or natural flavor
  • ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch salt

Toppings

  • Sliced strawberries
  • Sliced banana
  • Raspberries
  • Chocolate chips
  • Low-fat Greek yogurt

Instructions
 

  • Generously coat a skillet with nonstick oil spray and warm over medium heat.
  • Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until thoroughly mixed.
  • Pour the mixture onto the skillet to make 1 jumbo pancake, smoothing out the circle using a rubber spatula so the batter is evenly distributed. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes on the first side. Mist the top with additional oil spray and carefully flip. Cook the second side for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown.
  • Transfer to a large plate or cutting board and get ready to decorate! Stack sliced strawberries and raspberries at the top of the pancake in the shape of Santa’s hat. Add banana rounds for eyes, with chocolate chips in the center. Layer the banana beard on the pancake and extend it onto the plate. If desired, add two strawberry slices in the shape of semicircles to your portrait for rosy cheeks.
  • Drain any liquid from yogurt—then add yogurt to a piping bag (or small plastic bag and cut off the tip). Pipe yogurt onto banana beard and add a dollop for the hat’s pom-pom. And… have fun!

Notes

• Nutrition provided without toppings.
Use quick-cooking rolled oats—here’s why it matters: This recipe is built specifically for quick-cooking rolled oats (sometimes labeled “quick oats” or “instant rolled oats”). Please don’t swap in old-fashioned rolled oats or any kind of steel cut oats—including quick-cooking steel cut oats—or the texture will suffer. Here’s the reasoning: Quick-cooking rolled oats are steamed and rolled extra thin, then cut into smaller pieces, so they drink up moisture fast and soften in just a few minutes. That’s what lets them melt into a tender, lighter pancake in the short cook time this recipe calls for. Old-fashioned rolled oats are thicker and heartier and need more time and liquid to soften—your pancake will still hold together, but it’ll turn out noticeably denser, heavier, and chewier. Steel cut oats are a different animal entirely: they’re the whole oat groat simply chopped into dense little pieces, and they require 20 to 30 minutes of simmering to soften. Even the “quick-cooking” steel cut version won’t soften in the brief cook time here, so you’ll end up with a dense, heavy pancake studded with firm, gritty bits. Bottom line: reach for quick-cooking rolled oats and you’ll get that perfect fluffy, tender pancake every time.
BUT if you already bought the wrong oats, here’s how to rescue them: If you only have old-fashioned rolled oats, the easiest fix is to give them a head start: stir the oats into your wet ingredients and let the batter sit for 10 to 15 minutes (or even longer) before cooking, so the oats have time to soak up moisture and soften. The batter will thicken as they drink up the liquid, so if it looks too thick to spread on the skillet, just stir in a splash of milk (water, almond milk, or any milk of choice) until it’s back to a spreadable consistency. Even better trick: pulse the oats a few times in a blender or food processor first—this breaks them down close to quick-oat size and all but erases the difference. But I realize its a bit of a pain to pulse the oats for this easy recipe!!
Steel cut oats (regular and quick cooking) are the tougher case since they’re so  dense—a quick soak won’t fully do the job—so if that’s all you have, give them a whirl in the blender to break them down OR soak them for a longer length of time (at least 30 minutes), and again, add a splash of milk if the batter turns out too thick. It won’t be as flawless as using quick-cooking rolled oats, but it’ll get you a tasty pancake without an extra trip to the store!
Author: Joy Bauer, MS, RDN, CDN

Nutrition Information per serving

Calories: 160Carbohydrates: 26gProtein: 10gTotal Fat: 2g— Unsaturated Fat: 2g— Saturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 180mgPotassium: 456mgFiber: 3gTotal Sugar: 7g— Natural Sugar: 7g— Added Sugar: 0gVitamin C: 32mgCalcium: 31mgIron: 1.5mg
Nutrition information is calculated using a leading industry software. That being said, brands can vary, and there may be slight fluctuations in the numbers.
I’m hoping you loved this recipe! If you made it and want to share feedback, I’d be so grateful to hear from you. Please leave a review below or tag @joybauer on Instagram!