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    Home » Recipes » Pancakes & Waffles

    Published: Jan 5, 2023 by Melanie McDonald · This post contains affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. · 19 Comments

    Corn Flour Pancakes

    4.79 from 19 votes
    JUMP TO RECIPE WATCH VIDEO
    corn flour pancakes

    Super quick and easy 5 ingredient Corn Flour Pancakes. They are golden, fluffy, and can be mixed up & on your plate in under 15 minutes!

    s stack of corn flour pancakes with blueberries

    Oh my these Corn Flour Pancakes are so good! Golden, super light and fluffy, and slightly crispy on the outside.

    They have a delicious, mellow sweet taste from the corn flour, (a bit like cornbread), and are so much lighter than pancakes made with regular all-purpose flour. They also happen to be dairy-free, egg-free, naturally gluten-free (like my vegan banana oatmeal pancakes), and so quick and easy to make.

    Add a pat of vegan butter and a drizzle of maple syrup and it's like all your perfect vegan breakfasts have come at once!

    In this post - Everything you need to make Corn Flour Pancakes:

    Jump to:
    • Ingredients
    • How To Make Corn Flour Pancakes
    • Serving Suggestions
    • Recipe
    • Reviews & Questions
    corn flour pancakes with butter and syrup

    Ingredients

    This is an incredibly simple recipe that is made with just a handful of pantry staple ingredients and no eggs are required! Here is exactly what you need:

    And a couple of ingredient notes:

    • Corn flour - You must use corn flour and not cornmeal in this recipe. Corn flour is very finely ground cornmeal. It is not cornstarch/UK cornflour. I use Bob's Red Mill Corn Flour. This recipe will not work with all-purpose flour.
    • Sugar - This is optional in this recipe. It does bring out the flavour of the corn flour and helps to make the pancakes golden though so I do recommend using it if you can.

    Success Tip- For maximum flavour, colour and crispiness, I highly recommend cooking the pancakes in vegan butter.

    How To Make Corn Flour Pancakes

    This has got to be one of the easiest and quickest pancakes recipes to make EVER. Unlike most pancake recipes, there is no resting time for the batter and you don't even need to worry about over-mixing because it is naturally gluten-free. 

    Here's a quick summary of how it's done:

    how to make corn flour pancakes step by step
    1. Add all of the dry ingredients to a bowl and mix them together.
    2. Pour in the plant milk and vanilla.
    3. Whisk together to form a smooth batter.
    4. Cook the pancakes in batches on a skillet or griddle over medium-low heat.

    The whole process takes less than 15 minutes start to finish!

    Success tip - Treat the pancakes gently when cooking/flipping. Because they don't contain any gluten they are quite delicate.

    a stack of corn flour pancakes topped with blueberries and lots of syrup

    Serving Suggestions

    The very best way to eat Corn Flour Pancakes is with vegan butter and maple syrup. Maybe with some vegan sausages or vegan bacon on the side? They are also great with frozen berry compote, fresh berries, roasted strawberries or blueberry lavender sauce.

    A slice from a stack of Vegan Gluten Free Pancakes on a fork

    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

    a stack of corn flour pancakes with blueberries

    Corn Flour Pancakes

    Author: Melanie McDonald
    4.79 from 19 votes
    Super quick and easy 5 ingredient Corn Flour Pancakes. They are golden, fluffy, and can be mixed up & on your plate in under 15 minutes!
    PRINT PIN SAVE Saved!
    PREP TIME: 10 minutes minutes
    COOK TIME: 5 minutes minutes
    Total Time 15 minutes minutes
    Servings 9 to 10 pancakes

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 cups (247 grams) corn flour , not meal - it must be very finely ground (see recipe notes RE how to measure correctly) In the UK it is sometimes labeled as maize flour.
    • 4 teaspoons baking powder
    • 2 tablespoons sugar
    • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
    • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
    • 1⅓ cup (320 mls) milk of choice
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    INSTRUCTIONS
     

    • To a medium bowl, add the corn flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Whisk them together. 
    • Add the milk and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix them together well. 
    • Heat a griddle, skillet or frying pan over a medium low heat. Add a drizzle of mildly flavoured oil or some vegan butter and allow to melt/spread around the pan. If you have a good non stick pan/griddle you can cook them oil-free. 
    • Once hot add the batter about ⅓ cup (80 mls) at a time. Allow them to cook undisturbed, until bubbles start forming around the edges and they start to look slightly set around the edges. Don't wait for bubbles to appear all over the top.
    • Flip gently and cook on the other side until lightly golden. This won't take long. 30 seconds or so. Don't overcook them or they will become dry.
    • Remove from the pan and serve immediately.

    NOTES

    Measuring corn flour - Spoon the flour gently into the measuring cup without compacting or shaking it down, then level it with a knife. DO NOT scoop it into the cup because you will end up with drastically more flour than intended.

    NUTRITION

    Serving: 1pancake | Calories: 95kcal | Carbohydrates: 19g | Protein: 1.5g | Fat: 1.3g | Sodium: 400mg | Fiber: 1.4g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 100IU | Vitamin C: 0.8mg | Calcium: 150mg | Iron: 0.7mg
    Did you make this recipe?Rate it & leave feedback in the comments section below. I love seeing your remakes too. Tag @avirtualvegan on Instagram! 🌟

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Alex says

      August 29, 2023 at 12:48 pm

      5 stars
      These are like little light n fluffy cornbread pillows. Thanks for another banger Mel!

      Reply
    2. Maile K Epperson says

      August 27, 2023 at 9:45 am

      1 star
      Followed the instructions, including how to measure the corn flour, and had a completely unusable paste. Do not recommend.

      Reply
    3. Theresa Freeman says

      August 12, 2023 at 6:01 pm

      5 stars
      I made this pan cake and my family love it.

      Reply
    4. Lisa M Jensen says

      July 25, 2023 at 11:53 am

      I tried to make these but the batter turned out like cookie dough and looked like pucks in the frying pan. What did I do wrong?

      Reply
      • Melanie McDonald says

        July 26, 2023 at 12:39 pm

        If the batter was like cookie dough, and you used corn flour (and not any other type) as per the recipe, then you didn't weigh or measure your ingredients properly. You can see the texture the batter should be in my instructional video.

        Reply
    5. Desiree says

      February 11, 2023 at 5:30 am

      Making this in the USA, using masa harina which is Hispanic corn flour. I added the ingredients in the amounts stated and it turned out like wet sand, not like a batter at all. I added more milk and I’m going to try cooking them anyways, but I don’t have high hopes. Any idea on what went differently for me?

      Reply
      • Melanie McDonald says

        February 12, 2023 at 7:53 pm

        This recipe has only been tested with regular corn flour, not masa harina. Masa harina is different. Corn flour is made with yellow corn. Literally just dried corn that is ground to a flour. Masa harina is made with white corn that is treated with slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). Basically, an alkaline solution is used to soften the corn enough for grinding into a paste. The paste then gets dried to make masa harina. Corn flour is acidic and masa harina is alkaline.
        Also, because you mention the texture of the batter it's worth checking that you measured the flour correctly? By weighing it, or by spooning it into the cup and then leveling the top without shaking or compacting it down? If you scoop it into the cup you can easily end up with 30-40% more flour than intended which can make the batter too thick.
        All of this will affect how well the recipe turns out.
        Hope that helps!

        Reply
    6. marie says

      January 06, 2023 at 12:30 pm

      that should read Vitamix!!!

      Reply
    7. marie says

      January 06, 2023 at 12:30 pm

      if I blitz cornmeal in the vitamin will that be cornflour?

      Reply
      • Melanie McDonald says

        January 06, 2023 at 12:42 pm

        I'd blitz it then sieve it so it's superfine then it will be fine!

        Reply
    8. Paula says

      January 06, 2023 at 8:51 am

      Is polenta the same as corn flour?

      Reply
      • Melanie McDonald says

        January 06, 2023 at 11:50 am

        Polenta is made from corn but it is usually coarser than flour. More like our cornmeal in consistency. You need a corn flour that is really fine, like regular wheat/plain flour consistency. If you can find a bag of polenta that is like that in texture then it will work, but I think most will be too coarse/grainy. You'll need to examine the bags and check before you buy. Some have a window so you can see it. You might also fine it labeled as maize flour.
        I just checked Tesco and Sainsbury's online and they have Natco fine corn meal and from reading reviews of it it looks like it might be flour-like in consistency, but I've never used it myself so can't guarantee how fine it will be. It looks like Amazon Uk might also sell corn flour and maize flour too but it's hard for me to see for sure as it keeps defaulting to the Canadian Amazon when I search.
        Unfortunately, it's not as easy to find as it is in North America, but I hope that helps a bit!

        Reply
    9. Julie R says

      January 06, 2023 at 8:35 am

      Is the corn flour you use known as maize flour here in UK?

      Reply
      • Melanie McDonald says

        January 06, 2023 at 11:30 am

        Yes, it is. I'll make a note of that in the recipe.

        Reply
    10. Dianne says

      June 06, 2019 at 2:34 pm

      5 stars
      They taste amazing. Like cornbread and are so soft and fluffy. Our new favorite. Kids loved them!

      Reply
      • Melanie McDonald says

        June 06, 2019 at 2:34 pm

        Thank you Dianne. I'm really pleased you all enjoyed them!

        Reply
    11. Mary says

      April 30, 2019 at 7:48 am

      5 stars
      Love them!

      Reply
    12. Prue says

      February 25, 2019 at 1:16 pm

      5 stars
      OMG just made them. So good!! I can’t believe how simple they are either!

      Reply
      • A Virtual Vegan says

        February 25, 2019 at 1:52 pm

        Yay! I'm so pleased you enjoyed them Prue. Thanks for stopping by to leave feedback. It's much appreciated!

        Reply

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