Light and fluffy Vegan Spelt Pancakes. Whole grain, sugar-free & simple, but also super tasty and satisfying. Quick to make too!
So you want to start your day with a big stack of delicious pancakes but you also don't want to completely jump off the healthy train?
I got you! These Vegan Spelt Pancakes are vegan, sugar free, and made with nutty, wholesome spelt flour. They also happen to be super light and fluffy, golden, delicious and cozy in a way that only pancakes can be.
These pancakes have 5 grams of protein in a single pancake and can be really healthy if you top them with healthier toppings like fresh fruit and unsweetened dairy-free yogurt, or you can go all out like me and drown them in maple syrup and vegan butter. Sorry - when it comes to pancakes - I just can't resist.
How to make fluffy Vegan Spelt Pancakes
(For detailed measurements and instructions, see the printable recipe card).
Step 1: Mix the ground flax seed and water together and leave to gel.
Step 2: Add the vinegar to the plant-based milk (I tend to use my cashew milk for most recipe), and set aside for a few minutes.
Step 3: Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix them up.
Step 4: Add the rest of the wet ingredients including the flax egg to the milk/vinegar mixture and whisk together.
Step 5: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and gently whisk or stir together.
Step 6: Cook the pancakes in a pan or on a griddle.
When to flip a pancake
Once you have added the batter to the pan, 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 pictures 5 and 6 below.
Here is a collage showing a pancake as it cooks so that you know what to expect and when your pancake should be flipped.
Once it looks like the pancake in picture 6, get your spatula and gently flip it. Be sure to use a spatula big enough to support the entire pancake. You then just need to continue cooking for a few minutes until that side has turned golden brown then remove it from the pan.
Patience is key and if you wait until they are bubbly like this on top your pancakes will be perfectly light and fluffy inside.
Success Tips
- Weigh the flour to get the best and consistent results.
- Don't over-mix the batter. Just stir gently until you can't see anymore dry flour.
- Don't cook the pancakes too fast. Vegan pancakes do best when cooked slowly on a medium-low setting. That way you will get nice fluffy insides!
- Only flip when the tops of the pancakes are speckled with little bubbles all over. See my tips and pancake cooking process shots above to know exactly when is the right time.
- I don't recommend skipping the oil in the batter. There isn't much used but it makes a big difference to the finished pancakes texture.
- For thicker pancakes reduce the amount of milk added to the batter. The thicker the batter, the fatter your pancakes will be.
- 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.
What to serve with Spelt Pancakes
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 too. But if you want to switch things up here are some other topping ideas:
- fresh fruit like berries or sliced banana
- vegan yogurt, whipped vegan ricotta or vegan cream
- Vanilla roasted strawberries or Date caramel
- Vegan Lemon Curd or Vegan Caramel Sauce
- nut butter
- chocolate sauce or fruit compote
Pancake Mix-ins
These simple pancake recipe is great just as it is but feel free to do you and switch it up a bit. Here are some ideas:
- Add a few tablespoons of sugar to the batter to make the pancakes sweet.
- Add chocolate chips, blueberries or raisins - spoon the batter into the pan and scatter them over the top before they start setting up and need flipping.
- Add a teaspoon of cinnamon or pumpkin spice to the batter.
- Add small pieces of diced apple along with some cinnamon to the batter.
- Add a tablespoon or two of cocoa to the batter to make the pancakes chocolate flavour. Some chocolate chips added too would make them double chocolate!
- Vegan Marshmallows. I like Dandies.
- Add some lemon zest and poppy seeds to the batter.
If you try this recipe, let me know how you like it by leaving a comment and rating below! And be sure to join my mailing list for more deliciousness!
Recipe video
Recipe
Vegan Spelt Pancakes
Author:Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 6 tablespoons hot water
- 1½ cups (360 mls) non-dairy milk of choice , I like to use my cashew milk
- 2 tablespoons (30 mls) apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups (230 grams) spelt flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 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 to gel.
- Pour the milk into a medium bowl and add the vinegar. Leave for a couple of minutes while you get the dry ingredients ready.
- Put the flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl and whisk them together to combine.
- Add the vanilla extract, oil and the flax mixture to the milk mixture and whisk well together.
- 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
NUTRITION
This recipe was originally published in 2015, but the post was updated and new photos and a video were added on February 8th 2020. The recipe remains the same.
Stacey says
Thank you!
Stacey says
I made these the other day and they are great! Thank you!
I'm wondering, have you ever tried freezing the batter for future use?
Thank you!
Melanie McDonald says
I wouldn't freeze the batter because the baking soda will lose its efficacy and they won't be as fluffy. You would be much better off freezing the cooked pancakes. Just make sure to separate them with parchment paper so they don't stick together.
Christine says
So easy to make and so incredibly delicious! I added 1 teaspoon of Ceylon Cinnamon and 1 medium mashed banana. I then topped with strawberries and agave syrup so so so delicious! Thank you for this recipe
George says
Mel this is another great recipe and is now my go to for pancakes. Thanks for putting this out there for us. I made this for the kids and they love it too.
Maureen says
Mel, I’m not sure how you do it but every one of your recipes I have had the pleasure of making have been perfection. I LOVE all your pancake recipes. This makes a bunch and I love freezing them. They are so light and fluffy. I like topping with real maple syrup, wild blueberries, and drizzling with almond butter. Yum ? Thank you!!
❤️❤️
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Maureen! I'm really pleased you are enjoying this recipe too!
Mcge1580 says
No taste. No taste at all and batter seemed to turn dark very quickly. I cooked on lowest setting. The batter was getting dark very quickly
Sherry says
Your recipe looks great! I'm always making heavy pancakes, so I look forward to trying this. However, I use Ener-G baking powder. Usually one uses a lot more of that than regular baking powder. It's also single-acting, rather than double-acting. Have you worked with this, and can you give any tips for using it in this recipe?
Melanie McDonald says
I have no experience of Ener-G baking powder I'm afraid but I just checked on their website and it says to double the amount. Looking at the reviews of it though, using it does seem to affect the outcome of recipes a bit so don't be surprised if these pancakes aren't as thick and fluffy as they would be with regular baking powder. Good luck!
Sherry says
Ok, thanks for responding! I"ll try it and see . . .
melissa says
YUM!!!
Judith Perez says
I’m always missing IHOPS harvest grain and nut pancakes.. but these come reallllly close. I added some chopped pecans and chopped walnuts. Hubby doesn’t want any other pancake now and he’s not vegan!
One question... my batter was VERY thick. I tried adding more milk to no avail. My end result looks NOTHING like the thin pancakes in your picture. Any suggestions?
A Virtual Vegan says
Glad you enjoyed them!
Did you weigh the flour? That's the only way to get accurate and consistent results and if you didn't is the reason why your batter was too thick. If you use cups it's very easy to end up with way more than is intended by the recipe. Literally, every time you fill a cup you get a different amount of flour and if you scoop it up you can easily end up with up to half as much again. If you must use cups it's important to use them the correct way, which is to first aerate the flour with a fork, then spoon it gently into the cup without shaking or compacting it down. Then level gently. That will give you roughly the right amount but can still never be absolutely accurate. Digital scales are so cheap. You cna pick them up for less than $15. They are so worth having if you make recipes involving flour a lot because you will get the very best results each time.
Thick batter though can be a very good thing where vegan pancakes are concerned. It makes them really thick and fluffy!
Erin says
These are fantastic!
LA says
These pancakes turned out great! I made 2 adjustments, I used an egg replacer instead of the flax egg and added a little cinnamon. They were fluffy and delicious.
jill says
Hi can you sub the flax for something? I can't do seeds.. tHank you!
A Virtual Vegan says
I am pretty sure (99%) that they will be ok if you omit it completely. This is an older recipe and in my newer pancakes recipes I don't use any flax or any other egg substitute at all.
Jill says
Awesome , thank you so much I will give it a try!
Patricia G says
Hi - made them last night for our church pancake supper (that is, most people got the regular ones, but I made a batch for us and shared them with interested parties...:)
Also substituted applesauce for the oil in the batter and cooked them in our non-stick electric frying pan.
They were AMAZING - the best vegan pancakes I have ever made - fluffy, tasty, light - just like "regular" ones, but so much more nutritious. My go-to recipe from now on!
A Virtual Vegan says
I'm really pleased you enjoyed them! Good to know the applesauce gave a good result too.
Melanie Pickering says
Made these this morning, sceptical as ever but they turned out well. Being on my own, I have batter left over - will it keep in the fridge? Thanks
A Virtual Vegan says
I haven't tried keeping it in the fridge but it should be ok. The baking powder might lose its potency though. When you cook it again make a small pancake first and see what happens, then you could add a small amount of baking powder to the remaining batter if need be. Just 1/4 teaspoon to give it some ooomph.
Melanie says
Thanks. In the end, I cooked them all and put them in the fridge. I might freeze them if I can't eat them very soon.
Cameron says
So light and fluffy And healthy . Love that they use spelt flour!
Samantha says
WOW! What a game-changing recipe. Who knew vinegar could make a world of difference.
I made a few alterations. I'm allergic to apples to I used white vinegar instead, and I like adding my banana right into the mix, so I used 3/4 of oat milk and added 1 very ripe mashed up banana to the wet mix. I also used chia egg instead of flax, I find it's more egg-like than flax. And, I used grapeseed oil instead of coconut.
YUM!
Melanie McDonald says
I'm glad you enjoyed them! If you like banana pancakes you should give these a try. You could use spelt instead of the all purpose flour. They are the most popular pancake recipe on my site and are so good! https://avirtualvegan.com/vegan-banana-pancakes/
Isabella says
I made these! They are delicious. May or may not have eaten them all in one sitting... ?
A Virtual Vegan says
Ha ha! Nothing wrong with that! I'm so pleased you enjoyed them.
Danielle says
These were pretty good! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Heather says
Can I omit the oil?
A Virtual Vegan says
You can but they won't turn out as fluffy and the texture won't be as good. If you want an oil-free recipe try these instead https://avirtualvegan.com/oil-free-vegan-pancakes-one/
Janice says
The best healthy pancakes I've tried so far.
Shanny says
I made these for lunch. Easy recipe. Pancakes were fluffy and delicious. I always use the Vital Farms grass fed butter - which I know is not vegan - It has a delicious flavor and makes everything taste so good. Along with some organic maple syrup.