Light and fluffy Vegan Spelt Pancakes. Whole grain, sugar-free & simple, but also super tasty and satisfying. Quick to make too!
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"Mel, I’m not sure how you do it but every one of your recipes I have had the pleasure of making has been perfection. I LOVE all your pancake recipes. This recipe makes a bunch and I love freezing them. They are so light and fluffy!!"
- Maureen. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ More reviews →
So you want to start your day with a big stack of delicious pancakes but you don't want to jump off the healthy train completely?
I got you! These Vegan Spelt Pancakes are vegan, sugar-free, and made with nutty, wholesome spelt flour. They are also super light and fluffy, golden, delicious, and cozy in a way that only pancakes can be.
These pancakes have five grams of protein in a single pancake and can be really healthy if you top them with healthier toppings or you can go all out like me and drown them in maple syrup and vegan butter. Maybe some caramelized bananas too? Sorry - When it comes to pancakes - I just can't resist!
Mel x
Let's Make Vegan Spelt Pancakes
Can't wait to make them? Here's a quick visual walkthrough (see the recipe card and recipe video for the full and detailed version):
1 - Mix the ground flax seed and water together and leave for a few minutes to gel.
2 - Whisk the dry ingredients together in one bowl, and the wet ingredients together in another. Then pour the wet into the dry and stir gently to combine. Doing it this way (rather than all in one bowl) helps prevent overmixing, creating lighter, more tender pancakes.
3 - Cook the pancakes, taking note of my tips below.
Vegan Pancake Cooking Tips
- Weigh the flour to get the best and consistent results.
- Don't over-mix the batter. A few small lumps are fine.
- Patience is key when cooking vegan pancakes. Cook them low and slow and they will turn out perfectly light and fluffy inside. Rush them and they won't.
- Before flipping a pancake you should wait until the surface of the pancake is covered with bubbles that have popped more or less all over the surface, not just around the edges. The outside edge of the pancake should also have firmed up and turned darker, like in my photograph above.
- If you want to sit down and enjoy the pancakes with everyone else, keep the oven on its lowest setting and put the pancakes in there on a plate to keep warm while you finish making the whole batch.
Serving Suggestions
Nothing else is needed here except a big dollop of vegan butter and a very big drizzle of real maple syrup. Oh and maybe a large coffee on the side too. But if you want to switch things up here are some other topping ideas:
- Fresh fruits like berries or banana.
- Frozen berry compote, vegan caramelized bananas, or roasted strawberries.
- Vegan yogurt, whipped vegan ricotta, or vegan cream.
- Vanilla roasted strawberries or date caramel.
- Vegan Lemon Curd or Vegan Caramel Sauce.
- Nut butter or chocolate syrup or sauce.
Recipe
Vegan Spelt Pancakes
Author:WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 6 tablespoons hot water
- 2 cups (230 grams) spelt flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups (360 mls) non-dairy milk of choice , I like to use my cashew milk
- 2 tablespoons (30 mls) apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon oil Plus a little more for cooking the pancakes (Any neutral liquid oil is fine such as light olive, avocado, canola, sunflower, vegetable, or liquid refined coconut oil)
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT
INSTRUCTIONS
- Mix the flax seed with the water and set aside for a few minutes to gel.
- Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk them together to combine.
- Pour the milk into a medium bowl or jug and add the vinegar, vanilla, oil, and the flax egg. Whisk together well.
- Pour the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients and stir or whisk gently together. Don't over mix. Just enough so that no dry flour is visible.
- Heat a pan/griddle over a medium-low heat and add a little oil or vegan butter.
- When the pan is hot pour the batter into the pan in rounds, leaving at least an inch of space around each one because they do expand a bit and you also need to be able to get in there easily to flip them when they are ready too. To keep them all the same size use a ladle or a measuring cup. ⅓ of a cup per pancake is a nice amount for a decent sized pancake but you could use ¼ cup to make them smaller.
- Leave the pancakes well alone until you start to see lots of small bubbles appearing and popping all over the top, not just on the edges. See my pictures in the post above for what that looks like. When you see popped bubbles all over, flip the pancakes gently.
- Cook for another minute or two until the bottoms are golden then remove from the pan. Repeat until all of the batter is used up.
NOTES
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Linda C says
Tried this recipe, though I was skeptical, since no flax/chia egg was in the recipe. To my surprise and delight, they stayed perfectly intact and taste so good, besides being good for you!
I had some sour milk on hand so added it in, used a little under a whole tablespoon of baking powder, went easier on the cinnamon, though I will use the full amount next time.
Loved it. Thanks!
Will this recipe work if I were to add a flax or chia egg?
Appreciate your posting the nutrition facts! Keep up the great work!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you enjoyed them, Linda!
I no longer use flax or chia in my recipes (pancakes or other baking like cakes and muffins) because in lots of side by side comparisons over my many years of developing recipes, I’ve discovered that adding the flax or chia makes absolutely no difference to texture or rise at all. They are completely unnecessary (unless it’s for nutrition purposes) and just add an extra superfluous ingredient and extra expense.
You could get away with adding some ground flax or chia to this recipe for nutrition purposes though. Up to 2 tablespoons. You wouldn’t need to make an “egg”. That’s something else I’ve found over the years is a waste of time in side by side comparisons. You can just add the ground seeds straight into the batter. You don’t even need to let it sit to gel. That happens naturally while whatever you’re making cooks.
By adding the ground seeds you will make your batter a little thicker, but that’s a good thing with pancakes because it makes them thicker and fluffier! Hope that helps!
Marija says
Mel, thank you so much for this easy and simple vegan pancake recipe. I finally made good pancakes, thanks to your recipe! I feel proud. Grateful to you, and will continue to follow your other recipes as well! All the best! <3
Melanie McDonald says
Love to hear that Marija! Thank you for coming back to leave a review. It's much appreciated!
Judith Perez says
Batter VERY thick. Def not light and fluffy although the taste is amazing. I added a lot more liquid just to get it pourable.
I added chopped pecans and walnuts… trying to make something similar to the old IHOP harvest grain and nut pancakes. It worked! Soooo good and healthy!
I just need to know why the batter is so thick. 🤷♀️
Melanie McDonald says
Sounds like you didn't measure the ingredients correctly. As per the tips in the post the only way to be accurate when measuring flour is to weigh it. With cups it's way too easy to use far too much and that will give you a thicker batter than intended. Every single time you fill a cup you get a different amount of flour, and if you scoop flour up into a cup you can end up with double the amout of flour intended. That's why it's impossible to get consistent results when you use them.
And just in case, it's also worth noting that if you used any flour other than spelt flour that would give you a way thicker batter than intended too. This recipe is specifically developed for spelt.
I highly recommend buying a scale. You can pick them up for less than $15 and you'll get way better results when baking/making pancakes. If you don't though, the correct way to fill a cup is to fluff your flour with a fork to aerate it, then gently spoon it into the measuring cup and gently level the top with a knife without shaking or compacting it down at all. By doing that you will get an amount close to the gram measurement.
Hope that helps!
Eff says
Hello!
I've tried to make the recipe and the only thing I used different was milled flaxseed instead of ground.
my pancakes are falling apart. They're tasty, but in crumbles. :(
Melanie McDonald says
Milled flaxseed is the same as ground. There is no reason why these would fall apart if made as per the recipe with everything measured correctly. Did you use a different kind of flour?
Effrosyni Kokkori says
Hi! Sorry for the late reply. No I used spelt flour and measured everything in a measuring cup. I saw you are saying the best is to use a scale to measure flour. I don't have one but will try the recipe again in the future when I do, or try with more flour in the cup perhaps. Thank you for the reply!
Trinity says
We love this recipe. It has a great taste and is perfect with maple syrup & fruit. They are hearty and filling. We make these over white flour pancakes which always made us still feeling hungry.
Paige says
Turns out perfect every time!
Melanie McDonald says
So pleased you're enjoying the recipe Paige!
Karen says
Great pancakes. Thank you!