Soft, moist & fluffy Vegan Gingerbread Pancakes. Made healthier with wholegrain flour & not too sweet. Because…you know? TOPPINGS!! (copious amounts of maple syrup are recommended!)
There are pancakes, and then there are Gingerbread Pancakes. Soft, fluffy, moist, dark and full of warm and comforting gingerbread flavour.
A stack of these, with a knob of my vegan butter, and a generous drizzle of maple syrup is just perfection!
If you aren’t into Gingerbread though, check out my Vegan Banana Pancakes or my Vegan Gluten Free Pancakes instead.
PERFECT FOR HOLIDAY BRUNCH!
This recipe is adapted from my Gingerbread Waffles recipe which I published a couple of years ago. It’s been so popular, but I know not everyone has a waffle maker and so, here we are, with these Gingerbread Pancakes in plenty of time for the festive season. So many people last year made my Gingerbread Waffles for breakfast on Christmas morning. Hopefully this year, those of you without a waffle maker can enjoy these pancakes instead!
I make these Gingerbread Pancakes with spelt flour because it’s hearty nuttiness works so well with the ginger flavour. I absolutely love this sprouted spelt flour from One Degree Organic Foods. If you don’t have spelt flour feel free to use wholewheat or all purpose flour. Liquid quantities may need adjusting though so make sure you read my recipe notes.
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN PANCAKES
Vegan pancakes are so easy to make. Who needs eggs?
For these Gingerbread Pancakes, it’s just a case of mixing the dry ingredients together, mixing the wet ingredients together, then combining the two.
I use my Cusinart Griddler to cook my pancakes and don’t use any oil. It has double sided plates. One side for griddling and one side for grilling. Nothing ever sticks so you can usually get away with not even a smidge of oil.
You can use any kind of griddle or frying pan, but if your surface isn’t a great non-stick one you will need to use some oil to avoid sticking.
The trick to cooking vegan pancakes is to not have them on too high a temperature, and to let them cook slowly. That way they become fluffy inside. If you rush them, they sometimes end up a little damp inside and that’s never good where pancakes are concerned.
As you know, I do try to cook oil-free whenever I can, but I have included a tiny amount of oil in this recipe. There is no getting away from the fact that they work better with it. It’s just 1½ tablespoons but it makes all the difference. If you follow a strictly oil-free diet you can omit it, but the pancakes won’t be quite as fluffy.
GINGERBREAD PANCAKES TOPPINGS
I don’t include much sugar in the recipe because I prefer my pancakes to not be too sweet. Because…you know? Toppings!!!
When I get let loose with that bottle of maple syrup there is no stopping me ????. I love the stuff!
If however you prefer your pancakes sweeter, feel free to add a couple extra tablespoons of sugar.
As for topping, there are so many that work. You could try:
- Vegan butter and maple syrup – Simplicity at it’s best
- Sliced banana – It works brilliantly with the gingerbread flavour
- Orange – Whipped coconut cream mixed with a little orange juice and zest. A little orange zest added to the batter would be fantastic too
- A quick glaze made from powdered sugar and orange juice (or lemon juice)
- Chocolate! While the pancakes are cooking in the pan, stud them with some chocolate chips before flipping them or serve them with chocolate sauce
- Poached pears or pear butter ????
Stop already. It’s like 11pm and all I want to do is go and make Gingerbread Pancakes. I guess if I can eek this out past midnight though, I can class them as breakfast!
For more vegan pancakes recipes, check out these great options:
- Vegan Sweet Potato Pancakes
- Vegan Banana Pancakes
- Vegan English Pancakes
- Vegan Gluten Free Pancakes
- Vegan Spelt Pancakes
- Healthy Oil-Free Pancakes
And if you love this recipe, please do check out my cookbook, and subscribe to my email list for a fabulous FREE eCookbook featuring my top 10 recipes. Being on the list means you will be first to see my new recipes and you’ll be kept in the loop on all things new and exciting too!
Gingerbread Pancakes
Ingredients
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
- 173g / 1½ cups spelt flour , spooned into the cup then gently levelled with a knife. See notes for substitutions
- 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2¾ teaspoons ground ginger
- 4 tablespoons coconut sugar , you may sub this for any other brown sugar
Wet ingredients
- 300 mls / 1 ¼ cup plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2½ tablespoons black strap molasses
- 1½ tablespoons liquid oil I used a light olive oil but coconut oil would also be good as would any other liquid cooking oil
Instructions
- Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir well.
- Put all of the wet ingredients into a jug or bowl. Stir until well combined.
- Pour the mixed wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix using a spoon, until just combined. Do not over mix. A few small lumps are fine. You just want it to get to the stage that you can't see any dry bits of flour through it. Different brands of flour have different absorbencies. You want your batter to be a thick dropping consistency, like cake batter. If it's really, really thick, add a tablespoon or two more milk to thin it just a little.
- Preheat the griddle or pan to medium and leave the batter to sit until it comes to temperature. OPTIONAL - Preheat the oven to it's lowest temperature with a plate inside to put the pancakes as you cook them. This will keep them warm until they are all ready.
- Pour about ⅓ cup portions of batter onto the pre-heated griddle/pan. Leave until small bubbles start to form on the top (usually about 4-5 minutes) then flip and cook for a further 4 -5 minutes. Once done, you can put them on the plate in the oven until you have finished cooking them all, then serve immediately.
Long time vegan, creator of A Virtual Vegan & author of the book 
Maureen says
Outstanding!! This woman never ceases to amaze me with her amazing recipes. I just made a batch exactly as written and I added the oil. I’m eating them as I write this review. I topped with organic butter and syrup and the flavor is simply delicious!
Mel, thank you once again for sharing your culinary expertise. Truly the best!
❤️
Maureen
Melanie McDonald says
Thank you so much Maureen! I haven’t made these yet this year. I think I know what Saturday’s brunch is going to be now!
Beth Mc says
These are great, but waaay too sweet. Next time, I’ll significantly reduce the sugar or just use the blackstrap molasses. (Yes, blackstrap molasses aren’t anywhere near as sweet as regular molasses, but they are still sweet-ish.) But I’m thrilled to find a great vegan gingery pancake recipe! Thanks!
karen dunning says
we made these a couple saturdays ago. i loved them, however my adult daughter thought they were a bit sweet. so i guess i might eliminate the brown sugar next time but keep the molasses. my husband who is the vegan in the household loved them too! thank you for a wonderful flavored pancake!
A Virtual Vegan says
I’m so glad you all enjoyed them! You can certainly omit the sugar. I’m just wondering as your daughter found them too sweet whether you may have used regular molasses instead of blackstrap molasses by mistake? The blackstrap variety isn’t sweet whereas regular molasses is. Just a thought. You might not have but I thought it worth mentioning just in case!
Thank you so much for stopping by to leave feedback Karen. I really appreciate it!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
You had me at gingerbread, but gingerbread and pancakes wow! Right I am scrolling back up for another look! Sharing!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you! Let me know what you think if you try them!
Lisa Lind says
Mel, you out did yourself! These are EXCELLENT!! My daughter and I LOVED them!!! For my husband and son (who don’t like gingerbread so much)), I made a plain batch in a separate dish , omitting the spices, subbing maple syrup for the molasses and they LOVED them!!! We all did! Our new favorite pancakes!!! Finally a vegan pancake my family loves!! Thank you!!
A Virtual Vegan says
That makes me so happy Lisa! I’m really glad you all enjoyed them so much and thank you for coming back to let me know. I appreciate it!
Nico @ yumsome says
What a yummy brekkie. Or lunch. Or supper, even. I haven’t had pancakes for yonks… that may have to change very soon! xx
A Virtual Vegan says
Do it! You can’t beat pancakes!
Anna says
Just look at these beauties! I’ve never had gingerbread pancakes but love the idea of that! They look absolutely delicious Mel!
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you so much Anna!
Sarah Newman says
ooh I’ve never had gingerbread pancakes before! that sounds delicious and oh so festive! Love your perfect stack in the photos :D
A Virtual Vegan says
Thank you Sarah. You need to change that and make some stat! ;o)
Julie Miller says
Hello: Great, great flavor! However, you are right, the sticking was a major problem. I did use 1 1/2 Tablespoons of oil and will use a little more next time. I used a cast iron griddle (which I have made my pancakes on for 25 years), as i am opposed to non -stick surfaces due to the chemical properties getting into the food. However, maybe I’ll try to use the non-stick just for these due to such great flavor! Thanks for your recipes, they are a joy to make. Oh, I made the pumpkin bread and it was excellent. I fooled all the non-vegans!
A Virtual Vegan says
So glad you enjoyed them! Non-stick really works best for these. It’s because the oil content in them is so low and probably the coconut sugar and molasses doesn’t help either. If you aren’t bothered about oil content feel free to use a little more in the batter. Up to 1/4 cup will probably be ok and just reduce the milk to make up for the extra liquid. Have fun practising!