Soft, tall, fluffy, and easy to make, these vegan pancakes are the best pancakes you'll ever have.
After many rounds of testing, we are happy to share with you all our tips to make the best homemade vegan pancakes ever.
What to expect
Pancakes are one of the most popular foods in the world and most countries have their own variations of this dish.
In this blog post, we are talking about American Pancakes, also known as hotcakes, griddlecakes, or flapjacks.
American pancakes are flat and round cakes, made from a mixture of starch-based batter that might be mixed with eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a pan or griddle.
Our vegan pancakes are basically the same thing, but we are without eggs, butter, and dairy milk.
But don't fret, these vegan pancakes are light, soft, and delicious like no other pancake!
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Flour: in our base recipe for vegan pancakes we use all-purpose flour. You can replace AP flour with other types of flour like whole wheat, spelt, oat flour, and even a gluten-free flour mix.
- Sugar: we add just a little to give it a touch of sweetness.
- Salt: just a pinch.
- Baking powder: we use baking powder as a raising agent. It makes the pancakes light and fluffy.
- Plant Milk: we prefer oat milk or almond milk for this recipe. Soy milk or other types of plant milk work too.
- Water: it's very important to add water to make the pancakes super light. If you were to add just plant milk, your pancakes would turn out a little heavier and chewier, and we don't want that.
- Aromas: optional, we like to add either vanilla extract or cinnamon, depending on the topping we use. If you use classic 100% maple syrup and vegan butter as a topping then go for vanilla.
Note: We serve our pancakes with vegan butter and 100% pure maple syrup on top.
Instructions
To a bowl, add flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Mix with a whisk.
To the same bowl, add water, your plant milk of choice, and your aroma of choice, we go for vanilla extract in this case.
Mix with the whisk gently, just until all the ingredients are incorporated. Some small lumps are fine and do not overmix.
Tip: Overmixing flour and water will develop the gluten network which will make your pancakes heavy and rubbery. If you want light and fluffy pancakes don't overmix the batter.
Let the batter rest for 5 minutes, then heat up a non-stick pan. We like to drizzle the pan with a few drops of vegetable oil, then spread the oil with a piece of kitchen paper. This is enough to make sure the pancakes won't stick.
Cook the pancakes on the hot pan on low heat for about 1.5 - 2 minutes on one side, and about 1 minute on the other.
When the pancakes start to look dry on the edge and are golden brown on the bottom, turn them gently with a spatula.
Tip: pancakes should be cooked on a hot pan but on low heat, to prevent them from burning outside and being still wet on the inside.
Tip: You can make pancakes as large or as small as you desire. I like to scoop the pancake batter into the pan with my ¼ cup measuring cup (that is about 45 to 55 grams of batter per pancake).
When golden brown on both sides your pancakes should be ready.
Serve with a piece of vegan butter and a generous amount of 100% maple syrup. They are also delicious with some fresh berries.
Variations
Whole wheat pancakes without added sugar
Whole wheat pancakes are easy to make and are really delicious and wholesome. You could literally have them every day for breakfast as there's no added sugar, no added fat, and plenty of dietary fiber.
Ingredients, quantities, and instructions are almost the same as in our basic vegan pancake recipe. All you need to do is:
- Substitute whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour in the same quantities as written in our recipe.
- Substitute 1.5 overripe medium bananas, mashed till they look like baby food, for the sugar.
- In a bowl, mix the mashed banana with milk and water, then add the liquid to the bowl with the dry ingredients.
If you want to serve them with an apple compote on top, as you see in the picture, then:
- Chop up 2 apples into small dice, skin on, and add them to a pot.
- Add 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of raisins, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.
- Cook over medium heat while you prepare the pancakes. The apples are ready when they are soft but not mushy (about 20 minutes).
- Serve the pancakes with the apple compote, and optional with chopped walnuts and a drizzle of 100% pure maple syrup.
Vegan banana pancakes
Banana pancakes are our favorite pancakes in the world because they are without added sugar but still sweet and incredibly moist and fluffy.
To make them follow the same recipe as for our basic vegan pancake. All you need to do is:
- Substitute 1.5 overripe mashed bananas for the sugar.
- In a bowl, mash the overripe bananas with a fork till they look like baby food, then add milk and water and whisk together.
- Add the liquid to the bowl with the dry ingredients, quick mix, and the batter is ready.
- Whilst the pancake is cooking, we like to add some blueberries in it before turning the pancake. They taste and look delicious.
- Serve with banana pieces, blueberries, and a drizzle of 100% pure maple syrup.
Oatmeal pancakes
Oatmeal pancakes are a healthy and wholesome breakfast dish. We make them with rolled oats that we blend in a blender, turning them into oats flour.
Here's the recipe for our vegan oatmeal pancakes.
More Vegan Breakfast Recipes
These is a quick list of our top rated vegan breakfast recipes. They are all very easy to make, with simple ingredients.
Tips
Making pancakes is more an art than a science, and no matter how precise you are with your measurements, sometimes your pancakes won't turn out as beautiful and fluffy as you imagined them.
The secret to making beautiful vegan pancakes lies in the thickness of the batter.
Just one extra tablespoon of flour can make all the difference in the world when it comes to tall and fluffy pancakes.
Flatter pancakes are as delicious as taller ones, however with all foods the eye plays its part, and so if you want to make Instagram-worthy pancakes you've got to get the batter to the right consistency.
Why? When exposed to the heat, the baking powder creates air that helps the pancake rise. If the batter is too thin it won't be able to keep the air trapped in, and the pancake won't rise much.
Observe your pancake before turning it: your pancakes should make some small bubbles that pop and leave a tiny hole behind.
Some small bubbles are good, however, if your pancake makes too many small bubbles, then the batter is probably a little too thin, and when you turn it, the pancake won't rise much.
If this is the case, all you need to do is add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour to make the batter a little thicker. Mix the flour in gently, without overmixing. It should take you 5 seconds.
But remember, you don't want to make a too-thick batter, or else your vegan pancakes will end up being too bready and chewy. You still want a relatively thin and light batter.
Common Mistakes
Overmixing
This is especially important if you work with all-purpose flour (whole wheat flour suffers less from overmixing).
By overmixing the flour you'll start developing the gluten network in the batter, making it more doughy. An overmixed batter will produce rubber-like pancakes that are less fluffy and airy.
Trying to get rid of all lumps
This will inevitably lead to overmixing, which is bad. so give it a quick mix, some small lumps are fine.
Too thin or too thick batter
See the troubleshooting paragraph above. In general, if the batter is too thin your pancakes won't grow as much. If the batter is too thick, they'll turn out heavy and bready. It takes a bit of practice finding the right batter consistency, our measurements are a good starting point.
Pan too hot
Pancakes should be cooked on a hot pan but over low heat or low flame. If the heat is too hot, the pancake will burn on the outside and it will still be raw, wet, on the inside.
Not cleaning the pan
We find that cleaning the pan with a piece of kitchen paper and applying a few drops of oil every second pancake helps make beautiful golden brown pancakes.
Flipping vs turning
I think it's best to gently turn the pancakes instead of flipping them, they'll grow taller this way.
Hesitating the turn
Once your pancake is on the spatula, lift it up slightly, then swiftly turn your wrist towards the left (if you are right-handed) and your pancake will fall perfectly on the pan, hopefully without smearing it.
Flipping when you see bubbles
While most of the internet will tell you to flip pancakes when it bubbles on top, that's way too early. You actually need to wait for about 1 minute past that, most of the bubbles should pop, and the pancakes should be golden brown on the bottom.
Questions
No, the baking powder will lose its effect if you do that. If you want to get ahead, measure the ingredients the night before, but only mix them 5 minutes before you cook the pancakes.
Whilst freshly made pancakes are unbeatable, you can cook a big batch of pancakes in advance, then refrigerate them or freeze them (see storage chapter below).
Storage
First, allow your pancakes to cool at room temperature. Then store them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 2 months.
If you store them in the refrigerator, you can stack them on top of each other, put them in a bowl and cover them with a plate. Reheat in the microwave for just a minute.
If you freeze them they might stick to each other, so you either freeze small batches, or you put a piece of parchment paper in between each pancake so they won't stick with each other. Thaw and reheat in the microwave.
Recipe
Vegan Pancakes
Equipment
- Non-stick pan
- Bowl
- Whisk
- Spatula to flip pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour add 1 to 2 extra tablespoon to make extra tall pancakes
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup plant milk any
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or cinnamon (aromas are optional)
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Add the milk, water, and vanilla to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk gently just until the wet and dry ingredients come together, without overmixing.Tip: especially with vegan pancakes it is crucial not to overmix. Overmixing will develop the gluten in the flour and your pancakes will turn out rubbery.
- Let the batter rest for 5 minutes. In the meantime warm up a non-stick pan.
- Lightly oil the pan, then cook the pancakes on low heat for about 1.5 minutes on the one side, then turn them gently and cook for another 1 minute on the other side.Tip: we like to scoop the batter into the pan with a ¼ cup measuring cup (that is about 45 to 55 grams of batter per pancake).
- Tip: when cooking pancakes, the pan should be hot but the heat very low.Tip: cooking time will vary depending on your stove and pan. You'll get the hang of it after the first couple of pancakes. Generally, you want the pancake to be golden brown on the outside before turning it.Tip: Depending on flour type, altitude, and temperature your batter can turn out a little thicker or thinner than mine. If your batter is too thin your pancakes will turn out a little flatter. If you want taller pancakes, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour in the batter, give it a quick mix, and try again. But don't make the batter too thick or your pancakes will be bready.
- Remove from the pan and serve with vegan butter and maple syrup (and optionally some fresh berries).
Nutritional Values
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Ester Camilla Peric
Eccezionali, complimenti!! Ho provato tante ricette di pancakes vegani prima di questa e non c'è paragone! Vengono alti, morbidi, perfettamente cotti, una goduria!
Continuate così, tutto il vostro canale è super!
Nico
Grazie mille, Ester, molto gentile!! ❤️
Jenny
Hi Nico, greetings from Germany.
Thank you so much for providing the recipes also in English. I also like that you do not use a lot of weird ingredients.
I made these pancakes yesterday for breakfast and my husband was surprised how nice they turned out. I will need to practice a bit more to get them as fluffy as yours. But I will get there. I used an American 1/4 cup and it got us 9 pancakes in total. Maybe mine weren't as fluffy because they were not as big as yours? Anyway, just a minor remark.
I have read that using water with gas also helps to get them nice and fluffy.
Chef Nico
HI Jenny, thanks for your message, ahah, happy to hear you like that we try not to use "weird" ingredients :-).
Im happy your husband liked the pancakes. It could be that making them smaller also makes them less fluffy. But it's true it takes a bit of practice to make them perfect. We have been testing this recipe at least 10 times before getting it to look the way we wanted 🙂
I haven't tried sparkling water yet, I'll make sure to try in my next batch....thanks for the tip!
Have a great day now 🙂
Nico
Angie
The pancakes were delicious and like a cloud! All the recipes that I’ve tried from your webpage/youtube channel have been delicious! Keep up the good work!
Nico
Angie, thank you so much, that means a lot to us. I’m delighted you liked the pancakes ❤️
Roxana
Thank you very much for this recipe, the video and the post. Greetings from Belgium.
Nico
Thank for your message Roxana, happy you liked the recipe and the video 🙂