Today is International Pancake Day and I want to share my favorite gluten-free and vegan pancake recipe. I love this recipe because it only requires 5 relatively inexpensive, easy to find (maybe already in your kitchen) ingredients. Just one kind of flour is needed, no gums or starches or any other sort of special additions. It’s free of refined sugars, is grain-free, and has an ample amount of protein thanks to the chickpea flour. They are also pretty fool-proof, and this is coming from an admitted pancake flunky.
I’ve talked in the past how my pancake making skills (or lack thereof) have been a source of great shame and stress. Ok, not really, but I have thrown out a lot of mushy, nasty, flapjack flops in my day. To be completely honest, I’ve never been much of a pancake person (I much prefer waffles), however this chickpea version is helping to even the playing field.
When I first started this blog, I had this great idea for a caramel apple pancake recipe and I spent weeks trying to get them to come out right. They were awful! Gummy on the inside, burnt on the outside, with a ridiculously long ingredient list. Fluffy gluten-free + vegan pancakes seemed impossible! I’d like to think I learned a few things over the last year or so. Not least of all I’ve realized that the simpler, the better, when it comes to recipes (and life, probably).
These chickpea silver dollar pancakes come out juuuusssst right. Fluffy and light on the inside with a golden brown exterior. Perfectly tender and bouncy. I have never been able to make a better looking (or tasting) pancake with any other batter, even traditional gluten-y, eggy batter. As long as you keep some chickpea flour on hand (which is a great, versatile, and cheap gluten-free flour), as well as some basic ingredients like bananas, almond milk, and baking powder… these picturesque, plant-based silver dollar pancakes can be yours.
I hope you give these little pancakes a try. Even if you’ve had some hotcake hot messes in the past, this recipe should restore your confidence in maneuvering some batter on a hot griddle.
Happy pancake making!
Silver Dollar Sweet Chickpea Flour Pancakes (free of: gluten, grains, sugar, eggs, dairy)
- 1 cup chickpea flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 – 1 cup almond milk (or other dairy-free plant milk)
- 1/4 cup ripe mashed banana (about 1/2 large banana)
- 1 Tbsp maple syrup or two medjool dates (or other sweetener of choice: pinch of stevia, 2-3 tsp coconut sugar, etc)
- optional: pinch of salt, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions:
- Whisk together flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
- Blend 3/4 cup almond milk, banana, maple syrup and optional ingredients in your blender, until smooth. Pour wet into dry, and whisk until smooth. If the batter seems too thick, add an extra 1/4 of a cup, one tbsp at a time. If it’s way too thin, add another tablespoon or two of flour. You want a slightly thicker than traditional pancake batter, but not gloopy. Let rest a minute or two while you heat your pan.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add a little bit of coconut oil if needed. Once hot, turn down just a smidge.
- Pour the batter on the pan in small amounts, I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and fill it only halfway, remember these are silver dollars so keep them pretty small. I can fit about 4 pancakes on the pan at a time. When the top starts to bubble and looks a tiny bit drier/done, then flip and cook the other side. I usually peek under one to see how done they are getting before I flip. Serve with syrup or jam or fresh fruit.
- Practice makes perfect with pancakes. Boy do I ever know. One thing that helps is knowing how hot the pan should be, which you will figure out as you go. I usually end up turning mine down because the pancakes are getting browned too quickly. The slow and low method works best with these pancakes, in my experience. Keep adjusting the heat until you find the sweet spot.
Feed Your Beauty 
Haha! We’ve had our fair share of that ‘gummy’ business too! Thanks for all your trials and tribulations with GF pancakes Larice! These look great! We love the idea of using chickpea flour. We’re not big pancake fans either, but these look delicious, easy, affordable and definitely one to try. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Haha thanks so much! GF+vegan can be a tough combination, but these are it for me! My daughter loves these pancakes so I’m glad I figured it out. I’m happy with oats or smoothies every day! 😛 hope you give these a whirl!
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You’re welcome! Agreed, GF & V combinations can be tricky because not everything is like for like, but we’re so glad that you persevered! Haha, yes, we’re not huge pancake fans either but these will definitely be our go to pancake when the moment strikes! 🙂
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I’m honored! Truly 🙂 I hope you both love them!
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I’m definitely making these 🙂
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Yay! Hope you love them 🙂 let me know how it goes!
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I tried this recipe today and I was not disappointed 🙂 I added pineapple and strawberries and some coconut yoghurt as topping.
So good that you can have a relatively low carb breakfast that is so sweet and satisfying ❤
I'm definitely going to work further on this recipe. I really would like to get rid of the banana sometimes as the taste is rather all consuming ^^
Thank you for sharing & best wishes,
Sabrina
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I’m so glad you enjoyed these Sabrina! I’m working on some banana free pancake recipes, as I know just what you mean. Sometimes you don’t want banana in your pancakes 😛 would love to know what you come up with as well! Thanks so much for leaving a comment 🙂
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I’ll let you know, when I upload a successful recipe 🙂 And of course I’ll link to this recipe as my source of inspiration ^^
Have a good day!
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Made these exactly as the instructions said. They turned brown on the outside but the inside wouldnt cook (stayed goopy) no matter how long i cooked them.
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Hi Amber, I’m so so sorry they didn’t work out for you; especially because I understand the frustration of trying gf + vegan pancakes and not having them work out. Honest to goodness, these are the only pancakes I make for me and my family now, since they are the only ones that come out for me! I’m just brainstorming, because I hate to have anyone waste ingredients and I want you to have tasty pancakes!
Some ideas I have are to double check the measurement of the mashed banana, sometimes I’ve used too much and that can make them less fluffy, same with using too much almond milk. Also I try to measure my flour using the spoon and fill method, spooning the flour into the measuring cup instead of scooping the cup into the bag of flour. Sometimes older baking powder can become inactive and that can really affect the rise and texture, as well so I always look at that if I have a batch flop. The last thought I had is probably the most important, and I still mess it up myself from time to time if I’m not careful or in a hurry, and that is the temperature of the pan. If it’s too hot, the outside will brown really fast and the inside won’t cook evenly. Also, it helps to keep the pancakes really small, silver dollar sized instead of bigger flapjacks; this really helps them turn out light and fluffy. I know that seems like a lot of things to try, but after making these several times it’s just routine now and I get good consistent results. I sincerely hope some of these tips help and that you’ll give them another shot! Let me know if there’s anything else I can do 🙂
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I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! Yesterday was the last day of my 2 week fruit and veg detox and I decided to carry on eating gluten free because of my hypothyroidism. These pancakes were the most perfect diet-ending healthy breakfast I could ever ask for. BTW, I used coconut milk and topped them with some banana and raspberries 😀
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Ania I can’t thank you enough for taking the time to comment! Thanks so much for sharing your experience, I’m so glad you liked the pancakes! These are our go-to pancakes for a reason 🙂 Wish you the best on your healthy journey!
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Man, I don’t know what I did wrong, but I made these twice – adjusted the heat, adjusted the oil, and still ruined two pans because they stuck so badly. 😦
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Lea I’m so sorry to hear they didn’t turn out for you. I make these at least once or twice a week, they’re our go-to pancakes at my house. I use a non-stick skillet or ceramic skillet, with a dab of coconut oil, and I haven’t had a problem with sticking, in fact I barely need to scrub my pan when I’m finished. I’m not sure what went wrong 😦 If you don’t normally have trouble with pancake batter sticking in your pans then perhaps the batter could’ve been thinned a tad with a splash more almond milk? Not sure since I can’t be there to see. I make it exactly as stated, and they turn out consistently. Very sorry they didn’t work for you, let me know how I can help troubleshoot.
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This is my favorite pancake recipe. My husband and I love the pancakes. I have never been good at making them. Then I tried these chickpea flour pancakes and they turned out perfect! They are so fluffy and delicious. I made them a few times and found out that it’s important that the heat of the pan is not too high otherwise it could stuck. Anyways… thank you Larice for this recipe. I’m happy that I can finally make really delicious glutenfree and vegan pancakes! 😋
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Thank you so much for your feedback Alessa!! That makes me so happy that you and your husband enjoy these pancakes. Before this I had the worst pancake fails so I’m really glad this was a winner for you too! 🙂
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I had my doubts, but these pancakes were delightful! They turned out perfectly. I halved the recipe, and added all of the optional ingredients. Instead of using a blender, i heated the banana in the microwave to make it smoother and easier to mash.
I too have had some disappointing pancakes — especially vegan ones — in the past. These were exceptionally easy to make, and tasted great. Thank you for the recipe!
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Yay! Christina I’m so happy you enjoyed making and eating these pancakes! I understand the hesitation, as you read I’ve had a lot of flops, but these are a definite favorite around here. Thanks so much for commenting and letting me know they turned out good for you 🙂
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These look great! Any idea on the calorie count per serve?
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Thanks for checking them out, Rich. I don’t usually calculate the calories for recipes, and it would depend on how large you make the pancakes. My Fitness Pal is a good site or app if you want to get the count for the whole recipe. Let me know if you give them a try!
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I’ve made these maybe four five times and only got the pan the right temp and stars aligned once. Every other time they stick and I wind up throwing most of them out . So I tried to bake them. They stuck to the parchment paper. Never Making them again
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Sorry to hear that they aren’t working out for you. This is my regular pancake recipe, make them at least once a week. The only time I’ve ever had problems with sticking is when I used too much banana, which is why I recommend mashing it and then measuring it out. They arent meant to be baked and I would never recommend that.
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Just made these delightful little jewels! Had no problems with sticking but did have to turn the heat down and be patient while they cooked. I will be making them regularly. Thankyou for the hint about the temperature of the pan.
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So happy to hear you liked them! Pancakes, whether they are conventional or vegan/gluten-free are tricky! Which is why I shared my story of how I used to be a pancake flunky! My best tips are turning down the temp, using a nonstick pan and maybe a teeny bit of oil at the most, and making sure your baking powder is fresh. Thanks so much for taking the time to come back and comment!
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I made these pancakes because i can’t have grains . I have a whole lot of besan flour that i usually use for facial treatment, but i seldom use it for cooking as it has a bitter flavour, and today i wanted to make pancakes that didn’t use eggs. so i googled and found your recipie. so i made it, and it was so fluffy so five stars for bite! i tweaked it according to my pantry supplies. thank you, it is very good recipe, my comment is i use a little coconut oil for nonstick and flavour and keep the heat an even medium low to avoid the black outside / gooey inside thing happening. kids asked for more.
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Hi Julina, thanks so much for your feedback! I’m so happy you gave them a try and that they were a hit for you and your kids. Really appreciate that you took the time to share. Have a great day 🙂
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